Collects and handles all of your customer support requests in the form of tickets. It is the basic feature that every help desk software needs to provide to its users.

• Spiceworks – Accept the tickets, reply, add comments and close them after the issue is solved. Use custom fields to track the ticketing process. 
• Zendesk – Has a fully integrated ticketing system that lets you create, edit, and delete tickets. Also, enables you to add custom fields to tickets and request forms.

Winners: Both

Allows your staff to collaborate with other agents so they can resolve tickets together.

• Spiceworks – Share the tickets with your peers by sending an invitation via private message. It creates a copy of the ticket to which viewers can add private notes. Every change is synchronized with the original ticket so you and your team members can see the changes made to the request.
• Zendesk – Using collaboration tools, connect tool-to-tool, peer-to-peer, team-to-team, or internal-to-external. And, get real-time notifications of your ticket updates.

Winner: Zendesk

Refers to the ability to connect with your customers regardless of which channel they use to connect with your brand.

• Spiceworks – Offers multi-site support for different locations. You may set up individual sites and user portals that all connect to your master help desk. But there is no multi-channel support.
• Zendesk – No matter what platform your users choose, you can provide support to them. It can be messaging, social, live chat, email, or voice.

Winner: Zendesk

Basically, both functions let you transfer data from one place to another. With export, you can download the information and with import, you can upload it.

• Spiceworks – You may export tickets from the cloud and desktop (legacy/ on-perm) help desk systems. But you are allowed to import only JSON files to the Spiceworks cloud and on-perm helpdesk.
• Zendesk – With API, you can import tickets, and bulk user & organization data. In case you are not comfortable with APIs, you can use third-party applications from the Zendesk marketplace. Overall it permits you to export data in JSON, CSV, and XML files.

Winner: Zendesk

Integrates an application that connects your staff over the internet or local network and enables them to operate the help desk software from the comfort of their desks. 

• Spiceworks – Provides a free remote support tool, Zoho Assist for Windows and Mac workstations. You can add multiple teams, run concurrent sessions, transfer files, record sessions, get audit reports, and so on.
• Zendesk – It also enables you to use Zoho Assist. Or else you may integrate other apps from the Zendesk marketplace to give remote access to your employees.

Winner: Zendesk

It is all about taking care of your content like articles, FAQ page, their format, and the look of your knowledge base.

• Spiceworks – You may create your own knowledge base by writing articles or else you can edit the how-tos and articles available in the Spiceworks community.
• Zendesk – Write articles or create an FAQ page by collecting your support team’s expertise. Make it accessible to your customers using the Team Publishing feature. In addition, use customizable themes and organize your content.

Winners: Both

A chatbot is a conversational application that is used to interact with your customers and aid your support team agents.

• Spiceworks – No chatbot application available.
• Zendesk – The Answer Bot of Zendesk handles low-priority tickets. While chatting with your users, it gathers information like email, name, type of issue, etc, and adds it to respective ticket fields. It also shares a transcript of the conversation with agents.

Winner: Zendesk

Provides single-point access to your customer-relevant information and self-service options.

• Spiceworks – Your clients can log in and create tickets, check their status, and view the history of submitted requests. Also, you can customize the portal to meet your needs such as adding important phone numbers, customer support center timings, etc.
• Zendesk – End-users can create, submit, update, track, and close requests. They can also access your knowledge base and community forum from the client portal.

Winner: Both

Automatically assign incoming tickets to your members who are capable of handling them through the ticket routing feature.

• Spiceworks – With the Ticket Rules setting, you may auto-assign incoming tickets to a particular agent based on specific conditions. You can also set due dates and priority as per the category of request. 
• Zendesk – Whether the ticket is language, channel, or request type, create skill categories to match the expertise of your employees. Now, based on these categories the software assigns tickets to your agents. Also, automate the ticket queue so that important and time-sensitive ones are addressed first. 

Winner: Both

• Spiceworks – View your team performance metrics in your dashboard or you can configure it to automatically email reports every day, weekly, and so on.   
• Zendesk – Monitor the progress of your team continuously and make adjustments when necessary. Also, customize your reports such as changing the format of the chart or filtering the metrics.

Winner: Zendesk

Active directory usually contains information about objects on the network. Here, you can use it to easily verify the identity of your users.

• Spiceworks – Integrate the active directory to your helpdesk software to automatically add end users and authenticate them in the portal. Also, tag them on tickets.
• Zendesk – You can configure Zendesk to your active directory or Microsoft environment and authenticate your clients using JWT (JSON tokens) single sign-on.

Winners: Both

When an audit happens, if your organization follows certain rules and regulations set by the board, you are presented with certifications.

• Spiceworks – Its facilities are SSAE16-compliant, i.e. SOC2 level.
• Zendesk – Has SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701:2019, PCI DSS, HIPAA, HDS, and many more certifications.

Winner: Zendesk

Refers to the practices followed by your company to protect the data.

• Spiceworks – All your traffic is TLS encrypted. They also perform 3rd party penetration tests at least once a year. The company does hourly offsite backups of all your critical data and stores them in multiple locations. Encrypts your database and daily performs infrastructure security scans by industry standards.
• Zendesk – All of your teams and your communications with Zendesk UI are encrypted by HTTPS/TLS (TLS 1.2 or higher). Your service data is primarily stored in AWS which encodes data using AES-256 key encryption. Also, AWS infrastructure services incorporate backups, HVAC systems, and fire suppression equipment.

Winner: Zendesk

On-site security refers to the protective measures your organization implements to secure the premises of your data center. It is done to ensure that no unauthorized person gains access to your physical equipment. 

• Spiceworks – The data center is staffed day and night by trained security guards. Employees are granted minimum rights required to do their job. Also, they use multi-factor access control and electronic surveillance systems.
• Zendesk – AWS on-site service includes security guards, fences, intrusion detection technology, and many other protection measures.

Winner: Zendesk

• Spiceworks – Your operating system should be Windows 10, 8.1, 7, 2019 server, 2016 server, 2008 Server & windows 2008 server R2, 2012 Server, or windows 2012 server R2 to use Spiceworks.
• Zendesk – It is available for Windows and macOS. In case your OS is neither, then you need for iPhone – iOS 11.0 & higher, android – Android 4.4 & higher, and iPad – iOS 8.0 & higher.

Winner: Zendesk

• Spiceworks – Most of the users report having a good experience with Safari. To use Spiceworks, your browser should be Internet Explorer 11+, Firefox, and Chrome’s most recent versions. 
• Zendesk – If you wish to add Zendesk, the software requires the latest two versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge for your agent and administrator user interface. Note that the interfaces are not supported through your mobile browsers.

Winner: Spiceworks