Struggling to keep up with customer demands?
Well, you're not alone!
In today's business world, managing customer relationships is more important than ever. That's where a CRM software comes in, helping businesses keep track of customer interactions and data.
In this blog, we'll compare two popular tools for customer service - HubSpot and Freshdesk - to help you decide which one delivers the best value for your business.
So, get ready to explore the features, pricing, and benefits of each platform and discover the perfect solution to meet your customer relationship needs!
Freshdesk and HubSpot Service Hub are among the most popular on the market, offering robust features to help businesses manage their customer engagement needs. But which of these two customer service software is right for your business?
Let's find out!
HubSpot offers a wide range of integration options with tools such as Salesforce, Google Analytics, and more. HubSpot's API allows for easy two-way data sync in real-time, making it easier to manage customer relationships and data across different platforms.
Additionally, HubSpot's integration process is typically straightforward, with most integrations being completed within a few clicks.
Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service platform that offers integrations with popular tools like Slack and Jira. While Freshdesk's integration options may require additional configuration and setup, they offer a good range of integrations that can help streamline your customer service operations.
However, it's worth noting that Freshdesk's integrations typically only allow for one-way data sync, meaning that data can only be shared from Freshdesk to the external tool.
Source: Freshdesk,2023
Verdict:
HubSpot's integration options are more robust and flexible, making it a better option for businesses that require seamless data sync and management across different platforms. However, if you're looking for a CRM tool that offers a good range of integrations with popular tools, Freshdesk is still a solid choice.
HubSpot's shared inbox consolidates all customer conversations in one place, including live chat, Facebook Messenger, chatbots, team email, and more. This centralized inbox enables sales, marketing, and customer support teams to access, manage, and respond to all discussions seamlessly.
Your customers want to communicate with you through various channels, and HubSpot's Conversations tool receives real-time messages from Facebook Messenger and your website's live chat, allowing you to respond promptly via Slack, the Conversations inbox, or the HubSpot mobile app.
Integrating your service team's email aliases with the discussion inbox ensures that no communication falls through the cracks and boosts team collaboration. Plus, HubSpot's shared inbox is a free tool, so you can get started without any extra costs.
Freshdesk's shared inbox is a great fit for small and medium-sized teams, as it allows agents to set up customized views for quick access to assigned tickets and prompt responses.
Along with essential features like self-service options, automatic replies, and analytics to improve email conversations, Freshdesk also offers over 1000 app integrations to enhance customer care. With Freshdesk's shared inbox, your team can provide efficient and effective customer support.
Source: Freshdesk,2023
Verdict:
While both platforms offer strong shared inbox capabilities, HubSpot's shared inbox stands out for its seamless integration with other HubSpot tools and real-time messaging capabilities. It provides a centralized location for all customer conversations, making it easy for sales, marketing, and service teams to collaborate and provide exceptional customer service.
Highlights |
HubSpot Service Hub |
Freshdesk |
Trends |
8.4/10 |
8.5/10 |
Performance Tracking |
8.7/10 |
8.7/10 |
Email Tracking |
8.8/10 |
8.8/10 |
Source: G2.com
HubSpot's in-house-built CRM platform offers a comprehensive solution that integrates service, sales, marketing, and operations teams with hundreds of connectors.
This allows for a holistic view of the customer experience and seamless handoffs between service providers and teams. The platform is designed to create a better experience for customers throughout their journey.
On the other hand, while Freshworks offers solutions for various front-office operations, Freshdesk is a standalone solution that is not included in Freshworks CRM.
This can create challenges for teams trying to align around a single customer perspective without introducing extra linkages and complexity. Freshdesk customers may need to adopt Freshworks Neo, the platform solution, to manage added complexity.
Source: Freshdesk,2023
Verdict:
HubSpot Service Hub's CRM capabilities are more comprehensive and integrated than Freshdesk's. HubSpot CRM platform provides a complete view of the customer journey and enables seamless collaboration between teams. This makes it a better choice for businesses looking for a unified solution to manage their customer relationships.
With HubSpot Knowledge Base, businesses can create and maintain a database of information related to their products, services, and operations. The tool allows businesses to easily create, modify, and publish articles, and organize them by topic and category.
Additionally, businesses can easily create, modify, and publish articles and organize them by topic and category to facilitate easy access for customers. The Knowledge Base functionality also features a powerful search engine that enables customers to quickly find the information they need.
Freshdesk's knowledge base software is also user-friendly and suitable for various businesses. It provides pre-built templates to get started and basic functionality to modify the text, upload images and videos, making article creation simple.
In fact, Freshdesk claims that its help desk software can resolve customer queries without needing any extensive documentation.
Source: Freshdesk,2023
Verdict:
Overall, if customization and a powerful search engine are important to your business, HubSpot's Knowledge Base may be the better choice. But if ease of use and simplicity are your top priorities, Freshdesk's knowledge base software could be a great option. It eventually comes down to the specific needs and preferences of each business.
As of March 2023, Service Hub consistently ranks higher than Freshdesk for Self-Service Experience for Customers on the review site G2.com.
Highlights |
HubSpot Service Hub |
Freshdesk |
Knowledge Base |
8.8/10 |
8.7/10 |
Searchable Articles |
8.9/10 |
8.6/10 |
Community Forums |
No Data Available |
8.4/10 |
Mobile Optimization |
8.4/10 |
8.2/10 |
Personalization |
8.6/10 |
8.4/10 |
Source: G2.com
HubSpot offers a range of highly customizable reporting tools, such as dashboards and custom reports. With these tools, customers can generate reports and dashboards that are tailored to their needs.
The reporting features also include different data visualization tools, like graphs, charts, and tables, to help users better analyze their data.
Additionally, HubSpot's reporting capabilities allow for real-time reporting, enabling users to assess and analyze data as it is generated.
Freshdesk provides basic reporting options, including pre-built reports and dashboard widgets. However, compared to HubSpot, Freshdesk's reporting options are more limited in terms of customization. There may also be some delays in data updates for Freshdesk's reporting.
Freshdesk's dashboards provide users with a visual summary of their support activity, displaying important metrics in real time. Users can create multiple dashboards to monitor various aspects of their support activity and productivity.
Verdict:
While both HubSpot and Freshdesk offer reporting features, HubSpot's reporting capabilities provide more comprehensive and insightful data analysis, making it the better option between the two.
Highlights |
HubSpot Service Hub |
Freshdesk |
Reporting |
8.5/10 |
7.8/10 |
Dashboards |
8.5/10 |
8.2/10 |
Customizations |
8.2/10 |
8.0/10 |
User, Role, and Access Management |
8.5/10 |
8.5/10 |
Source: G2,2023
HubSpot Service Hub helps provide customer support in various ways depending on the price package. The free program only offers self-service support through the HubSpot community, where users can connect with peers and find solutions.
HubSpot also offers self-help resources like its online knowledge base and Academy to support customers. And, for customers on the Introductory package, email, and live chat 24x7 support are available, while the Professional and Enterprise memberships include phone support.
Freshdesk, offered by Freshworks, provides two packages: Help Desk and Omnichannel. The Help Desk package is designed to help businesses manage their customer support operations through features such as ticketing, self-service, and reporting tools.
On the other hand, the Omnichannel package offers an all-in-one solution that combines these features with chat and telephony services, enabling businesses to connect with their customers through various channels.
Source: Freshdesk,2023
Verdict:
While both platforms have their own strengths, HubSpot Service Hub has been recognized as a leader and gold medalist in the 2022 Customer Service Management Report by SoftwareReviews, which was based on feedback from HubSpot users. So, if you're looking for a comprehensive customer service platform, HubSpot Service Hub may be the better option.
Source: Softwarereviews
HubSpot Service Hub provides flexible pricing plans that vary depending on the features and number of users required. The best part is that HubSpot Service Hub is free to get started and allows for scalable growth.
The Service Hub Starter plan begins at $20 per month, while the Service Hub Professional plan starts at $500 per month, including 5 paid users. The Service Hub Enterprise plan starts at $1,200 per month, including 10 paid users.
For more details, you may read: HubSpot Service Hub Pricing: Make the Right Choice for Your Business.
Freshdesk's Support Desk plans offer an affordable and simplified customer service CRM solution. Although it provides fewer communication channels, it can still effectively meet your customer service needs.
You can interact with customers through email and social media and create a knowledge base for offline customer support, saving your team valuable time in the future.
However, its communication channels are limited to phone, live online chat, and instant messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
Source: tech.co,2023
Verdict:
While Freshdesk may be a suitable choice for some businesses, HubSpot's Service Hub provides more comprehensive features and flexibility in its pricing plans, making it the better option for those looking for a complete CRM solution.
When it comes to comparing HubSpot Service Hub and Freshdesk for customer service software, both platforms offer unique features. HubSpot Service Hub has a robust knowledge base with an efficient search engine that allows customers to find information quickly. In contrast, Freshdesk offers a low-cost support desk plan that meets customer service demands through fewer channels like email, social media, phone, live chat, and instant messaging.
Additionally, HubSpot Service Hub has a comprehensive suite of customer service tools, including ticketing, live chat, and chatbots. Freshdesk, on the other hand, offers a collaborative inbox, team huddle, and game mechanics that help teams work together more efficiently.
Pricing is another factor to consider, and while HubSpot Service Hub offers plans starting from $20 per month, Freshdesk offers a less expensive version of the platform with plans that cater to small businesses.
Here's an overall rating breakdown of verified user reviews for both HubSpot and Freshdesk.
Highlights |
HubSpot Service Hub |
Freshdesk |
Overall Rating |
4.52/5 |
4.5/5 |
Value for Money |
4.5/5 |
4.5/5 |
Customer Support |
4.5/5 |
4.5/5 |
Ease of Use |
4.5/5 |
4.5/5 |
Functionality |
4.5/5 |
4.5/5 |
Source: Softwareadvice.com
Eventually, the choice between these two platforms depends on your business needs and budget. HubSpot Service Hub is an excellent choice for businesses looking for a comprehensive customer service suite with a powerful knowledge base, while Freshdesk is ideal for businesses looking for a low-cost, simplified version of customer service CRM.
Here's a quick summary of Freshdesk vs HubSpot Service Hub:
HubSpot Service Hub |
Freshdesk |
HubSpot Service Hub is a platform that combines a CRM, a ticketing system, and automation capabilities. It's intended to assist businesses to improve their client interactions by offering a consistent, tailored experience across all channels. |
Freshdesk specializes in customer assistance and helpdesk solutions. Freshdesk, on the other hand, offers solutions for ticket administration, knowledge base management, and self-service portals. |
HubSpot has a range of features like email marketing, social media scheduling, and analytics that help businesses build and maintain strong relationships with their customers. |
Freshdesk, on the other hand, is more focused on customer support and ticket management. |
HubSpot has a broader range of integrations, making it a more versatile option. |
Freshdesk integrations can help businesses improve customer support, increase efficiency, and improve overall customer experience. |
We hope that you've now understood the key features, pricing, and benefits of HubSpot and Freshdesk and assisted you in deciding which CRM tool offers the best value for your business. While both these customer service solutions have their strengths and weaknesses, they are both powerful tools that can help you manage your customer relationships effectively.
Ultimately, the choice depends on your business's unique needs and goals. So, take the time to consider what features are most important to you, evaluate your budget, and choose the service desk platform that best fits your requirements.
Remember, customer satisfaction is crucial for the success of any business, and having the right CRM tool can make all the difference.
If you're ready to take your business to new heights with HubSpot CRM but need some guidance along the way, we're here to help.
Contact us anytime for expert guidance and support on your journey to success.
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