Talkdesk is a cloud-based contact center solution that shines for its customization options and built-in quality management features. We recommend it for contact centers with more than 100 agents and companies that really want to get granular with custom automations, interfaces for different types of agents, integrations, and analytics. You can get a voice-only package for traditional call center purposes, a digital plan for email, chat, SMS, and social messaging, or a combination of the two for a true omnichannel contact suite.
It’s not the cheapest option out there, but it comes with a no and low-code builder to create bespoke communication experiences for your whole team as well as different roles within your company. All without paying enterprise-level prices or paying for custom development.
The Best Talkdesk Alternatives and Competitors
Nextiva, Dialpad, and RingCentral are three of the top Talkdesk alternatives. All of these can support teams of the same sizes and come with similar features. But there’s some variation between them, making them better for different situations.
Nextiva is our favorite call center solution overall. It stands out for its ability to truly support any team size or need.
Smaller teams can get by with Nextiva’s more affordable plans to run a virtual call center with lower volume, and larger companies can use Nextiva’s omnichannel contact center solution to handle voice and digital communication at scale.
Dialpad has some of the best AI-powered features that we’ve seen in this category. It’s a great option for sales teams seeking built-in productivity and automation tools, plus AI coaching every step of the way.
For companies looking for advanced features, tons of integration options, and a wide range of different communications products, RingCentral may work well. It offers a wide range of solutions for things like webinars, events management, and even granular revenue insights–all of which are tools we don’t usually see alongside strong phone systems and contact center solutions.
Our Take on Talkdesk
Talkdesk is a robust, modern contact center—perfect for organizations seeking a blend of cutting-edge technology and features that actually make an impact on your business.
The business communications industry is highly saturated with contact center solutions, so software companies are constantly adding new features or integrating AI functions as a way to stand out from the crowd.
But more often than not, these are just marketing ploys and the features themselves are either underwhelming or not practical to use on a daily basis. Fortunately, this is not the case with Talkdesk.
Beyond the standard features and capabilities you’d expect from a call center solution, Talkdesk has an incredible quality management feature.
It’s an easy way to evaluate customer interactions and provide agents with actionable tips that they can use to do their jobs better.
Talkdesk also provides limitless customization capabilities without having to rely on complex API calls or development resources. Instead, you can use Talkdesk’s intuitive no-code builder to customize call routing, call center reports, integrations, automations, the look and feel of the platform, and really anything else you can think of. For those of you with IT resources, Talkdesk provides API access and low-code options to customize your contact center.
Overall, it’s probably overkill for smaller teams of less than 100 employees and there are more enterprise-grade providers for companies with over 1,000 agents.
But if you’re somewhere in the middle and need advanced customization options, it’s a great choice.
Talkdesk vs. Nextiva
Nextiva has the edge over Talkdesk for most scenarios. That’s because Nextiva can pretty much do everything that Talkdesk does, plus so much more.
Customization and quality assurance are two of Talkdesk’s highlights. If you narrow your focus on those two features, Talkdesk might be slightly better. But Nextiva also has a drag-and-drop call flow builder, API access for teams with technical resources, and built-in quality monitoring tools.
Zoom out a bit, and Nextiva is a clear winner everywhere else.
It’s an omnichannel contact center software that supports voice, live chat, SMS, video social, and email—all under one roof. You’re also getting built-in workforce optimization tools and virtually every feature that you could possibly need to power your call center.
Everything from call recording to automatic call distribution, intelligent routing, customer satisfaction surveys, speech-enabled IVRs, smart dialing, and dynamic scripts, the list goes on and on. There’s a full customer conversation history that’s accessible from a single screen, so your agent can see everything in one place—even if one customer had multiple interactions across different channels.
Talkdesk is slightly cheaper if you’re looking at voice-only or digital-only plans. But for omnichannel contact centers, both providers are about the same price. Check out our Nextiva review to learn more.
Talkdesk vs. Dialpad
Talkdesk and Dialpad are two tech-forward business communications solutions. Both providers have really taken steps to stand out against the competition with strong AI features and automation.
However, Talkdesk is more customizable than Dialpad. If you’d rather get into the nitty-gritty and handle customizations using APIs and low-code technology, go with Talkdesk.
If you prefer pre-built solutions where additional features can just be added to your plan, Dialpad is equally powerful.
Dialpad also has a slight edge with its AI technology. Talkdesk is still very advanced compared to other platforms, but Dialpad has just gone AI-first across the board—offering AI satisfaction scores, sentiment analytics, live coaching, and more. Its AI can even detect and remove sensitive information from calls (like credit card numbers and personally identifiable information).
For sales teams, Dialpad has sales-specific call center solutions that can really help supercharge outbound campaigns.
Conversely, Talkdesk has some really powerful niche-specific call center solutions for categories like financial services, insurance, healthcare, and other scenarios that need to meet strict compliance standards.
Read our Dialpad review for more information.
Talkdesk vs. RingCentral
On the surface, Talkdesk and RingCentral are two powerful call center solutions. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that just 1,800 businesses use Talkdesk compared to 400,000 using RingCentral.
While we can’t necessarily fault Talkdesk for being new and smaller, some organizations just prefer going with a larger and more established solution—which in this case, is RingCentral.
Popularity isn’t the only thing that RingCentral has over Talkdesk. RingCentral also has over 300 pre-built call center integrations, whereas Talkdesk has closer to 60.
RingCentral’s entry-level contact center plan is also an incredible value. Starting at just $65 per agent per month for an omnichannel solution, it’s really appealing compared to Talkdesk’s $85 starting price point, which is not omnichannel. To get voice plus text and digital contact capabilities from Talkdesk, you’ll pay nearly double the cost of RingCentral.
For a more in-depth analysis, refer to our RingCentral review.
Talkdesk vs. Zendesk
Zendesk is an all-in-one phone system, ticketing system, and help center.
Its phone features are definitely more limited compared to other call center solutions, including Talkdesk. Zendesk is more of a help desk and ticketing tool—that also happens to include voice.
It works best if you’re handling a high volume of support across multiple channels. You can use it to field inquiries via email, live chat, social messaging, and more. Then those interactions can instantly be turned into help desk tickets without having to use a third-party tool.
Talkdesk is the opposite. It’s a robust call center system above all else, and it’s packed with voice-specific features that you just don’t get from Zendesk.
Zendesk gives you the basics, like call recording, call queues, and group routing. But things like monitoring, barging, IVR, and even defined business hours aren’t available until you reach Zendesk’s top-tier and most expensive plan.
It’s also worth noting SMS messaging via Zendesk is a paid add-on regardless of the plan you chose. Talkdesk includes this as a standard feature.
That said, Zendesk is still a solid Talkdesk alternative if the majority of your customer support interactions aren’t handled over the phone. The built-in ticketing system is really nice to have, and you can even embed call buttons into your website and mobile app as a convenient way for customers to reach you.
Talkdesk vs. Aircall
Aircall is a simpler Talkdesk alternative.
While you’ll miss out on some of the advanced features and customization options if you go with Aircall, you’ll save a ton of money. Plans start at just $30 per user per month and include unlimited calls within the US and Canada. On the flip side, Talkdesk starts at $85 per user (assuming a three-year commitment), and still charges based on usage.
But as you might expect, there’s a reason why there’s such a disparity in these prices. Aircall just doesn’t have nearly the same features or functionality as Talkdesk.
That’s why we recommend Aircall for smaller teams. It’s good enough to get the job done if you have fewer than 100 agents. But anything above that, you’ll likely need a more advanced and scalable omnichannel contact center—which is where Talkdesk has the edge between the two.
We have a complete Aircall review and a list of Aircall alternatives that you can reference for more info.
Talkdesk vs. CloudTalk
CloudTalk is another Talkdesk alternative that’s better for smaller teams. With plans ranging from $25 to $50 per user per month, it definitely falls into that entry-level call center category, whereas Talkdesk is better for larger and more established contact centers.
Depending on the plan you choose, CloudTalk has plenty of advanced features—including live monitoring, call whispering, barging, call masking, power dialing, IVR, and more.
But CloudTalk’s advanced call routing capabilities are impressive for a solution at this price point. You can benefit from skills-based routing, VIP call queues, caller-based routing, preferred agent routing, and automatic call distribution (ACD). These features are really helpful for optimizing incoming calls and improving the customer experience.
That said, you can essentially route calls any way you want with Talkdesk’s customizable options. You’ll pay more for Talkdesk, but it’s necessary if you have a midsized, omnichannel contact center with at least 100 agents. Otherwise, CloudTalk is fine on a smaller scale.
Check out our CloudTalk review to learn more.
Talkdesk vs. OpenPhone
OpenPhone is better than Talkdesk if you have a really small team. We really only recommend it for teams of five or fewer users, whereas Talkdesk is better suited for companies with 100 to 999 agents.
Larger teams will find OpenPhone’s call center features far too limiting. But with plans starting at just $15 per user per month, it’s a bargain. Especially when you consider that OpenPhone gives you unlimited calling and unlimited texting throughout the US and Canada. Talkdesk’s starting price costs five times more than OpenPhone, and you still need to pay based on usage.
In fairness, you can’t really compare the price between these two providers because Talkdesk is just in a completely different category.
OpenPhone’s features are super basic and not scalable. Even if you sign up for the highest possible tier, all you can do is make and receive calls, record calls, place callers on hold, and transfer them to teammates. That’s about it.
Instead, OpenPhone shines for text-based customer communications. If you have a smaller team and would rather have your customers text you instead of call you, go with OpenPhone.
Read our OpenPhone review to learn more about these text-heavy features.
Talkdesk vs. Freshdesk
While it’s easy to confuse the names with each other, Talkdesk and Freshdesk are very different.
Talkdesk is a true call center solution, whereas Freshdesk is a help desk suite that has some call center capabilities.
This makes Freshdesk more appealing for customer support teams, especially for teams providing ticket support. You can easily convert customer interactions into tickets from a single source of truth.
While you can do the same thing with Talkdesk, it requires a third-party integration from a helpdesk tool.
However, Talkdesk is better for anything other than inbound ticketing support. We even recommend Talkdesk over Freshdesk for inbound support teams that don’t need to create tickets to resolve problems. If your callers just have a basic question or the majority of inquiries can be solved on the initial call, Freshdesk isn’t necessary.
However, we really like the way Freshdesk incorporates team collaboration into its help desk solution. Although this isn’t necessary for all types of call centers.
Our Freshdesk review has a complete breakdown of what you can do with the software.
Talkdesk Alternatives: The Final Verdict
Talkdesk is a high-quality contact center that works really well for scaling or midsize contact centers—especially ones that want total customization flexibility and strong quality management features.
But there are plenty of other great Talkdesk alternatives that are a better fit for different needs.
Nextiva is the best omnichannel contact center for most businesses–it’s versatile enough to accommodate small teams, large call centers, and anything in between.
Dialpad has exceptional AI features and a sales-specific plan that’s tough to compete with. Go with RingCentral if you want advanced features and tons of integrations from arguably the most well-established and popular call center solution on the market.
Consider using Zendesk or Freshdesk if you want a help desk system with built-in ticketing and call center capabilities. On the other hand, Aircall and CloudTalk are simpler Talkdesk alternatives, with fewer features. Both are designed for teams with less than 100 call center agents.
If you have just a handful of teammates and prefer to run a text-based contact center, OpenPhone is a basic yet affordable option to consider.
For more insights and other Talkdesk alternatives, check out our reviews of the best call center software and business phone systems.
