Freshdesk vs UVdesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, UVdesk grades higher than Freshdesk: 2.6 against 2.4 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 ease of use. UVdesk grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on 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
UVdesk
Open-source help desk for online stores with hosted Pro and Enterprise
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 UVdesk if
- Fits if you sell online and want a help desk tied to your store
- Works for a developer who can run a PHP app on their own server
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to run a server, as the free edition is self-managed
- Tight if you're one person on hosted, because it needs at least 2 agents
- Watch out: the pricing page shows Pro and Enterprise feature lists in short form, so check the plan comparison
- Watch out: full portal customization and unlimited mailboxes need Enterprise at $15 an agent
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAFreshdeskFair | 2.6GPAUVdeskGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BHosted Pro is $8 per agent a month billed annually, but sold in a minimum of 2 agents, so the floor is $16 a month, inside the cheapest quarter ($19). One person pays that. |
| 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. | BThe open-source edition is free with unlimited agents, and Pro and Enterprise have a 30-day trial. Self-hosting means you pay for the server. |
| 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. | CTicketing aimed at ecommerce sellers, with ecommerce integrations, agent reports and a form builder on Pro. The pricing page shows the feature lists only in short form. |
| 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 the free edition is a PHP app you install and keep running yourself. |
| 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. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | email support with a help center from day one | an ecommerce help desk you can host yourself |
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 UVdesk. 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. UVdesk starts at $8 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Freshdesk scores higher, and starts $11 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Freshdesk for less, and 3 score higher than UVdesk 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
- UVdesk is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Freshdesk also covers reports and AI support agent.
- UVdesk also covers forms.
At a glance
| Freshdesk | UVdesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per agent / month, billed annually | $8 per agent / month, billed annually ($11 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | UVdesk Open Source: free to download and host on your own server, with unlimited agents. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan, no credit card needed | 30-day free trial of Pro and Enterprise |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Freshworks Inc. | Webkul Software Pvt Ltd |
| Price read from | freshworks.com | uvdesk.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.
UVdesk
- Hosted plans need at least 2 agents.
- Free open-source installs are self-managed: you run the server and updates.
- The pricing page shows the Pro and Enterprise feature lists in short form, so check the plan comparison before choosing.
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.
UVdesk
- Ticket management
- Email, website forms and marketplace messages become tickets, with workflow rules, saved replies and agent privileges.
- Ecommerce order lookup
- Apps fetch order details from stores such as Magento, Shopify, OpenCart, PrestaShop and WordPress so agents see the order beside the ticket.
- Marketplace channels
- Connects marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Flipkart, plus mailboxes like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail.
- Form builder
- Design contact, feedback and suggestion forms for a website; the form builder app comes with Pro.
- Knowledgebase
- A knowledgebase is part of the product; the Enterprise plan makes it unlimited.
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.
UVdesk
Open Source$0
Free forever with unlimited agents. You host it on your own server and manage it yourself.
Pro$8
per agent / month, billed annually ($11 billed monthly)
Hosted, minimum 2 agents. Adds ecommerce multichannel integration, agent performance reports, form builder and file viewer apps, and data import.
Enterprise$15
per agent / month, billed annually ($18 billed monthly)
Hosted, minimum 2 agents. Adds full portal customization, unlimited mailboxes and an unlimited knowledgebase.
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.
UVdesk
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Freshdesk or UVdesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, UVdesk is cheaper to start with: $8 a month for each person, against $19 a month for each person for Freshdesk. Freshdesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually, and UVdesk starts at $8 per agent / month, billed annually ($11 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Freshdesk or UVdesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only UVdesk has a free plan. Freshdesk does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Freshdesk and UVdesk 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.