Freshdesk vs HelpDesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Freshdesk and HelpDesk share a 2.4 GPA, neither has a free plan and they start at the same price, so the choice depends on whether you care more about ease of use, where Freshdesk grades higher, or value for money, where HelpDesk does.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, features 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
HelpDesk
Ticketing with an AI agent for email, chat, Messenger and SMS
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 HelpDesk if
- Fits if you answer customers by email, chat, Messenger and SMS from one inbox
- Works for a small team that wants tickets and an AI agent from $19 a user
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you lean on the AI: 10 resolutions a month on Essential, 200 on Growth, and extra 50-packs cost $49.50
- Pricey if you outgrow Essential, as Growth is $79 a user billed yearly ($99 monthly)
- Skip it if you want a free plan or phone apps, since it has neither
- Watch out: multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and HIPAA are on the custom-priced Enterprise plan
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAFreshdeskFair | 2.4GPAHelpDeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | B$19 per user a month billed yearly is at the edge of the cheapest quarter ($19). Growth is $79 a user, and that is where the 20 custom fields and 10 teams are. |
| 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. | CA 14-day trial with no credit card. There is no free plan. |
| 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. | CEmail, chat, Messenger and SMS in one inbox, with an AI Agent and Copilot. Essential has 3 ticketing rules and 10 AI resolutions a month, which is the gap. |
| 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, and rules, teams and the AI Agent need setting up before they help. |
| 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 only, with 8 listed integrations. The chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app, but there are no phone or desktop apps. |
| Best for | email support with a help center from day one | a ticket inbox with AI replies built in |
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 HelpDesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
Freshdesk starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. HelpDesk starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Freshdesk scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Freshdesk for less, and 7 score higher than HelpDesk for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Freshdesk also covers reports and help center.
- HelpDesk also covers live chat, sMS marketing and chatbots.
At a glance
| Freshdesk | HelpDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $19 per agent / month, billed annually | $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan, no credit card needed | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Freshworks Inc. | Text, Inc. |
| Price read from | freshworks.com | helpdesk.com |
| 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.
HelpDesk
- AI resolutions are capped: 10 a month on Essential and 200 on Growth. Extra packs of 50 resolutions cost $49.50.
- There is no free plan; the 14-day trial is the only free access.
- Per-user pricing means Growth costs $79 per user / month when billed yearly, $99 billed monthly.
- The pages describe a browser-based product and list no desktop or phone apps; the chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app.
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.
HelpDesk
- One inbox for four channels
- Email, website chat, Messenger and SMS land in the same inbox as tickets, with statuses, priorities and automated assignment.
- AI Agent
- An AI Agent runs conversations using the knowledge, tone and skills you give it. One resolution is counted when it directly solves a customer question.
- AI Copilot for agents
- Reply suggestions and AI text edits for human agents, plus ticket summaries, tag suggestions and similar-ticket suggestions on higher plans.
- Selling through Shopify
- Every plan lists selling through Shopify, and the pricing page describes an AI sales skill with a live Shopify catalog and cart recovery campaigns.
- Rules and routing
- Ticketing rules and automated assignment sort incoming tickets, with 3 rules on Essential and 10 on Growth.
- Teams and reports
- Growth adds up to 10 teams, chat supervision and takeover, agent activity and performance reports.
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.
HelpDesk
Essential$19
per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly)
Inbox and tickets, 3 ticketing rules, 1 AI Agent with 10 AI resolutions a month, and AI Copilot with 5 reply suggestions per user a month.
Growth$79
per user / month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)
20 custom fields, 10 ticketing rules, up to 10 teams, 10 AI Agents with 200 AI resolutions a month, ticket summaries, chat supervision and 30 proactive campaigns.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom AI Agents, multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and audit logs, HIPAA compliance and a dedicated account manager. Sold through sales.
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.
HelpDesk
- Annual discount
Save up to 24% by billing yearly
The pricing page shows yearly billing at $19 and $79 per user against $25 and $99 billed monthly, and says paying yearly saves up to 24%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Freshdesk or HelpDesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, they start at the same price. Freshdesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually, and HelpDesk starts at $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Freshdesk or HelpDesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Freshdesk nor HelpDesk has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Freshdesk and HelpDesk 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.