Pipedrive vs Zendesk: full comparison to help you make the right choice
Finding the right tool to manage your sales or customer support is a bit like choosing between a Tesla and a Harley: two styles, two uses, two sensations.
Pipedrive and Zendesk each have their own promise. Pipedrive plays the simplicity card for sales teams. The latter is the champion of multi-channel customer relations, from email to chatbot.
But things are changing. In 2025, SaaS solutions are intersecting, complementing and challenging each other. So, Pipedrive or Zendesk: which is really right for you?
We've scoured the user reviews, analysed the features, compared prices and ergonomics to give you the full rundown... without a lot of jargon!
Spoiler: there's no absolute winner, just a logical choice based on your needs.
What is Pipedrive?
Before diving into the technical comparison, let's start by laying the foundations. Pipedrive is a CRM that's simple, visual and results-oriented. Created by salespeople, for salespeople, it's all about efficiency and user experience. But what is it really worth in 2025 compared with a behemoth like Zendesk? Here's what we think.
Overview of Pipedrive
Pipedrive is the B2B CRM for sales teams who want to maintain control without complexity. The tool was born in Estonia (yes, like Skype) with a clear promise: to help salespeople track their leads and close more deals without drowning in indigestible pipelines.
By 2025, Pipedrive had more than 100,000 corporate customers in 170 countries, with a strong presence among SMEs and scale-ups, particularly in tech, consulting, real estate and SaaS.
What makes it so appealing? An ultra-fluid drag-and-drop interface, an action-focused pipeline logic (activity = result), and advanced features without the price or complexity of a Salesforce.
👉 In short, if your sales reps spend more time in Excel than on the phone, Pipedrive has what it takes to reconcile them with CRM.
Pipedrive's main features
What Pipedrive lacks in complexity, it makes up for in efficiency. There's nothing superfluous here, just practical tools to help you close faster. Everything is designed to guide the salesperson, step by step, right through to signature.
Here are the key features to remember:
- Drag-and-drop pipeline management: ultra-visual, each opportunity moves from one stage to the next just like on a Trello board. Easy to learn, addictive to use.
- Intelligent automation: automatic reminders, task creation, pre-filled emails... Save clicks and reduce oversights. Even the most meticulous sales reps will find their way around.
- Email tracking & templates: Pipedrive notifies you as soon as a prospect opens an email or clicks on a link. Combined with customisable templates, this saves time and increases relevance.
- Sales reporting: personalised dashboards, sales forecasts, individual performance... Everything you need to keep your team on track.
- Native integration with prospecting tools: like LeadBooster (chatbot, forms, active prospecting), or Smart Docs for managing quotes and contracts.
- Efficient Mobile App: the app doesn't just make up the numbers. You can really work from your smartphone without pulling your hair out.
In short, Pipedrive doesn't try to do everything, but what it does, it does well. And that's often what you expect from a good sales CRM.
Pipedrive
Advantages and disadvantages of Pipedrive
Before you reach for your credit card (or migrate your CRM in a hurry), let's take a look at what Pipedrive has going for it - and what might be holding it back.
Because yes, even the nicest CRMs have their grey areas.
✅ What we like about Pipedrive
- A clear, intuitive interface: no need for 3 days' training. You can get to grips with the tool in a matter of minutes, even if you're not a CRM geek.
- Total focus on sales: Pipedrive doesn't spread itself too thin. It stays focused on what it does best: helping salespeople sell better and faster.
- Accessible automation: no need for a dedicated admin to create effective workflows. The tool is designed for teams in the field.
- Excellent value for money: for an SME, Pipedrive offers much more than a basic CRM, without the complexity of HubSpot or Salesforce.
- A well-documented API + numerous integrations: Slack, Google Workspace, Zoom, Zapier... The ecosystem is solid.
⚠️ What could hold it back
- Not suited to customer support: forget tickets, SLAs or integrated live chat. It's not the heart of the reactor.
- Advanced reporting as a paying option: some useful metrics (advanced forecasts, customised reports) require higher plans.
- Less relevant for marketing teams: no native emailing module worthy of the name, and no fine-tuned upstream lead management.
- Limited multi-pipeline management: possible, but not ultra-smooth for companies with several sales cycles.
What is Zendesk?
A different world. Zendesk is the champion of customer service, and has been the preferred tool of support teams for over a decade. Where Pipedrive optimises sales pipelines, Zendesk orchestrates customer relations across all channels: email, chat, telephone, social networks... even carrier pigeons will find their way around.
But beware: Zendesk is not just for support teams. In 2025, the platform was beefed up to include a real CRM logic geared towards customer experience (CX). The result? It's also appealing to marketing teams, product managers and even HR.
Overview of Zendesk
Launched in 2007 in Copenhagen (yes, all that hygge), Zendesk is now a global SaaS heavyweight, with over 160,000 customers in 160 countries. They range from agile SMEs to major groups like Airbnb, Shopify and Uber.
What Zendesk promises is to make customer support as fluid as a conversation between mates, whatever the channel.
But beyond the simple helpdesk, the platform now offers a complete CRM suite (Zendesk Sell, formerly Base CRM), and a self-service logic powered by AI.
Its target audience? Mainly support and customer relations teams, but also companies focused on user experience, particularly in SaaS, e-commerce and healthcare.
Clearly, Zendesk is the choice of companies that want to industrialise their support without sacrificing the human relationship.
Key features of Zendesk
Zendesk isn't just a ticket centre. It's an ultra-complete CX platform that connects teams to customers across all channels with advanced tracking, automation and personalisation.
Here are the key features that will make it strong in 2025:
- Multi-channel ticketing system: emails, live chat, calls, social networks, FAQs, etc. All customer exchanges are centralised in a single interface. You can follow each request from A to Z, without pulling your hair out.
- Intelligent help centre: creation of knowledge bases and dynamic FAQs. Zendesk even offers automatic article suggestions based on requests received.
- Intelligent routing and automation: prioritisation of tickets, assignment to the most competent agent, predefined responses... It's assistance on autopilot.
- Zendesk Sell (integrated CRM): for managing leads and opportunities, with a visual pipeline, scoring, contact history, etc. A truly integrated sales tool.
- Analytics and advanced reporting: customisable reports on support performance, response times, customer satisfaction (CSAT/NPS), etc. Ideal for large-scale management.
Self-service tools and AI: chatbot, predictive responses, article suggestions, etc. Zendesk capitalises on AI to reduce the workload on agents.
Zendesk
Advantages and disadvantages of Zendesk
Zendesk has all the makings of a good customer service student: structured, comprehensive and connected. But behind all this well-oiled efficiency, there are a few things that can go wrong, especially if you're looking for the flexibility of a more commercial CRM. Let's sort out its real qualities... and its little flaws.
✅ What we like about Zendesk
- Ultra-solid multi-channel coverage: whether your customers contact you by chat, email, social networks or telephone, everything comes together in a unified interface.
- A hyper-mature ticketing system: automations, macros, triggers... Everything can be customised to suit your support processes.
- Powerful self-service tools: FAQ, help centre, chatbot, AI... Customers can find the answers they need themselves, without having to wait for an agent.
- Integrated Zendesk Sell: even if it's not a full-fledged CRM like Pipedrive, the sales brick holds its own for customer relations teams.
- Scalability for large teams: fine-tuned management of roles, SLAs, queues, etc. Zendesk remains fluid even with 100 agents.
⚠️ What can hold you back
- A dense interface for beginners: the learning curve is steeper than with Pipedrive, especially for small teams without technical support.
- Rapidly escalating costs: each additional module or channel (chat, telephony, AI) can push up the bill, especially for growing organisations.
- Less flexibility for pure sales: Zendesk Sell is effective, but can't compete with full sales CRMs like HubSpot, Pipedrive or Salesforce.
- Parameterisation can be complex: to get the best out of Zendesk, you need to love workflows, routing rules and customised dashboards. Not for those allergic to configuration.
Pipedrive vs Zendesk: compare features
Pipedrive and Zendesk are not exactly playing in the same league. One is designed for salespeople, the other for support teams. But in 2025, the lines are changing: Pipedrive is integrating lead gen, Zendesk is pushing its CRM brick... Which is why it's worth digging deeper.
Here's a summary table to help you pinpoint the major strengths of each 👇
| Key functionality | Pipedrive | Zendesk | Comments |
| Sales pipeline management | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Basic (Zendesk Sell) | Pipedrive remains more visual and intuitive |
| Multi-channel customer support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | Zendesk excels across all channels |
| Automations | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | More accessible on the Pipedrive side |
| Help centre / FAQ | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | Does not exist on Pipedrive |
| Email & document tracking | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Limited (via Sell) | Advantage to Pipedrive on the sales side |
| Third party integrations | ✅ Large | ✅ Very broad | Solid ecosystems on both sides |
| Mobile interface | Ergonomic | ✅ Solid | Highly rated mobile apps |
| Customised reporting | ⚠️ Limited as standard | ✅ Very advanced | Zendesk more advanced natively |
| AI and support automation | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | Zendesk is betting big on AI |
| CRM focused on customer relations | ⚠️ Basic | ✅ Yes | Zendesk relies on a complete CX vision |
Focus 1: Sales and pipeline management
At Pipedrive, the pipeline is king. Drag and drop an opportunity, schedule a reminder, track the day's activities: it's all done in the blink of an eye. It's fluid, visual and motivating. Salespeople can literally live in their pipeline.
Zendesk's 'Sell' brick can also be used to manage a pipeline, but it's more rigid and less intuitive. Complex or multi-stage sales cycles are easier to manage with Pipedrive.
👉 To remember
to manage its sales, Pipedrive is still one step ahead.
Focus 2: Customer support and ticket management
This is where Zendesk comes into its own. Emails, live chat, social networks, telephone: everything is centralised, tracked and logged. The ultra-customisable ticket system means that requests can be handled methodically, quickly and with empathy.
Pipedrive does not offer any native customer support functions. You can cobble together a few integrations, but it's clearly not designed for it.
👉 To remember
Zendesk is the benchmark for multi-channel support teams.
Focus 3: Automation and workflows
Both applications offer automation.
Pipedrive gets straight to the point: in just 3 clicks, you can programme a reminder, an email or a task. Ideal for small teams who want to get organised without getting bogged down in conditional rules.
Zendesk, on the other hand, shines with the power of its rules and triggers engine. You can automate to the point of absurdity (in a good way), but it takes a bit of time and expertise to set everything up properly.
👉 To remember
Pipedrive is quicker to learn, Zendesk more powerful for complex workflows.
Focus 4: AI and self-service
Zendesk has clearly taken the AI turn. Suggested answers, intelligent ticket classification, predictive analysis, chatbot... Customer support is becoming proactive and scalable.
Pipedrive, on the other hand, remains very "human". No native AI (or very little), and no automated help centre.
👉 To remember
If intelligent automation and scalability are key for you, Zendesk is the best choice.
Focus 5: Customer care & user experience
Zendesk is now positioned as a customer experience (CX) platform. This goes beyond support: it provides a 360° view of interactions with each customer.
Pipedrive remains focused on sales performance. We track the actions taken, but the customer view is more transactional than relational.
👉 To remember
Zendesk provides a more global view of the customer, whereas Pipedrive maintains a very dirty "pipeline" focus.
Pipedrive vs Zendesk : price comparison (2025)
(Prices per user/agent/month, invoiced annually)
| Plan / Software | Pipedrive | Zendesk (CX Suite) |
| Entry plan | Lite - €14
|
Team Support - €19
|
| Intermediate plan | Growth - €39 Lite + Plan
|
Team Suite - €55 Team Support +
|
| Advanced plan | Premium Plan - €49 Growth + Plan
|
Professional Suite - €115 Team + Suite - Intelligent routing - Customised dashboards - Advanced permissions |
| Full plan | Ultimate Plan - €79 Premium Plan +
|
Enterprise Suite - on quotation - Sandbox - Extended API - Conversational AI - Enhanced security |
👉 To remember
- Pipedrive: excellent value for money for sales-oriented SMEs. The plans are easy to understand and upgrading is painless.
- Zendesk: very comprehensive, but every step of the way costs money. It should be reserved for organisations with a real need for multi-agent CX and rapid scalability.
Pipedrive vs Zendesk: which interface is more intuitive?
Between a CRM designed for busy salespeople and a support platform designed for structured teams, the user experience is neither the same... nor aimed at the same audience.
But a good interface is one that you forget when you use it. So who's doing best in terms of UX in 2025?
Pipedrive interface: designed for fast action
Pipedrive's interface is clear, visual and straightforward. The home screen gives direct access to opportunities, the pipeline and the day's tasks. Each item is easy to drag and drop, and the action buttons are clearly labelled.
✅ We like:
- Simple navigation, with no complex menus.
- The motivating, customisable pipeline.
- Quick access to automated functions.
- The smooth-running mobile application.
⚠️ Worth noting:
- Less functional depth: some settings are simplistic.
- Little UX customisation in terms of display or roles.
Zendesk interface: powerful but denser
Zendesk is a big, well-oiled machine. The interface has recently been redesigned to make it easier to read, but it's still pretty busy. This is to be expected: the solution manages numerous channels, workflows, roles, ticket levels, etc.
✅ We like:
- The "omnichannel" dashboard, so you can keep track of everything at a glance.
- Optimised agent interface with shortcuts, macros and AI suggestions.
- Fine-tuned customisation according to teams, roles and ticket status.
⚠️ Please note:
- The interface can be intimidating at first (especially outside customer support).
- The navigation logic is not always intuitive without training.
UX comparison table
| Criteria | Pipedrive | Zendesk |
| Easy to navigate | ✅ Very fluid | ⚠️ Dense, requires learning |
| Quick to learn | ✅ Yes, immediate | ❌ No, training recommended |
| Visual customisation | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ Very extensive |
| Adapted to mobile | ✅ Yes, very good support | ✅ Yes also |
| Business-oriented UX | ✅ Sales | ✅ Support / Customer service |
👉 To remember
- Pipedrive is ideal if you're looking for a tool that's quick to learn and frictionless, even for a small team.
- Zendesk, on the other hand, offers an ultra-rich but demanding UX, which reveals its power once you've mastered it.
Pipedrive vs Zendesk: compare integrations
A SaaS solution, however powerful, can no longer exist in silos.
What do we want in 2025? Tools that talk to each other, without headaches or long lines of code.
Integration comparison table
| Criteria | Pipedrive | Zendesk |
|---|---|---|
| Number of integrations | ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩ (~400 apps) Focus on sales, prospecting, diary, invoicing, communication |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (+1300 apps) Focus on customer relations, collaboration, analytics, telephony |
| Ease of integration | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2-click connection, simple API, ultra-accessible Zapier/Make |
⭐⭐⭐⭐✩ Rich Marketplace, robust API, but parameterisation can be technical |
| Automation | ⭐⭐⭐✩✩ Simple workflows (reminders, tasks, pipelines). Advanced automation via Zapier |
⭐⭐⭐⭐✩ Intelligent routing, macros, triggers and built-in AI for support. |
👉 To remember
- Pipedrive: designed for simplicity and commercial efficiency. Perfect for SMEs that want to quickly connect their CRM to their day-to-day tools.
- Zendesk: designed for complex CX environments with rich integrations and powerful automations. But you'll sometimes need to invest some time (and a bit of technique) to exploit its full potential.
When to choose Pipedrive or Zendesk?
There's no single winner here. As is often the case with SaaS, everything depends on your business context: objectives, team, digital maturity.
So rather than axe you, we're here to help you make the right choice based on what's really going on in the field.
If you're a sales-oriented team... choose Pipedrive
Pipedrive is the tool that speaks the language of sales: visual pipeline, rapid actions, frictionless automation.
It's the perfect CRM for teams who want to close faster without getting bogged down.
👉 Choose Pipedrive if:
- You're an SME or B2B startup.
- Your priorities are sales follow-up, follow-ups and signing
- You're looking for a tool that's easy to deploy and requires no training
- Your marketing or support team already uses other dedicated tools
- You don 't need an integrated support centre or FAQs
Case study:
- A digital agency wants to track its leads from brief to signature.
- A SaaS start-up wants to structure its sales cycle with limited resources.
- A consultancy wants to automate its follow-ups without recruiting a CRM administrator.
If you're a support or customer relations team... choose Zendesk!
Zendesk is the Rolls Royce of customer support: omnichannel, structured, intelligent.
And for the past few years, it's been enhanced with CRM building blocks for a complete customer experience, from initial enquiry to loyalty.
👉 Choose Zendesk if:
- You manage a multi-channel support team
- Your customers contact you via chat, email, social networks, telephone
- You want to centralise exchanges in a structured space
- You need a help centre, chatbots, AI or SLAs
- You have a team capable of configuring advanced workflows
Case studies:
- An e-tailer wants to industrialise its support with 10 multilingual agents.
- A B2B company receives 100 tickets a day via different channels.
- A SaaS platform wants to create an intelligent help centre + a ticketing system connected to the CRM.
👉 To remember
- Pipedrive for closer. Zendesk to serve.
- One is for salespeople in a hurry, the other for structured support teams.
- And if your company is at a crossroads? There's nothing to stop you combining them intelligently (via Zapier, API, etc.).
Things to remember about the Pipedrive vs Zendesk battle
Zendesk or Pipedrive, CRM or support, pipeline or ticketing...
We've analysed, compared, scored and sorted. Now it's time for a clear, useful summary to help you make strategic decisions without overheating your brain.
A summary of our major strengths
- Pipedrive is the agile CRM for those who want to sell more, without drowning in complex tools.
- Zendesk is the complete CX platform for those who want to offer fluid, automated, multi-channel customer service.
Neither one does its job badly, but they don 't meet the same needs.
Need / Recommendation table
| Your need | Our recommendation |
| Track your leads and opportunities easily | ✅ Pipedrive |
| Centralise customer requests across all channels | ✅ Zendesk |
| Launch a CRM quickly without complex training | ✅ Pipedrive |
| Offer structured customer support with FAQs, chat and AI | ✅ Zendesk |
| Keep an exclusively commercial focus | ✅ Pipedrive |
| Monitor all customer relations over time | ✅ Zendesk |
| Work in a small team with a simple but powerful tool | ✅ Pipedrive |
| Manage a large support team with automatic routing and SLAs | ✅ Zendesk |
| Easily connect the tool to other business apps | ✅ Pipedrive |
| Create complex, customised customer support workflows | ✅ Zendesk |
Pipedrive vs Zendesk FAQ
1. Can Pipedrive manage customer support like Zendesk?
❌ Not really. Pipedrive is a commercial CRM, not a support platform.
It doesn't manage tickets, SLAs or customer multi-channel. If you have a real support team, you're better off opting for Zendesk or a specialist tool.
2. Can Zendesk replace a commercial CRM like Pipedrive?
⚠️ Yes, in some cases, but with limits.
Zendesk includes a CRM brick (Zendesk Sell), which is sufficient for simple sales cycles, but it remains less visual and intuitive than Pipedrive.
👉 For a real sales culture, Pipedrive remains more relevant.
3. Which tool is easiest to learn?
Pipedrive. It's designed to be up and running in a few hours, without any training.
Zendesk is more comprehensive, but also denser and often requires structured onboarding.
4. Which software is best suited to a growing SME?
🎯 It all depends on your priority:
- To develop your sales → Pipedrive
- To structure your customer support → Zendesk
💡 You can also have them coexist intelligently (via Zapier or API).
5. Can you customise both tools?
✅ Yes, but with nuances:
- Pipedrive allows quick, guided customisation, particularly of pipelines, fields, activities.
- Zendesk offers deeper, but also more technical customisation(forms, roles, macros, dashboards, etc.).
6. Do both tools offer a mobile app?
Yes !
- Pipedrive: highly rated mobile application, fluid, perfect for sales people on the move.
- Zendesk: solid application, designed for support agents, with access to tickets and notifications.
7. Are the integrations easy to set up?
- Pipedrive: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ → Very simple, even for non-techies.
- Zendesk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩ → More powerful but often more technical.
Article translated from French