Zendesk vs. Twilio Flex: A comprehensive guide

We’ve entered an era in which consumers can access any business or product from the palm of their hand. While convenience is good, it also puts increased pressure on companies to deliver outstanding experiences across channels.

According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2023, 81 percent of business leaders see customer experience (CX) as a growing priority over the next year. Businesses need the right CX software to meet rising consumer demands and provide high-quality experiences consistently—Zendesk and Twilio Flex are two options you may be considering.

While both solutions provide intuitive features, Zendesk stands out because our features allow businesses to create meaningful connections with their customers, scale efficiently, and stay flexible through change.

Here are other reasons Zendesk is the preferred choice over Twilio Flex:

1. CX expertise

We’re a trusted partner and CX authority, and we’ve helped over 160,000 businesses make their CX unforgettable. In fact, G2 ranked Zendesk as the #1 customer service product of 2023. Twilio Flex, on the other hand, isn’t on the list.

2. Innovation

Zendesk delivers world-class innovation right out of the box. We position ourselves as a CX leader who stays on top of emerging trends—like generative AI—and offers best practices to make your experience as simple as possible. Reviews of Twilio Flex, however, describe it as an unpolished platform. Problems with day-to-day functionality could stifle innovation.

3. Total cost of ownership

Zendesk is one of the only vendors that delivers a consistently high ROI with low TCO because our product is simple to configure, customize, and maintain. Though Twilio Flex offers customizability, all changes must be made through its API, which means businesses must have developers on call to make product alterations. Additionally, some reviews say Twilio Flex is a costly and complex platform.

More in this guide:

• At-a-glance comparison: Zendesk vs. Twilio Flex
• Zendesk vs. Twilio Flex: Features comparison
• Pricing plans: Twilio Flex vs. Zendesk
• Customer stories on using Zendesk vs. Twilio Flex
• Frequently asked questions
• Ready to try Zendesk?

Now, we’ll take a side-by-side look at the features offered by Zendesk and Twilio Flex.

An important note: Twilio Flex has the capabilities for dev teams to build many of the features indicated in the chart below (we’ll get into this more later). However, this chart compares out-of-the-box capabilities without the need for coding or third-party integrations.

To get a better idea of Zendesk vs. Twilio Flex, we compiled the following 10 features that should be top-of-mind before making a purchase.

Knowledge base and customer portal

Zendesk offers all the capabilities your business needs to help customers find answers independently, be it a knowledge base, self-service portal, customer portal, or FAQ page. Furthermore, knowledge management systems allow your team to gather all internal and external resources into one location for easy access, resulting in improved agent efficiency and an enhanced CX.

Twilio Flex, on the other hand, does not offer a knowledge base or customer portal. To implement these features on Twilio, you would need to use a third-party integration or custom code, as the platform doesn’t currently have the internal capabilities to support them.

Ticket management and collaboration

Zendesk makes it easy for your agents to track, prioritize, and resolve customer issues. The fully integrated Zendesk ticketing system and omnichannel interface allow support teams to manage customer conversations across channels. All data and interaction history live in a single comprehensive dashboard, so agents have the customer context to deliver fast, personalized service consistently.

Twilio Flex does not have the same native capabilities. Users can integrate Twilio Flex with Zendesk to expand their ticket management or create a custom API through TaskRouter. However, Twilio Flex cannot record or store tickets without third-party integrations or custom dev work.

Phone

Zendesk knows that even in an age of emails, DMs, and texts, sometimes customers need to talk to a real human. Our cloud-based integrated voice software syncs with all other channels and lets agents see key customer information right away, enabling them to deliver personalized service over the phone. Additionally, features like interactive voice response (IVR) routing, call recording, and reporting and analytics can help you improve service performance.

Twilio Flex also has phone capabilities. The product includes features like IVR, call recording, embedded calling, and a connection via the Twilio Super Network. That said, some users have reported issues with call failures and general bugs—for example, one user states that Twilio is sometimes unable to make calls or send chats.

API

The Zendesk Application Programming Interface (API) allows developers to add product features or functionality more efficiently. With API capabilities, users can bulk import customer data, create applications, migrate ticket data, and complete other common API tasks.

Twilio Flex has API capabilities, too. The platform supports HTTP basic authentication and enables users to customize many display and reporting features. However, one user mentions problems with the API due to its complexity and steep learning curve.

AI and chatbots

Zendesk provides a robust AI customer service solution that gives teams advanced, personalized support at a lower cost from day one. Our AI capabilities include:

• Advanced chatbots that solve customer requests quickly or route tickets to the right agent.
• Unmatched CX data based on billions of real-life customer interactions that train our AI to be more accurate and efficient.
• Generative AI for more natural, human-like interactions that infuse intelligence into every part of the service experience.

Twilio Flex is only beginning to roll out AI offerings. In June 2023, the company announced that CustomerAI would integrate artificial intelligence into its platform by automatically extracting customer data from voice conversations. It also offers Twilio Studio, where development teams can construct their chatbots, but it doesn’t offer the service natively.

Reporting and analytics

Zendesk comes with pre-built reporting and analytics capabilities that give businesses of all sizes the power to generate influential reports right out of the box.

• Uncover customer insights: Our pre-built dashboards make it easy to identify customer trends—no more painstaking hours sifting through spreadsheets.
• Improve agent productivity: Monitor how your agents spend their time and identify areas for automation and increased efficiency.
• Analyze real-time and historical data: Access data from previous periods to identify past trends and view real-time data to know what’s happening now.
• Create custom data and charts: Establish your own data collection method with customizable metrics, charts, dashboards, and other tools using an intuitive point-and-click interface.

Twilio Flex does not provide the same reporting and analytics capabilities, and some user reviews have mentioned a lack of reporting tools and insufficient analytical data. While the company offers Flex Insights, at the time of this writing, it is still in public beta and unsuitable for widespread release. Dev teams can use it to implement analytics features, but people without expansive developer knowledge may find it too difficult.

Email support

Zendesk has the email capabilities to stay in constant contact with your customers. When customers reach out to your business, Zendesk will automatically create a ticket. From there, the ticket routes to the appropriate support agent, who can loop in other agents if necessary. All these activities appear in one convenient email chain for the customer.

Twilio Flex also has email support, but it isn’t out-of-the-box like Zendesk. To establish email support, you’ll need a developer to set up a third-party API. From there, they can construct email and task-routing capabilities for your business.

Messaging and live chat

With Zendesk, businesses can seamlessly connect with their customers. Our live chat software enables support teams to directly engage customers in real-time one-on-one messages on web pages. Our messaging software builds on live chat capabilities by offering expanded support via text messaging, WhatsApp, Facebook, Slack, and other social media platforms. Features include group messaging, 24/7 support through chatbots, and third-party integration capabilities to incorporate rich messaging features (like live location maps and embedded payments).

Twilio Flex also offers messaging and live chat. The product enables users to leverage these features across several channels such as SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Google Business Messages. However, one user reported recurring issues with Twilio’s chat functionality.

Customer support

At Zendesk, we don’t disappear after you make your purchase. Our customer experience team works as an extension of your team, ensuring our product has a measurable impact on your business. From professional services to training events, you’ll have the resources you need to help you every step of the way.

Twilio Flex, on the other hand, may be tricky to navigate for teams not familiar or comfortable with coding. While Twilio Flex seems to have mostly positive marks regarding customer support, some reviews have mentioned unresponsive technical support and confusing navigation. The company does, however, offer training events periodically.

Customizability

At Zendesk, we know a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for every customer or every business. That’s why we offer extensive customizability to allow businesses to use our software in a way that works for them. Here are a few ways we do this:

• Custom metrics: In reports, highlight the metrics that matter most and exclude irrelevant figures to make your insights more pertinent to your goals.
• Custom templates: Use our editing features to design the look of your customer touchpoints, from emails to help center articles and everything in between.
• Custom workspaces: Customize agent workspaces to include the most important metrics, apps, and features to increase efficiency.

Twilio Flex also offers customization to give users full control over their experience. The difference is that Zendesk is built for every user, while Twilio Flex is geared towards developers—meaning coding is often required to make changes. User reviews mention the difficulty of making adjustments on the fly and the need for every change to go through developers.

Here’s a look at the pricing plans for Zendesk and Twilio Flex.

In addition to providing robust features and functionality, Zendesk offers a greater time to value, higher ROI, and lower total cost of ownership than Twilio. Zendesk scales efficiently and has CX best practices built-in, so you can get up and running quickly and realize the value of your investment sooner.

Users have expressed their concerns with Twilio’s pricing structure, both in terms of long-term use and when teams scale. One reviewer noted the pricing may not be ideal for larger teams.

Check out what Zendesk customers say about working with us.

Liberty

Liberty is a UK-based luxury department store that’s been in business for 150 years. Though the need for change isn’t always apparent, the company knew it had to do things differently once online sales started rising to almost 50 percent of total sales. That’s when Liberty partnered with Zendesk to streamline its customer support.

Liberty took advantage of Zendesk AI to automatically route incoming support tickets to the right agent at the right time. This change enabled the team to efficiently assist customers across phone, chat, email, and WhatsApp, saving time for all parties.

With Zendesk, Liberty experienced several customer service improvements:

• 73% decrease in first reply time
• 11% decrease in ticket resolution time
• $21,461 in annual help center savings

Taskrabbit

Taskrabbit is a global service network that connects people who need help with everyday household tasks with skilled, reliable workers from their local community. The company’s 300+ support agents provide 24/7 customer service to customers spanning two continents and six languages—and Taskrabbit knew it needed additional assistance.

Taskrabbit began using Zendesk to manage customer interactions over chat, email, web forms, and the phone. The company also integrated Zendesk with Assembled to ensure it had the proper staffing in place at specific times. This resulted in measurable improvements to Taskrabbit’s customer support, planning, and scheduling.

Zendesk enabled Taskrabbit to achieve:

• 90% schedule adherence
• Sub-1-hour first reply time
• Sub-2-hour full resolution time

Accor Plus

Accor Plus is one of the world’s largest hospitality networks, offering premium travel experiences across 110 countries. After years of relying on traditional phone and email channels and seeing ticket volumes increase year over year, Accor Plus was ready for a case management solution that integrated voice support and freed agents from manual ticketing work.

Accor Plus leveraged Zendesk professional services for strategic implementation so it could streamline customer communication and case management across channels, including the company website, phone, email, Facebook, and WhatsApp. With the ability to quickly view member interactions across multiple channels, agents could personalize every conversation and identify upsell or cross-sell opportunities. Workflows also became easier and more intuitive, resulting in increased productivity and efficiency.

As a result of using Zendesk, Accor Plus saw a:

• 352% improvement in ticket response time
• 220% improvement in ticket resolution time
• 20% increase in digital sales

Here are a few frequently asked questions about Zendesk vs. Twilio Flex.