Freshdesk vs Gladly (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Freshdesk grades higher than Gladly: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Freshdesk grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. Gladly grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Freshdesk
Email ticketing help desk with a knowledge base and AI agents
Free trial · from $19/mo
Which one is for you
Pick Freshdesk if
- Fits if your support team works mainly from email
- Works for teams that want a help center and ticket portal on the $19 plan
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if most of your customers reach you by chat or WhatsApp, which needs Freshdesk Omni from $29 an agent
- Pricey if you want AI help drafting replies, at $29 an agent extra ($35 monthly) and not on Growth
- Skip it if you lean on the AI agent: 500 sessions are free once per account, then $49 per 100
- Tight if you need round-robin routing, several SLA policies or custom dashboards, which start on Pro at $55
- Watch out: the $19 is the yearly price, monthly billing costs more, and there's no free plan after the 14-day trial
Pick Gladly if
- Fits if you run a retail or ecommerce brand with heavy chat, SMS and phone volume
- Works for teams that want service and sales handled by the same AI
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price, as none is published
- Not for you if you want a free plan or trial, because neither is listed
- Watch out: the pages are written for retail, so other industries get less detail
- Watch out: its resolution-rate figures come from customer examples, with no published method
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAFreshdeskFair | 2.0GPAGladlyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGrowth is $19 an agent a month billed yearly, a little under this category's middle of $24, and paying monthly loses the 20% yearly discount. A portal and knowledge base are included, but chat means Freshdesk Omni from $29. | CNo price is published, and the pricing address redirects to the home page. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan with no card needed, so you see everything. There's no free plan, and the 500 free AI agent sessions come once per account, not every month. | FNo free plan and no trial is listed; it routes you to a demo. |
| Features | CEmail ticketing, a shared inbox, a portal and knowledge base, routing, SLAs, reports and an email AI agent. The gap is named in the listing: chat and messaging channels aren't in Freshdesk at all, they're sold as Freshdesk Omni. | BOne customer record, AI for service and commerce, phone, routing and operations. Nothing in the listing is missing. |
| Ease of use | B4.5 from 2,996 App Store ratings for the agent app. Emails turning into tickets is a simple idea to pick up, and occasional helpers can come in on day passes instead of full seats. | CNo store rating on record. Rolled out with a demo and your commerce stack. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, Jira, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Stripe. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B. | BWeb, with Shopify, Zendesk, Salesforce, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. iOS and Android are only SDKs. |
| Best for | email support with a help center from day one | one customer record across chat, SMS and phone |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Freshdesk and Gladly. How we grade
Where they differ
- Freshdesk also covers reports and help center.
- Gladly also covers workflow automation, live chat, sMS marketing and whatsApp messaging.
In commonWebShared inboxHelp deskAI support agent
At a glance
| Freshdesk | Gladly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $19 per agent / month, billed annually | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan, no credit card needed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Freshworks Inc. | Gladly Software, Inc. |
| Price read from | freshworks.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Freshdesk
- Freshdesk plans are built around email; chat and messaging channels come with Freshdesk Omni, from $29 per agent / month billed annually.
- Only 500 AI agent sessions are free, once per account; after that sessions cost $49 per 100.
- Freddy AI Copilot costs $29 per agent / month billed annually ($35 monthly) and is not offered on Growth.
- The pricing page shows annual prices only; monthly billing costs more, as the page offers 20% off for paying annually.
Gladly
- No prices are published; the site routes every visit to a demo request, and a /pricing address redirects to the home page.
- The pages are written for retail and ecommerce brands and mention Shopify integration, so other industries get less detail.
- The pages list no standalone desktop or phone apps for agents; iOS and Android are SDKs for adding chat to your own app.
- The vendor states its figures, such as resolution rates, from customer examples and does not publish a method.
Key features
Freshdesk
- Ticketing and shared inbox
- Incoming emails become tickets that can be prioritized, assigned and tracked, with internal threads and linked tasks for teammates.
- Freddy AI Agent for email
- An email AI agent replies to customers and works through back-and-forth threads. Each account gets 500 sessions once; more cost $49 per 100.
- Customer portal and knowledge base
- Customers submit tickets and read help articles in a portal. Pro adds portal branding, community forums and article versioning.
- Routing and SLAs
- Business rules dispatch tickets on every plan. Pro adds round-robin and load-balanced assignment and multiple SLA policies; Enterprise adds skill-based routing.
- Freddy AI Copilot
- A paid add-on from Pro up that drafts replies, summarizes long threads, translates in 60+ languages and suggests similar tickets.
- Reports and dashboards
- Standard reports and real-time dashboards on all plans, with custom dashboards on Pro and conversational AI insights on Enterprise.
Gladly
- One record per customer
- Every chat, email, text, call and social message lands on one lifelong customer profile with order history and preferences, so agents and AI start with the context.
- AI for service
- Gladly AI answers on chat, email, SMS and voice and works multi-step requests through, handing off to a person with the full conversation when needed.
- AI for commerce
- The commerce agent recommends products from a shopper's past orders and can take payment in the conversation through a secure card form.
- Phone and omnichannel
- A built-in phone system with IVR sits beside chat, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, with iOS and Android SDKs for in-app chat.
- Routing and operations
- People Match routing, tasks, quality assurance, workforce management, CSAT surveys and FAQ management are part of the workspace.
- Works beside other help desks
- The vendor says Gladly AI can run alongside an existing Zendesk or Salesforce help desk.
Plans
Freshdesk
Growth$19
per agent / month, billed annually
Email ticketing and a shared inbox, a customer portal and knowledge base, standard reports, threads and tasks, and roles.
Pro$55
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds a multilingual help desk, custom dashboards, round-robin routing, multiple SLA policies, community forums and 5,000 outside collaborators.
Enterprise$89
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds Freddy AI Insights, skill-based routing, a sandbox, audit logs, IP allowlisting and an approval step for knowledge base articles.
Gladly
Pricing could not be confirmed. See gladly.ai.
Ways to pay less
Freshdesk
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Freshdesk's pricing page offers 20% off when plans are paid annually rather than monthly.
Gladly
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Freshdesk or Gladly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Freshdesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually, and Gladly has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Freshdesk or Gladly?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Freshdesk nor Gladly has a free plan. Freshdesk has a free trial.
Which platforms do Freshdesk and Gladly run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Freshdesk lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.