Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Freshdesk vs ServiceNow vs Zoho Desk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.1
Freshdesk boosts efficiency and customer service with Salesforce integration, cost-effectiveness, and detailed insights for improved operations.
Sentiment score
6.6
ServiceNow enhances efficiency and cost savings, providing ROI within a year, despite initial costs and adoption challenges.
Sentiment score
7.8
Zoho Desk offers ROI through cost-control and analytics, but requires expertise for optimal configuration and effective use.
They have removed the costs associated with on-prem infrastructure, including data center costs, power costs, and physical server costs.
The return on investment is good when implementing for ourselves and for other clients.
Manually, there are huge numbers that come up because these integrated tools help organizations make the right decisions with all the information in one place, while manual methods lack visibility.
The Zoho platform is powerful when used correctly, but without a specialist, it is not simple to configure and make full use of the tools.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
Freshdesk's support is praised for responsiveness and efficiency, but some users report email integration challenges and response delays.
Sentiment score
6.9
ServiceNow support is praised for responsiveness and resources but experiences mixed reviews due to delays and inconsistencies.
Sentiment score
4.3
Zoho Desk support is praised for its quick response and reliability, despite occasional technical comprehension issues.
We have not needed to contact technical support, as Freshdesk has met our needs efficiently.
From my experience, once it is set up, we have never had problems.
The first-time response should be within 30 seconds.
The support is exemplary and deserves a perfect rating.
Obtaining support for maintenance is the current challenge because they don't have a presence in the local market.
I have contacted them four to five times over the past two years, and they have been quite helpful.
the experience was satisfactory
I find the response time in emails to be very good, and the solutions provided are simple.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Freshdesk offers scalable, cost-effective SaaS for growing companies with versatile features, though some note integration limitations.
Sentiment score
7.4
ServiceNow is scalable and effective for global operations, though performance issues and pricing concerns exist for some users.
Sentiment score
8.0
Zoho Desk is scalable, efficient for any company size, with high reviews despite minor ticket handling issues.
Additional features like email, WhatsApp, and SMS ticketing, along with Slack integration, can be enabled as required.
In our environment, which is a fairly small company in one country, Freshdesk is easy to scale.
There are no limitations or performance issues with ServiceNow; it is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
It is capable of vertical scaling with no issues.
I rate the scalability of ServiceNow as an eight on a scale of one to ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Freshdesk is stable and reliable with minor issues, praised for quick support, though connectivity and integration occasionally affect performance.
Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow is widely praised for its stability and reliability, with efficient support and minimal downtime, making it dependable.
Sentiment score
8.2
Zoho Desk is praised for stability and reliability, with most users rating it 7-9, despite minor server issues.
The goal is always to respond to customer tickets in a timely fashion, ensuring that customers feel seen and heard while also providing solutions.
After installation and continuous operation, I have encountered no problems.
It is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
I haven't faced any issues with stability; I've rarely seen any downtime.
ServiceNow is stable enough.
 

Room For Improvement

Freshdesk users seek improvements in automation, integrations, support, language options, workflows, and reporting to boost efficiency.
ServiceNow needs to enhance user interface, licensing, support, integration, and analytics to improve user experience and satisfaction.
Zoho Desk users desire better integration, enhanced features, improved support, and customizable modules while finding pricing high.
Currently, some features like SMS or WhatsApp integration are only available to larger user groups, but even smaller teams should have access based on their specific needs.
The current integration is more complicated and doesn’t work as well.
More automation would be beneficial, as it could greatly improve our efficiency and reduce manual tasks.
It makes no sense in my opinion, and they should offer the team at the front to help customize the product to fit each company's needs, as every company has different demands and forms of submitting a request that need adjustment over time.
There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow.
Their customer support could make it a great solution, not just product support but also their relationship with partners and training initiatives in different regions.
Zoho Desk could be improved by making it multi-tenant, as it is currently not suitable for service providers with multiple customers.
The main concern is the pricing of Zoho Desk, as I consider it to be on the expensive side.
 

Setup Cost

Freshdesk pricing is competitive at 79 Euros annually per agent, but additional features and costs may arise.
ServiceNow is costly with complex licensing, requiring negotiation and flexibility, especially burdensome for small and regional businesses.
Zoho Desk offers flexible subscription pricing, starting from $10 per user monthly, with variations based on package and region.
Our organization pays about 200,000 Indian rupees per year for the license.
Pricing has always been handled by the company I work with, and even when I get in-house feedback, I have never had issues with pricing or complaints when compared to what others have outside.
ServiceNow's pricing can be justified if more functionality is required.
ServiceNow does come with a price.
ServiceNow is expensive for all regions.
The pricing for each user is around $350, with penalties if not all users in a company are licensed.
The price point is a concern.
 

Valuable Features

Freshdesk provides a user-friendly, scalable support platform with automation, integrations, and omnichannel capabilities to enhance customer service.
ServiceNow offers flexible customization, fast development, and strong integration, enhancing efficiency across IT, HR, and finance with robust reporting.
Zoho Desk offers a user-friendly interface, customization, integration, automation, and mobile access for seamless multi-channel customer service.
The auto-assignment feature is particularly valuable as it alleviates the administrative task of manually checking for available engineers to assign tickets.
These features are easy to use, and the filtering is really good, providing a good overview of active tickets and who's working on them.
Some of the best features of Freshdesk include automation, user-friendly interface, and comprehensive support options that enhance our workflow.
ServiceNow provides a wide range of functionality, covering all the necessary modules, unlike Jira which is primarily for IT.
Automation capabilities are impressive, bolstered by a vast repository of out-of-the-box connectors and plugins that facilitate integration with various applications worldwide.
The features of ServiceNow that I find most valuable include its ability to easily access ticket details if you know the ticket number, monitor the timeline of when the ticket was created, and see the current status.
Maintenance is easy, and one person is sufficient for handling it, aided by a thorough handoff of key pointers facilitating easier initial setup.
The AI tool, Tele Zia, translates calls into bullet points, providing insights such as when to send emails or contact the customer based on previous conversations.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of Freshdesk is 3.2%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 21.2%, down from 26.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoho Desk is 2.8%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ServiceNow21.2%
Freshdesk3.2%
Zoho Desk2.8%
Other72.8%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Bharanidharan K - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly interface but needs enhancement in ticket tracking and response times
There is no room for improvement in Freshdesk. We can set a time period for particular employees as something that could be better. For example, if some new employees are unfamiliar with Freshdesk, it should be more user-friendly. They need to give shortcut keys to use the ticketing portal. If some users don't know how to generate a ticket, providing them with a help desk or tutorial portal would be useful for the end-user.
Nikhil Gohil - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables effective incident management and seamless workflow automation with valuable mobile accessibility
I haven't thought deeply about improvements for ServiceNow or what might be missing right now. There are so many modules and features in ServiceNow that I haven't explored them all, so it's hard to say what might be missing or should be improved. I suggest making the cost more affordable for smaller companies.
Babatunde-Olugbode - PeerSpot reviewer
End-to-end solution to manage customer support tickets and consolidate all communication channels into one platform
For me, the valuable features are related to customer engagement because I want to ensure I don't miss any customer inquiries, no matter the channel. For example, I haven't seen any other platform that consolidates all channels into one console. That's a valuable feature to me. Then there's the pricing, which is better than Zendesk. Zendesk charges in USD per user, per month, whereas Zoho let us pay in Naira (Nigerian currency). Zoho can also identify user locations, letting you leverage existing reviews. These are valuable features that many organizations have adopted Zoho Desk for. We can download the mobile app to see requests and respond from anywhere. It is one of the most improved applications and widely integrated systems I've worked with. You can virtually integrate it with almost anything, like Microsoft Teams and other data applications. The marketplace lets you find native integrations. For example, we have an organization that uses multiple systems and wants to ensure agents don't log in to multiple platforms to see emails. They have a native integration system that takes care of that and works seamlessly.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Help Desk Software solutions are best for your needs.
866,088 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business54
Midsize Enterprise36
Large Enterprise163
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Freshdesk?
Freshdesk significantly improved our customer issue resolution process. We can now easily record and track all custom...
What needs improvement with Freshdesk?
With the advancements in AI now, I will say Freshdesk should consider integrating more AI, but so far, I am satisfied...
What is your primary use case for Freshdesk?
As a customer success manager for over six years, I can sum up the benefits I've seen from using Freshdesk: it has pl...
Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?
The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into t...
Would you choose ServiceNow over Microsoft PowerApps?
Hi Netanya, I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp. Because ...
What do you like most about ServiceNow?
The solution has a user-friendly interface.
What do you like most about Zoho Desk?
The most valuable features of Zoho Desk are archiving queries and analytics.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoho Desk?
The pricing in Brazil is complicated due to the high exchange rate, with one dollar equaling six reais. Altasnet has ...
What needs improvement with Zoho Desk?
Zoho Desk could be improved by making it multi-tenant, as it is currently not suitable for service providers with mul...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Honda, 3M, Hugo Boss, Petronas, Sony Pictures, The Atlantic, goodreads, Clear Channel Radio, Penn University of Pennsylvania, unicef, Kuoni, Movember
AAA, AstraZeneca, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Broadcom, Christus Health, Epicor, Equinix, GE Capital, Intuit, KPMG, Loyola Marymount University, OshKosh, Quantas, RedHat, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Re, U.S. Department of Energy, Safeway, Yale University, and Zillow    
Intel, Sears, Daimler, Essilor, Aon Hewitt, Shop Your Way, CoffeeRocket
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, ManageEngine and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: August 2025.
866,088 professionals have used our research since 2012.