ServiceNow

ServiceNow is a robust help desk software designed to streamline IT service management and enhance operational efficiency. With features like Active Directory integration and SLA management, it allows organizations to manage user identities seamlessly while ensuring timely resolution of service requests. The Activity Dashboard provides real-time insights into ticket statuses and team performance, enabling IT departments to optimize workflows and improve service delivery.

In addition to its core functionalities, ServiceNow enriches user engagement through its Community Forums and Knowledge Base, allowing both employees and customers to find solutions independently. Customizable elements, such as Custom Fields and Email Notification Templates, ensure that the software can be tailored to specific organizational needs. Furthermore, the platform’s mobile apps facilitate support access from anywhere, enhancing responsiveness. By leveraging features like Workflow Automation and Ticket Collaboration, teams can effectively manage workloads and improve customer satisfaction through timely communication and resolution tracking. This combination of capabilities makes ServiceNow a versatile solution for organizations looking to enhance their IT service management processes.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a versatile help desk software designed to enhance customer support through streamlined communication and efficient ticket management. Its multi-channel support allows businesses to interact with customers across various platforms, ensuring that inquiries are addressed promptly, regardless of where they originate. The Activity Dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of ongoing support activities, enabling teams to prioritize tasks effectively and enhance overall response times.

One of Zendesk's standout features is its robust Knowledge Base, which empowers customers to find answers independently, reducing the need for direct support interactions. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also frees up support staff to focus on more complex issues. Additionally, the platform supports customization through Design Customization and Custom Fields, allowing organizations to tailor the interface and ticketing system to their specific needs. With tools like Canned Responses and Workflow Automation, teams can respond to common queries quickly, ensuring a more efficient support process while maintaining a high standard of service.

	ServiceNow	Zendesk	Jitbit
	Enterprise-class ITSM solution	The most popular help desk app out there	Help Desk Software built for email. Trusted by thousands of companies across 50 + countries.
Pricing: 3 years / 5 agents	$18000	$8820	$3897
Pricing: 3 years / 10 agents	$36000	$17640	$8367
Active Directory	✅ LDAP, SAML authentication	✅ Active Directory authentication is possible if you install a special script on your server	✅ Integration via a script for your server or ADFS and SAML
Activity Dashboard	✅ Live activity dashboard	✅ You can put data from some reports into your dashboard	✅ Live overview dashboard
Asset Management	✅ Full fledged asset management with automated discovery	❌	✅ A complete asset management module tightly integrated into the rest of the app
Canned Responses	✅ Response templates	✅ Macros allow you to respond to tickets with a pre-written message.	✅ You can also assign canned responses to specific ticket categories if you need to
Community Forums	✅ Yes	❌	✅ Ideas Forum comes out of the box
Custom Fields	✅ Custom fields via additional database columns	✅ You can add custom fields and use them with other features such as automation, macros, etc.	✅ Many custom field types, including dependant fields. Various privacy options.
Custom Statuses	✅ Custom statuses for tickets and incidents	❌	✅ Add custom statuses, customize how your customers see them and assign different colors to them
Customer satisfaction survey	✅ Separate satisfaction surveys, not tied to tickets	✅ Only on Professional plan or higher	✅ Optional CSATs in email notifications and a report
Design Customization	✅ Custom forms layouts only	✅ You can customize the public-facing pages, but not what your employees see	✅ Unlimited customization options. Change colors with a live preview, add custom CSS and JS
Email Notification Templates	✅ WYSIWIG/HTML templates	✅ You can fully customize most email templates for notifications that your customers get	✅ You are able to completely change a template for any notification type
Escalation	✅ Manual or via triggers	✅ Possible to escalate tickets with workflow automation features	✅ Possible to set up various escalation scenarios via automation
Exchange Integration	✅ Native integration via a plugin	❌	✅ Native EWS support instead of IMAP. oAuth support for Office 365
Import and Export	✅ Import/export from Excel, export to PDF	✅ Starting with Professional plan you can export your tickets to an XML file. Import only possible via API.	✅ Import and Export tickets via CSV files
Internationalization	✅ Extra languages via a plugin	✅ UI is not translatable. You can provide content, such as Knowledge Base articles in multiple languages on Professional plan	✅ Available in 16 different languages
ITIL Compliance	✅ Full ITIL/ITSM	✅ Claims to be designed with ITIL principles in mind	✅ Support for most ITIL processes
Knowledge Base	✅ Knowledge base and the self-service portal	✅ Basic version comes with Professional plan. Full version is only available as a separate add-on	✅ Customizable Knowledge Base optimized for search engines
Live Chat	✅ Yes	❌	✅ A free live chat component in the web widget
Mobile Apps	✅ Only via 'Now' mobile app	✅ Offers apps for iOS and Android	✅ iOS and Android
Multi-channel support	❌	✅ A lot of support channels are built-in in the app: email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.	✅ Possible to add unlimited channels via integrations and API
On-premise Version	✅ Yes, but only the highest pricing tier	❌	✅ A full on-premises version that runs on Windows Server
Reports and Analytics	✅ Yes	✅ Reports are only available on Professional plan or higher	✅ 13 reports with an ability to build your own and to export everything to Excel
REST API	✅ Included	✅ Fully featured API on all plans	✅ API covers all the app features
Single-Sign-On	✅ SAML, LDAP	✅ Most standard SSO options are available	✅ SAML, Google login, Windows-integrated etc.
SLA Management	✅ SLA policies available	✅ SLA features are natively supported in the app	✅ Full SLA automation via actions/triggers
Support Widget	❌	✅ Web widget and Mobile SDK	✅ Two different versions of a web widget
Third-party Integrations	❌	✅ Hundreds of integrations with all popular apps	✅ 30 native integrations and 500 more via Zapier
Ticket Collaboration	✅ Transfer and CC, but no live updates and collision detection	✅ Light agents, side conversations and CCs and followers	✅ See when other techs are viewing tickets in real-time, assign multiple people to a ticket
Workflow Automation	✅ Automation Designer in the 'Now' platform	✅ Powerful engine that allows you to automate any business process	✅ Automation Rules are very powerful and can go beyond simple if-this-then-that logic

Looking for help desk software? Check out Jitbit. We offer a fully-featured app at a very affordable price. It comes with all the must have features like knowledge base, two-way email integration (including native Exchange and Office 365 support), automation, hundreds of integrations with third-party apps and much more. Available both as a hosted "SaaS" version and an on-premises version you can install on your own server.