Freshdesk vs Zoho Desk
A side-by-side comparison of Freshdesk and Zoho Desk on what each one charges, what it meters, and which plan every capability actually sits on.
The short answer
10 of the 48 capabilities tracked on both differ, mostly in AI assist. Freshdesk starts at $19/seat/mo, Zoho Desk at Free, then $7/seat/mo.
| Measure | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $19/seat/mo | Free, then $7/seat/mo |
| Charged per | Each agent seat | Each agent seat |
| AI billed at | $0.49 per AI session | API credit allowance, no rate published |
| Included, where the other says no | 2 capabilities | 1 capability |
Capability by capability
10 of the 48 capabilities tracked on both products differ.
Channels
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Included | IncludedAll editions, including the three-user free plan | |
| Live chat | Not published | IncludedBusiness messaging widget from Standard. Zoho SalesIQ live chat is an Enterprise bullet. |
| Voice | Not published | IncludedTelephony from Professional. Multi-level IVR is Enterprise. |
| Not published | IncludedStandard and above, in the instant messaging module | |
| Instagram / Facebook | Not published | IncludedSocial module from Express; Instagram and Messenger as instant messaging channels from Standard |
| X / Twitter | Not published | IncludedExpress and above. |
| Slack Connect | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Microsoft Teams | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Community forum | IncludedPro and above. Forums are also included in the account XML export. | IncludedStandard and above. |
| Video | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Co-browsing | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
Ticketing
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket queues | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | IncludedStandard and above. |
| SLA policies | IncludedMultiple SLA policies require Pro. | Not published |
| Business hours | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. | Not published |
| Merge & split | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Side conversations | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Custom fields | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. | IncludedProfessional and above. |
| Custom objects | IncludedEnterprise $89 an agent only. | IncludedEnterprise only. |
| Ticket forms | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. | IncludedExpress and above. |
Routing & automation
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Skills-based routing | IncludedEnterprise. Intelligent routing arrives on Pro. | IncludedEnterprise only. |
| Round-robin assignment | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. | IncludedProfessional and above. |
| Load balancing | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. | Not published |
| Triggers | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | Not published |
| Workflow builder | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | IncludedExpress and above. |
| Escalation rules | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | IncludedExpress and above. |
AI resolution
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous resolution agent | IncludedAll plans. 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions included, then $49 per 100. Billed per session, not per resolution. | IncludedExpress and above. Bring your own key or use Zoho's LLM, with up to 30M tokens a month free. |
| Resolution over knowledge base | IncludedAll three plans, first 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions included, then $49 per 100 sessions. | IncludedStandard and above. |
| Action-taking (API calls) | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Multilingual AI | Paid add-onFreddy AI Copilot add-on ($29/agent/mo annual), Pro and Enterprise only. Live translation in 60+ languages. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
AI assist
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Reply drafting | 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. | IncludedExpress and above, but you bring the model: connect your own OpenAI or DeepSeek key. Zoho meters no per-use AI price because the inference is billed by whoever holds the key. |
| Tone rewrite | 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. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Summarization | 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. | IncludedExpress and above, but you bring the model: connect your own OpenAI or DeepSeek key. Zoho meters no per-use AI price because the inference is billed by whoever holds the key. |
| Translation | 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. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Next-best-action | 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. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Auto-tagging | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Sentiment analysis | 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. | IncludedExpress and above, but you bring the model: connect your own OpenAI or DeepSeek key. Zoho meters no per-use AI price because the inference is billed by whoever holds the key. |
AI voice
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Voice agent | 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. | NoNot on any edition. Telephony arrives on Professional and a multi-level IVR on Enterprise, both of them conventional, with no AI layer over the call. |
| IVR replacement | 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. | NoNot on any edition. Telephony arrives on Professional and a multi-level IVR on Enterprise, both of them conventional, with no AI layer over the call. |
| Real-time transcription | 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. | NoNot on any edition. Telephony arrives on Professional and a multi-level IVR on Enterprise, both of them conventional, with no AI layer over the call. |
| Call summarization | 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. | NoNot on any edition. Telephony arrives on Professional and a multi-level IVR on Enterprise, both of them conventional, with no AI layer over the call. |
Knowledge base
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Public help center | IncludedAll plans. Portal customisation and article versioning require Pro. | IncludedKnowledge base and ASAP self-service widget from Standard |
| Custom domain | Not published | IncludedExpress and above |
| Multi-brand | Not published | IncludedEnterprise only. |
| Versioning | IncludedPro and above. Approval workflow and flexible KB hierarchy are Enterprise. | Not published |
| Localization | IncludedPro and above (multilingual helpdesk and knowledge base translation). | IncludedProfessional and above. |
| In-product widget | Not published | IncludedStandard and above. |
| AI answers over KB | IncludedAll three plans, first 500 sessions included, then $49 per 100 sessions. | IncludedStandard and above. |
Self-service
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Chatbot flows | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. | IncludedEnterprise only. |
| Order lookup | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Returns / RMA | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Account actions | NoNot on any plan. The AI Agent answers email from the knowledge base; the plan matrix describes no bot builder and no transactional actions. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
QA & workforce
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation QA scoring | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. | NoNot on any edition. None of the five tiers lists quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Automated QA coverage | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. | NoNot on any edition. None of the five tiers lists quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Calibration | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. | NoNot on any edition. None of the five tiers lists quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Agent scorecards | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. | NoNot on any edition. None of the five tiers lists quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Forecasting | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. | NoNot on any edition. None of the five tiers lists quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Scheduling | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. | NoNot on any edition. None of the five tiers lists quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Adherence tracking | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix enumerates nine sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. | NoNot on any edition. None of the five tiers lists quality assurance or workforce management. |
Reporting
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Prebuilt dashboards | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | Not published |
| Custom reports | IncludedPro $55 an agent and above. Not on Growth. | IncludedStandard and above. |
| Raw data export | IncludedNot plan-gated. The account export is self-serve on every plan. | IncludedModule export is self-serve on all editions, capped at 50,000 records per export. Attachment-inclusive Data Backup is Standard and above, one full backup per month. |
| Data warehouse sync | NoNot on any plan. The analytics section lists six capabilities and none of them moves data out. | Not published |
| CSAT / NPS | Not published | IncludedStandard and above. |
| Real-time reporting | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | Not published |
Collaboration
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Internal notes | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | Not published |
| @mentions | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Assignment | IncludedAll three plans, from Growth at $19 an agent. | IncludedExpress and above. |
| Collision detection | Not published | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
| Approvals | IncludedEnterprise $89 an agent only. | NoNot on any edition. The five tiers each enumerate what they add and this is in none of them. |
Enterprise
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| SAML SSO | IncludedAll three plans including Growth. JWT authentication is Enterprise. | Not publishedThe matrix publishes SAML single sign-on for the help center (end users, Standard and above) and federated login, but has no row for agent-side SAML. Zoho handles agent identity at the Zoho Directory layer, outside this page. |
| Custom roles | IncludedRole-based access control on all three plans. Field-level access control is Enterprise. | IncludedFree and Express get default non-editable profiles. Standard 5 profiles and roles, Professional 25 and 25, Enterprise 50 profiles and 250 roles. |
| Audit logs | IncludedEnterprise only. Unavailable on Growth and Pro. | IncludedEnterprise only. Unavailable on all four cheaper editions. |
| IP allowlist | IncludedEnterprise only (allowed domains and IP whitelisting). | Not published |
| Sandbox environment | IncludedEnterprise only. | IncludedEnterprise only. |
| Multi-brand | Not published | IncludedEnterprise only. |
| SOC 2 | Not publishedThe security page describes controls but names no certification, pointing to a separate Trust Center for attestations that is not publicly reachable. | IncludedNot plan-gated. SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II attested at datacenter level for the US, Canada, Japan, UAE and Singapore facilities. |
| ISO 27001 | Not publishedNot named on the security page. | IncludedNot plan-gated. Listed for every datacenter region. |
| GDPR | Not publishedA sub-processor list and regional data instances are published, but no explicit GDPR compliance statement was found on the security page. | IncludedNot plan-gated. Desk publishes anonymisation of agent and customer records as outlined in the GDPR. |
| Data residency | IncludedNot plan-gated. US, EEA, UAE, India and Australia, chosen at signup. Moving regions later requires contacting support. | IncludedNot plan-gated, but fixed at signup: "Based on the country chosen there, the corresponding datacenter is chosen for your account." Nine regions (US, Europe, India, Australia, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore) plus China on a separate datacenter. |
Developer
| Capability | Freshdesk | Zoho Desk |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | Included | IncludedAll editions, budgeted in daily credits rather than a call rate. Free 5,000 credits per 24 hours. |
| GraphQL API | NoNot on any plan. The published interface is REST, with per-tier rate limits. | Not published |
| Webhooks | Not published | IncludedProfessional and above. |
| App framework | IncludedAll three plans. Connector app tasks are metered at $80 per 5,000 regardless of tier. | Not published |
| Published rate limits | IncludedGrowth 100 req/min, Pro 400, Enterprise 700, trials 50. Per-endpoint sub-limits are lower and extra capacity is purchasable. | IncludedPer-edition daily credit budgets are published, along with a 50-record cap per request. The separate per-edition concurrency limit is acknowledged but its value is not published. |
Both entries last checked Sep 9, 2026.
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
What Zoho Desk costs
$7/seat/month
5 published plans, billed annually- Billing unit
Per agent seat - Free tier
Yes - AI pricing
Not published - Vendor calls it
API credit - Human handoff
Not published - Reopened chat
Not published - AI billing window
Not published - Data export
Self-serve - Automation export
Not offered
4 of 9 not published by Zoho Desk, checked