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Drag is the best Zendesk alternative for Gmail users

Here’s a comparison for those that may be looking for a Zendesk alternative.

In a nutshell.

  • Both tools offer shared inboxes, automations, analytics, integrations and mobile apps.
  • Drag works inside Gmail and thus is a more convenient solution for Google Workspace users.
  • Drag does not store users’ emails—they are always on Gmail servers. Zendesk stores emails on their servers.
  • There’s no 2 way sync between Zendesk and Gmail. Gmail accounts don’t reflect actions taken in Zendesk.
  • Public reviews suggest that Drag is easier to setup and manage, and offers better customer support.
  • Zendesk shares inboxes by duplicating emails across team members’ inboxes, posing data security issues.
  • Zendesk is more focused on Helpdesk features. Drag is more flexible in terms of interface and use cases.
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Zendesk alternative: is Drag right for your team?

If you are part of a team using Google Workspace and are looking for a simple Zendesk alternative, definitely read on. We have designed this page to help you make a clear decision and explore insights into why customers switch to Drag.

Ultimately, picking the right tool between Zendesk vs Drag depends on your specific needs and workflow, and this choice doesn’t come down to only feature sets. At a first glance, both Zendesk and Drag offer basic customer support and collaboration features such as shared inbox, automations, analytics, integrations and mobile apps. However, there are key differences between Zendesk vs Drag, from technical approach to pricing.

Drag lives in Gmail.

Drag allows users to manage shared inboxes from the place they already spend their day: Gmail. It keeps the same familiar Gmail interface, meaning the learning curve to start using Drag is close to zero.

On the other hand, Zendesk is a standalone email client, with a new interface and terminologies, which can be overwhelming.

Besides, Zendesk is not only competing directly with Gmail, but also with it’s ever-growing features and community of developers in the Google Workspace marketplace. Zendesk users constantly switch between Zendesk and Gmail.

front alternative

⚠️ Zendesk has no Gmail 2-way sync

Not only Zendesk has its own interface competing with Gmail, but also its syncing with Gmail is cumbersome.

For example, actions performed in Zendesk are not reflected in Gmail. Let’s say you connect your support email account (eg. [email protected]) to Zendesk. You may process emails in Zendesk and archive them when they are done, but all of those conversations will remain in your Gmail account as if they had never been attended to. The same applies for starring/unstarring emails and similar actions.

Due to Drag’s native integration with Gmail, all actions performed in Drag are instantly reflected in your Gmail account.

Pricing.

Drag and Zendesk have contrasting views on pricing. Zendesk is primarily focused on serving large enterprises, and have designed their pricing accordingly, while Drag serves primarily small businesses.

  • Drag offers a forever-free plan for small teams with up to 3 users. Zendesk only offers paid plans. They do offer Startups 6 months free of charge, followed by the full price after that.
  • Zendesk’s entry-level plan is 2.3x the price of Drag’s entry level plan.
  • Upgrading plans in Drag results in a 75% user / month price increase, while upgrading plans in Zendesk means a 200% price jump.

If you’re more of an enterprise customer then Zendesk prices will be more palatable. However, if you’re a small team, Drag may be best Zendesk alternative for you.

Here is an example of comparison of prices:

  • Price per user
  • Ticketing system
  • Email assignment
  • Internal comments
  • Customized automation rules
  • Shared email templates
  • Auto-responders
  • Skill-based auto-assignments
  • Business hours
  • Custom roles & permissions
  • Live-chat support

Drag Pro Plan

$14 user / month

Zendesk Support Team

$19 user / month

Slow support, especially for SMBs.

Public reviews also suggest that the most common reason for unhappy Zendesk customers is a weak and slow Customer Support.

This is particularly the case for smaller companies in the entry-level plans, who do not pay for priority support.

“Product has good offerings but customer support/ account management teams are terrible to work with. Our SMB account manager regularly does not respond to emails in a timely manner, and the platform knowledge of the support team/account manager is extremely lacking.”

Jeffrey B, Product Operations Manager

Reviews.

According to reviews from business software reviews website G2, Drag outranks Zendesk in a number of areas. But there are two that stand out: quality of support and ease of setup.

Drag is overall a more simple tool, allowing users to setup workflows in a few minutes, without requiring IT teams. When it comes to support, Drag also outranks Zendesk by a long way.

Front alternative

Ease of Setup

88%

Ease of admin

88%

Product Direction (% positive)

87%

Quality of Support

93%
zendesk alternative

Ease of Setup

79%

Ease of admin

81%

Product Direction (% positive)

77%

Product Direction (% positive)

84%

Source: G2 reviews.

⚠️ Zendesk stores your emails.

Zendesk stores users’ emails on their own servers. Drag does not store your emails—they are always on Gmail servers. If you are looking for a secure Zendesk alternative, Drag might be a good option for your team.

Features, interface and usability.

When it comes to email, both Drag and Front comprehensively cover the core collaboration features that any strong shared inbox tool needs – assignments, internal chat, file sharing, automations, email templates, custom fields, etc.

If you are looking for a better workflow visualization, then Drag offers a more flexible interface including kanban, list or preview views. Front only supports the traditional Help Desk preview-pane view for conversations.

In addition, there are other limitations of Front that are offered in Drag. For example, in Drag allows a conversation to be assigned to multiple users at the same time. In Front, a conversation can only be assigned to 1 team member at a time.

Alias management is also more straightforward with Drag. You can add as many aliases as you want to each email account, and easily grant permissions for other team members to reply on your behalf or on behalf of a shared inbox email address. Front lets you change the ‘from’ address for your inboxes but does not support using multiple aliases per inbox. You need to create one channel per alias.

Overall, Drag is a good Front alternative for your team if you need to manage email-driven workflows. However, if you need other communication channels such as SMS, Facebook or live chat, then Drag is not the solution for you.

In addition, Front offers more comprehensive data and analytics if you are specifically looking for Help Desk functionality such as CSAT and SLAs – if you have a larger team and their exclusive use case is closing of support tickets, then Front may be the solution for you.

Pricing that works at scale

92% of users increased team productivity after switching to Drag.

DragApp reviews

Free

For small teams that need
the essentials.

$0

user / month, billed yearly.

$0 per user / month if billed monthly.

  • Up to 3 users
  • 1 WorkspaceA workspace can be a Shared Inbox, a Google Group, or a custom board.
  • Team chat and @mentions
  • Assignments
  • Shared drafts
  • Collision detectionCollision detection prevents multiple members from replying to the same email at the same time.
  • Email tracking
  • Permalinks
Try for Free

Starter

For teams starting with collaboration & automation.

$8

user / month, billed yearly.

$10 per user / month if billed monthly.

  • Unlimited users
  • Unlimited WorkspacesA workspace can be a Shared Inbox, a Google Group, or a custom board.
  • Unlimited shared conversations
  • Unlimited integrations
  • Unlimited rule executions
  • Email templates
  • Email notes and subtasks
  • 3-month reporting window
Try for Free

Plus

For growing teams that need to scale work.

$14

user / month, billed yearly.

$18 per user / month if billed monthly.

  • Unlimited users
  • Unlimited WorkspacesA workspace can be a Shared Inbox, a Google Group, or a custom board.
  • Unlimited shared conversations
  • Unlimited integrations
  • Unlimited rule executions
  • Email sequences
  • Merge cards
  • 6-month reporting window
Try for Free

Pro

For teams with advanced email workflows.

$20

user / month, billed yearly.

$26 per user / month if billed monthly.

  • Unlimited users
  • Unlimited WorkspacesA workspace can be a Shared Inbox, a Google Group, or a custom board.
  • Unlimited shared conversations
  • Unlimited integrations
  • Unlimited rule executions
  • Custom fields
  • Custom user roles
  • 12-month reporting window
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“I am very excited to have discovered Drag! I am impressed with this simple, cost-effective and infinitely scalable solution to facilitate our global customer service conversations.”

Anton von Rueden

President & COO @ Boosted Commerce

Read story

Join 200,000+ users using Drag

Exceptional collaboration, automation and communication in Google Workspace

Leading collaboration tool for Google Workspace users

Named Momentum Leader by G2.

200,000+ users worldwide

Spanning across 50+ countries.

No credit card required

No catch – free and paid options.

Setup in under 5 minutes

No IT teams required.

Google-approved security and trust

Google CASA certified, does not store your emails.

99.99% uptime in last 12 months

Monitored 24/7/365.

4.7 stars from 1,200 reviews.

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