FreeScout vs Freshdesk
A side-by-side comparison of FreeScout and Freshdesk on what each one charges, what it meters, and which plan every capability actually sits on.
The short answer
10 of the 14 capabilities tracked on both differ, mostly in Ticketing and Reporting.
| Measure | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Free | $19/seat/mo |
| Charged per | Not published | Each agent seat |
| AI billed at | Not published | $0.49 per AI session |
| Included, where the other says no | 0 capabilities | 2 capabilities |
Capability by capability
10 of the 14 capabilities tracked on both products differ.
Channels
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| IncludedFree core. FreeScout is a shared mailbox first, connected over IMAP and SMTP. | Included | |
| Live chat | Paid add-onLive Chat Module, $13.00 once per instance. | Not published |
| SMS | Paid add-onSMS Tickets Module (Twilio), $12.00 once per instance. SMS Notifications is a separate $8.00 module. | Not published |
| Paid add-onWhatsApp Integration Module (Meta Cloud API), $4.00 once per instance. | Not published | |
| Instagram / Facebook | Paid add-onFacebook Integration Module, $4.00 once per instance. Instagram is not published as a channel. | Not published |
| X / Twitter | Paid add-onTwitter Integration Module, $14.00 once per instance. | Not published |
| Community forum | Not published | IncludedPro and above. Forums are also included in the account XML export. |
Ticketing
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Shared inbox | IncludedFree core. | Not published |
| Ticket queues | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
| SLA policies | Paid add-onSLA rules are part of the Workflows Module, $14.99 once per instance. | IncludedMultiple SLA policies require Pro. |
| Business hours | Not published | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. |
| Macros / saved replies | Paid add-onSaved Replies Module, $4.99 once per instance. Not in the free core. | Not published |
| Side conversations | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
| Custom fields | Paid add-onCustom Fields Module, $7.99 once per instance. User Fields is a separate $8.00 module. | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. |
| Custom objects | Not published | IncludedEnterprise $89 an agent only. |
| Ticket forms | Not published | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. |
Routing & automation
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Skills-based routing | Not published | IncludedEnterprise. Intelligent routing arrives on Pro. |
| Round-robin assignment | Not published | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. |
| Load balancing | Not published | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. |
| Triggers | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
| Workflow builder | Paid add-onWorkflows Module, $14.99 once per instance. | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
| Escalation rules | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
AI resolution
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous resolution agent | NoThe free core ships no AI. A ChatGPT Module and a Chrome GPT Assistant are announced as paid modules on the vendor news list, with prices Unknown, and neither is documented as resolving a conversation without an agent. | IncludedAll plans. 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions included, then $49 per 100. Billed per session, not per resolution. |
| Resolution over knowledge base | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, first 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions included, then $49 per 100 sessions. |
| Multilingual AI | Not published | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on ($29/agent/mo annual), Pro and Enterprise only. Live translation in 60+ languages. |
AI assist
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Reply drafting | Not published | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on at $29 an agent a month billed annually, and only on Pro $55 and Enterprise $89. Not sold on Growth at any price. |
| Tone rewrite | Not published | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on at $29 an agent a month billed annually, and only on Pro $55 and Enterprise $89. Not sold on Growth at any price. |
| Summarization | Not published | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on at $29 an agent a month billed annually, and only on Pro $55 and Enterprise $89. Not sold on Growth at any price. |
| Translation | Not published | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on at $29 an agent a month billed annually, and only on Pro $55 and Enterprise $89. Not sold on Growth at any price. |
| Next-best-action | Not published | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on at $29 an agent a month billed annually, and only on Pro $55 and Enterprise $89. Not sold on Growth at any price. |
| Sentiment analysis | Not published | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on at $29 an agent a month billed annually, and only on Pro $55 and Enterprise $89. Not sold on Growth at any price. |
AI voice
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Voice agent | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The three Freddy sections cover an email agent, a copilot and insights. Voice is Freshcaller, a separate product with its own bill. |
| IVR replacement | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The three Freddy sections cover an email agent, a copilot and insights. Voice is Freshcaller, a separate product with its own bill. |
| Real-time transcription | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The three Freddy sections cover an email agent, a copilot and insights. Voice is Freshcaller, a separate product with its own bill. |
| Call summarization | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The three Freddy sections cover an email agent, a copilot and insights. Voice is Freshcaller, a separate product with its own bill. |
Knowledge base
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Public help center | Paid add-onKnowledge Base Module, $12.00 once per instance, attached to a mailbox. | IncludedAll plans. Portal customisation and article versioning require Pro. |
| Versioning | Not published | IncludedPro and above. Approval workflow and flexible KB hierarchy are Enterprise. |
| Localization | Not published | IncludedPro and above (multilingual helpdesk and knowledge base translation). |
| AI answers over KB | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, first 500 sessions included, then $49 per 100 sessions. |
Self-service
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Chatbot flows | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. |
| Order lookup | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. |
| Returns / RMA | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. |
| Account actions | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. |
QA & workforce
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation QA scoring | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Automated QA coverage | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Calibration | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Agent scorecards | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Forecasting | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Scheduling | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Adherence tracking | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
Reporting
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Prebuilt dashboards | Paid add-onReports Module, $14.99 once per instance. Wallboards is a separate $14.99 module. | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
| Custom reports | Not published | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. |
| Raw data export | Paid add-onExport Conversations Module, $6.00 once per instance, for CSV. A database dump is free and ungated. | IncludedNot plan-gated. The account export is self-serve on every plan. |
| Data warehouse sync | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The analytics section lists six capabilities and none of them moves data out. |
| CSAT / NPS | Paid add-onSatisfaction Ratings Module, $8.99 once per instance. | Not published |
| Real-time reporting | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
Collaboration
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Internal notes | Not published | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
| @mentions | Paid add-onMentions Module, $5.00 once per instance. | Not published |
| Assignment | IncludedFree core, with "User can see only assigned conversations" and "Hide from Assign list" as per-user restrictions. | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. |
| Approvals | Not published | IncludedEnterprise $89 an agent only. |
Enterprise
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| SAML SSO | Paid add-onSAML SSO Module, $10.00 once per instance. LDAP Integration is a separate $17.99 module. | IncludedAll three plans including Growth. JWT authentication is Enterprise. |
| Role-based access control | IncludedFree core: an admin and user split with per-mailbox permissions. The paid Teams Module ($11.00) groups users. | Not published |
| Custom roles | NoNo custom role builder is published. Permissions are the admin and user split plus per-mailbox and per-user restrictions. | IncludedRole-based access control on all three plans. Field-level access control is Enterprise. |
| Audit logs | IncludedFree core, under Manage then Logs. The outgoing email log keeps the last 6 months and is cleaned monthly. | IncludedEnterprise only. Unavailable on Growth and Pro. |
| IP allowlist | Not published | IncludedEnterprise only (allowed domains and IP whitelisting). |
| Sandbox environment | Not published | IncludedEnterprise only. |
| HIPAA / BAA | NoNot applicable by architecture. No vendor processes the data, so there is no counterparty to sign a Business Associate Agreement. | Not publishedNot mentioned on the security page or in the pricing matrix. |
| SOC 2 | NoNot applicable by architecture. There is no vendor-operated service to audit; the operator runs the only instance. | Not publishedThe security page describes controls but names no certification, pointing to a separate Trust Center for attestations that is not publicly reachable. |
| ISO 27001 | NoNot applicable by architecture. No vendor-operated service exists to certify. | Not publishedNot named on the security page. |
| GDPR | Paid add-onGDPR Module, $5.00 once per instance, for bulk customer and mail-server deletion. Compliance itself is the operator's responsibility. | Not publishedA sub-processor list and regional data instances are published, but no explicit GDPR compliance statement was found on the security page. |
| Data residency | IncludedFree core, by construction: the operator picks the server and therefore the jurisdiction. There is no vendor region to select and no residency add-on. | IncludedNot plan-gated. US, EEA, UAE, India and Australia, chosen at signup. Moving regions later requires contacting support. |
Developer
| Capability | FreeScout | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | Paid add-onAPI & Webhooks Module, $12.99 once per instance. Documented endpoints for conversations, threads, customers and custom fields. | Included |
| GraphQL API | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The published interface is REST, with per-tier rate limits. |
| Webhooks | Paid add-onSame $12.99 API & Webhooks Module. HMAC-SHA1 signed, 12 event types. | Not published |
| App framework | Not published | IncludedAll three plans. Connector app tasks are metered at $80 per 5,000 regardless of tier. |
| Published rate limits | Not publishedSelf-determined and unpublished. The operator hosts the instance, so any rate limit is whatever that server enforces. | IncludedGrowth 100 req/min, Pro 400, Enterprise 700, trials 50. Per-endpoint sub-limits are lower and extra capacity is purchasable. |
Both entries last checked Sep 9, 2026.
What FreeScout costs
- Billing unit
The core application is free with no agent cap and no ticket cap - Free tier
Yes - Data export
Self-serve - Automation export
Partial
What Freshdesk costs
$19/seat/month
3 published plans, billed annually- Billing unit
Seat (agent) + usage hybrid - Free tier
No, 14-day trial - AI pricing
$0.49 per AI session - Vendor calls it
Freddy AI Agent session - Human handoff
Not published - Reopened chat
Billed again - AI billing window
3d of inactivity - Data export
Self-serve - Automation export
Not offered
1 of 9 not published by Freshdesk, checked