SugarCRM Platform vs Zendesk comparison

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SugarCRM Platform

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

SugarCRM and Zendesk are competitors in the CRM and customer support software category. While SugarCRM offers robust CRM functions, Zendesk's comprehensive customer support features often give it the edge in user preference.

Features: SugarCRM offers customizable CRM features, sales automation, and marketing alignment, serving businesses focused on customer relationship management. On the other hand, Zendesk excels in ticket management, integration capabilities, and a user-friendly help desk system, making it suitable for companies emphasizing customer service.

Room for Improvement:SugarCRM could benefit from an easier deployment process, more seamless integration options, and enhanced reporting features. Zendesk might improve by lowering its cost, simplifying customization processes, and expanding CRM functionalities to compete better with full-scale CRM platforms.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SugarCRM’s complex deployment may require more time and resources for full integration but is supported by strong customer service. Zendesk offers an intuitive, quicker setup process, appealing to businesses seeking rapid implementation with solid user support.

Pricing and ROI: SugarCRM features lower initial setup costs with adaptable pricing models, targeting favorable ROI for CRM-focused companies. Zendesk, though higher in starting costs, aims to offer substantial ROI through its comprehensive suite of support tools, justifying its investment for those prioritizing customer interaction.

To learn more, read our detailed SugarCRM Platform vs. Zendesk Report (Updated: April 2025).

SugarCRM Platform vs. Zendesk

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Helped 849,963 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

SugarCRM Platform

Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers

8th

Ranking in CRM

24th

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

9th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Marketing Automation (8th)

Zendesk

Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers

7th

Ranking in CRM

20th

Ranking in Sales Force Automation

7th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (9th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (7th), Reporting (13th), Knowledge Management Software (3rd), Community Platforms (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the CRM Customer Engagement Centers category, the mindshare of SugarCRM Platform is 1.8%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 6.3%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

CRM Customer Engagement Centers

Featured Reviews

Styliana Araouzou

Senior Operations Analyst at Etoro

Customizable, easy to configure, and reliable

My company is considered a customer and an end-user. I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using right now. It's a company that offers lots of user manuals and you can find most of your stuff there before starting development. I'd advise potential new users to go through everything. I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. By default, it comes with a really good model where you can start working with it without having a lot of developers in your team. It's a system that includes everything related to the client and you can see everything under one screen without having a different product or system. It's been great, for the most part.

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JohanSkibdahl

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Automating customer support with advanced AI capabilities and seamless communication

Zendesk has been invaluable in automating communications such as email and phone calls. It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. This intelligent tool can manage complex queries before users even realize they are interacting with a non-human. Additionally, we have integrated Zendesk with Datto and Klaviyo ( /products/klaviyo-reviews ), enhancing our workflows.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of Sugar Enterprise are the exports of graphics, statuses, complaints, and tasks."

"The most valuable aspect of this solution is its low cost."

"The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards."

"It works well with Jira. You can customize it to fit your needs."

"It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory."

"The most valuable feature is relation capability, which allows us to relay customers with invoice orders."

"We rarely had issues with Zendesk."

"It's very convenient to use."

"One of the most valuable features is the ease of use. If you take the standalone product, it is so easy to use, but if you want a tailor-made Zendesk Guide, you can't do it yourself. However, you can use a template that already exists—they have a lot, and they're very cheap, around 300-400 euros—and use it on all your brands. It's a very easy product to use."

"It's a very stable tool, very powerful."

"What is cool about Zendesk Guide is how it works together with others Zendesk products. Especially with support and with the analytics. Put those together for a small or medium-sized company and it's a really powerful tool."

"The most valuable feature is the trackability of incoming requests. The system keeps a comprehensive history of work requests, making it a useful tool for our internal processes."

"Zendesk Support has a lot of good APIs."

"The most valuable features of Zendesk Support are collaboration, reports, and a self-service portal. The customer and team can see all the information needed from the portal."

More Zendesk pros

Cons

"I would appreciate it if SugarCRM could support us in on-premise implementation."

"You cannot include all your entities under one instance at the moment."

"Sugar Enterprise could improve by removing bugs and glitches. For example, a comment was made but in the comment section, it was never displayed. However, the problems we faced might not be the fault of the solution."

"While it is already user-friendly, a slight enhancement in UI design, especially in terms of color combinations, could make the platform more visually appealing and comfortable to use."

"It lacks customization, and this is the main reason that we are switching to a different solution."

"In the next release, I would like to see personalization of information about customers or specific businesses or opportunities."

"I would like to see more integration on a mobile platform in the next release."

"There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier."

"The solution itself wasn't easy to set up."

"It needs to improve in terms of its flexibility, price, and installation."

"Zendesk Guide could be improved by allowing us to put our assets in one location. What happens now for each article, for example, is we have to upload the images for that article to that location, so the image reuse is still not something that they have perfected. If they could allow us to update all the images in one location, and then pull the image from there, it would be easier when working on Multibrand projects. There are no Multibrand updates available—we have to update each brand manually. For my company, I have come up with an API tool which allows me to push the content to multiple brands together, but if you don't have something like that, you have to manually do it."

"You couldn't give administrative access to new hires."

"One of the drawbacks of Zendesk is that it doesn't provide a secure way for us to send data. So, we usually use a secure SharePoint folder link. We put that in the Zendesk ticket so that the requester has a secure way of getting to their data."

"The solution could integrate better with QR codes from some websites such as Facebook."

"Sometimes if there was a way to just flag the actual issue out of those email chains - that would be really helpful."

More Zendesk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"From what I hear, Zendesk's pricing is a little expensive."

"There are different plans that are offered. We are using the entry-level plan. The overall price of the solution should be reduced. The price is too high."

"We pay for the solution on a yearly basis and my understanding is that the cost is about $30,000. That's the cost for 24 to 25 agents."

"Zendesk's licensing is not cheap. For Enterprise, we are paying $200 per agent. It's a per-month cost, so it's pretty steep. There are some services you need to pay extra for. For example, with Zendesk Guide, we had to buy the most expensive offering in order to get Multibrand and everything. We also had to pay a lot of money for themes."

"You have to pay extra for better support. So it's not only the license that you pay for, but you have to pay extra for the support as well."

"The price is very competitive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

27%

Engineering Company

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Computer Software Company

24%

Educational Organization

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Sugar Enterprise?

The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sugar Enterprise?

All are almost the same pricing. Maybe the cheapest is Salesforce, I believe.

What needs improvement with Sugar Enterprise?

The only challenge was that we implemented it in our on-premise data center instead of using it in the cloud. That was a little bit of a challenge. But it was overcome with the help of SugarCRM com...

What do you like most about Zendesk Support?

I found the user experience with vendors on Zendesk to be straightforward, especially when it comes to understanding and searching for specific tickets. The search and navigation tools are easy to ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zendesk Support?

Zendesk's pricing is reasonable. It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.

What needs improvement with Zendesk Support?

There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier ( /products/zapier-reviews ). However, easier integration could enhance the usability. Multilingual ...

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Product Reports

SugarCRM Platform

Download SugarCRM Platform product report

Download Zendesk product report

Also Known As

No data available

Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell

Overview

SugarCRM is a versatile CRM solution that facilitates communication and organization within a company. Its primary use case includes call and comment logging, account relation, customer detail storage, verification handling, transaction tracking, marketing material management, and payment transaction handling. The most valuable functionalities include customizable exports of graphics, statuses, complaints, and tasks, as well as its scalability, stability, and low cost. It integrates well with Jira and can be easily configured. The platform improves efficiency, productivity, collaboration, communication, and coordination within organizations, while also providing valuable insights and data analytics for informed decision-making.

SugarCRM

Zendesk Support is intuitive, and it's built with support agents in mind. Everything they need lives in a single, dynamic help desk interface so it's easy to be productive and manage customer interactions.

Sample Customers

Redglaze Group, TengoInternet, Hilco, Bancvue, Vet Adivsor

Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber

SugarCRM Platform vs. Zendesk