Freshdesk
Email ticketing help desk with a knowledge base and AI agents
Freshdesk report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 17, 2026
Best for email support with a help center from day one
Freshdesk turns customer emails into tickets your team can assign, track and answer, and even the $19 plan comes with a customer portal and a knowledge base. If your support lives in email, it's a solid pick. If it lives in chat, you're buying a second product, Freshdesk Omni, from $29 an agent.
Who Freshdesk is for
- Great if your support team works mainly from email
- Handy when you want a help center and ticket portal on the cheapest plan
- Good for teams that pull in occasional helpers on cheap day passes
Who Freshdesk is not for
- Not for you if most of your customers reach you by chat or WhatsApp
- Pricey if you want AI help drafting replies, at $29 an agent extra and not on Growth
- Skip it if you lean on the AI agent, since sessions past the first 500 cost $49 per 100
Why Freshdesk gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyGrowth 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.
- CFree plan and trialA 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.
- CFeaturesEmail 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.
- BEase of use4.5 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.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, iPhone and Android, with Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, Jira, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Stripe. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Freshworks' own pages on 17 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/freshdesk#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/freshdesk.svg" alt="Freshdesk: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Freshdesk stands among help desk and live chat tools
Freshdesk's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on ease of use (B, above 16 of 19) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $19 a month for each person, against a middle price of $24.17 for the category: 5 of the 18 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 20 help desk and live chat tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Freshdesk’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 6 of 19, level with 5
- CFree plan and trialAbove 1 of 19, level with 16
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 19, level with 8
- BEase of useAbove 16 of 19, level with 1
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 19, level with 15
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 19 help desk and live chat tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Freshdesk, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Freshdesk you would be making one mailbox that several people work at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 8 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools grade higher. It costs $228 a year.
What you could make
- Help desk, help center and reports: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- One mailbox that several people work at once.
- An AI model answering your customers from your own help articles.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Salesforce, HubSpot and Shopify among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. Freshdesk’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Freshdesk?
Freshdesk is a help desk from Freshworks that turns customer emails into tickets for a team to assign, track and answer from a shared inbox. Every plan includes a customer portal with a knowledge base and Freddy AI Agent for email, while chat and messaging channels are sold separately as Freshdesk Omni.
Freshdesk is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $19 per agent / month, billed annually. See every plan
Good for
- 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
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
Freshdesk pricing
- Starts at
- $19 per agent / month, billed annually
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan, no credit card needed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | $19per agent / month, billed annually | Email ticketing and a shared inbox, a customer portal and knowledge base, standard reports, threads and tasks, and roles. |
| Pro | $55per 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 | $89per 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. |
Read from freshworks.com on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Freshdesk before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountSave 20% with annual billing
Freshdesk's pricing page offers 20% off when plans are paid annually rather than monthly.
Stated on freshworks.com
How people rate the Freshdesk app
4.5
out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app
2,996 ratings on the App Store in the United States, read Oct 17, 2026. It rates the app, not everything the product does. See the listing
Works with
Freshdesk alternatives
- Freshdesk vs Zendesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
- Freshdesk vs Zoho Desk
Free plan · from $7/mo
- Freshdesk vs Help Scout
Free plan · from $25/mo
- Freshdesk vs Intercom
Free trial · from $29/mo
- Freshdesk vs LiveAgent
Free trial · from $15/mo
Common questions
Is Freshdesk free?
No, Freshdesk is a paid product, but you can try it first. 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan, no credit card needed.
How much does Freshdesk cost?
Freshdesk lists 3 plans. Growth: $19 per agent / month, billed annually. Pro: $55 per agent / month, billed annually. Enterprise: $89 per agent / month, billed annually. Prices were read from freshworks.com on Oct 17, 2026.
What platforms does Freshdesk work on?
Freshdesk is available on Web, iOS and Android.
Does Freshdesk offer any discounts?
Freshdesk publicly lists the following: Save 20% with annual billing.
How is Freshdesk rated?
Freshdesk's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2,996 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 17, 2026. That is the store's rating of the app, not a score from us.
Does Freshdesk have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Freshdesk is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Freshdesk have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Freshdesk is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Freshdesk open source?
Freshdesk is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 17, 2026.
What does Freshdesk integrate with?
Freshdesk's listing names Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, Jira, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Stripe. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes Freshdesk?
Freshdesk is made by Freshworks Inc.
What are the alternatives to Freshdesk?
The closest alternatives to Freshdesk in our directory are Zendesk, Zoho Desk, Help Scout, Intercom and LiveAgent. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Freshdesk.
How does Freshdesk compare with other help desk and live chat tools?
Freshdesk's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 5. It stands best on ease of use (B, above 16 of 19) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Is Freshdesk good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Freshdesk C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $19 a month for each person, against a middle price of $24.17 for the category: 5 of the 18 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Could I make my own version of Freshdesk?
To replace Freshdesk you would be making one mailbox that several people work at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 8 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools grade higher. It costs $228 a year. What you could not make: One mailbox that several people work at once. An AI model answering your customers from your own help articles. A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026. What people say is linked where it appears.