Freshdesk vs LiveAgent
We give Freshdesk a 2.4 GPA and LiveAgent a 2.6, out of 4.0. Freshdesk grades higher on ease of use. LiveAgent grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan 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
LiveAgent
Help desk with email tickets, live chat, call center and AI agents
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAFreshdeskFair | 2.6GPALiveAgentGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BSmall business is $15 an agent a month billed yearly ($19 monthly), inside the cheaper quarter of help desks, and it already has email tickets, live chat, a knowledge base, a customer portal and AI agents. The call center is on Medium at $29. |
| 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 30-day free trial with no card needed, which is one of the longer ones here. There's no free plan, so after the month you pay or leave. |
| 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. | BEmail tickets, live chat, a call center with IVR, AI agents, a knowledge base, customer portal and forum, and Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp in the same queue. That covers the whole job. |
| 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. There's a lot in one product, email accounts, chat buttons, phone queues and automation rules, so expect a learning curve before it all runs. |
| 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, iPhone and Android, with Slack, Zapier, WordPress, Stripe, BigCommerce and Asana, plus WhatsApp and Telegram as channels and an API. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B. |
| Best for | email support with a help center from day one | email, chat and phone support on a budget |
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 LiveAgent. 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. LiveAgent starts at $15 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and LiveAgent starts $4 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Freshdesk for less, and 1 scores higher than LiveAgent 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 starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually. LiveAgent starts at $15 per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly).
- Freshdesk also covers shared inbox.
- LiveAgent also covers live chat.
At a glance
| Freshdesk | LiveAgent | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $19 per agent / month, billed annually | $15 per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan, no credit card needed | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Freshworks Inc. | Quality Unit, LLC |
| Price read from | freshworks.com | liveagent.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Freshdesk
- Support teams that work mainly from email
- Teams wanting a help center and ticket portal on the entry plan
- Companies that bring in occasional helpers on cheap day passes
LiveAgent
- Teams that answer email, chat and phone from one help desk
- Small support teams wanting a low per-agent price
- Businesses that want a long trial before paying
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.
LiveAgent
- On Small and Medium, Facebook, X, Viber and WhatsApp cost $39 a month each, and Instagram adds $19 on top of Facebook; they are included from Large.
- The call center, reports and SLAs need Medium or above.
- Small is limited to 3 email accounts, 2 chat buttons and 20 canned messages.
- Time tracking is a $19 a month add-on below Large, and each extra knowledge base costs $19 a month.
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.
LiveAgent
- Email ticketing
- Support emails become tickets with collision detection, merging, splitting, tags, custom fields and canned replies.
- Live chat
- A chat button for websites with a real-time visitor monitor and satisfaction surveys. Proactive chat invitations start on Medium.
- Call center
- From Medium up: call queues, IVR, call routing and transfers, and call recording inside the help desk.
- AI agents
- An AI chatbot that hands chats to a person, an answer assistant for agents, and AI that replies to, sorts and summarizes tickets.
- Self-service
- A knowledge base, customer portals and a customer forum on every plan. Extra knowledge bases cost $19 a month each.
- Social and messaging channels
- Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp messages land in the ticket queue. WhatsApp works through Twilio or 360dialog.
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.
LiveAgent
Small business$15
per agent / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Email ticketing, live chat, a knowledge base, customer portal, contact forms, automation rules and AI agents. 3 email accounts and 2 chat buttons.
Medium business$29
per agent / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Adds a call center with IVR, AI agent setup, reports, proactive chat invitations, SLAs, SSO and custom roles. 10 email accounts.
Large business$49
per agent / month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
Adds time tracking and an audit log, and includes Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp without add-on fees.
Enterprise$69
per agent / month, billed annually ($85 billed monthly)
Near-unlimited limits, a dedicated account manager, priority support, no LiveAgent branding and custom billing. Sold after a demo call.
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.
LiveAgent
- Annual discount
About 21% off with annual billing
LiveAgent lists Small at $15 per agent a month billed annually against $19 billed monthly, with lower annual rates on every plan.
