by Freshworks Inc.Help desk and customer support
A per-agent help desk in two editions, with live chat, WhatsApp and social channels in Freshdesk Omni from $29 per agent billed annually.
Email, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram in one inbox, with a knowledge base and SAML SSO, from $29 per agent on annual terms.
Freshdesk Omni Growth, at $29 per agent a month on annual terms, puts email, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram in one inbox with a customer portal and knowledge base, so a small team does not buy a separate chat tool. SAML SSO is on every plan of both editions, and the data center (US, EEA, UAE, India or Australia) is chosen at sign-up. The Freddy AI Agent has a public price: 500 sessions included once per account, then $49 per 100. The help center says Freshdesk is audited each year for SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001.
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Help desk and customer support: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Freshdesk | Intercom | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceEmail, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram in one inbox, with a knowledge base and SAML SSO, from $29 per agent on annual terms. | Saves engineering timeA help desk and an AI agent in one workspace: Fin answers first, your team takes over in the same inbox, and Fin is billed per outcome. | Easy to adoptOne shared inbox where the whole team works email, chat, SMS and social messages together, with tickets, SLAs and CSAT on top. | Worth the priceEmail, live chat, social messaging and a Docs knowledge base on one $25 seat, with SLA policies and CSAT surveys already included. |
| Overall score | 6.7Best | 6.6 | 6.3 | 6.2 |
| Free option | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $19/agent/mo | $29/seat/mo | $25/seat/mo | $25/user/mo |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Seat + usage | Per seat | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per agent per month; AI agent sessions, WhatsApp messages and phone billed separately | Per seat per month; Fin outcomes, phone, SMS and bulk messages billed by usage | Per seat per month; Autopilot AI agent billed per conversation | Per user per month; AI Answers and Messages above 2,000 viewers billed by usage |
| Free option | No free plan on the pricing page; 14-day trial, no card; 6-month Free Program for 2 agents in the help center | No free plan; 14-day trial, no card | No free plan; 14-day trial of Professional, no card | Free plan for 5 users (1 Inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts/mo, no live chat); 15-day trial, no card |
| Reference scenario (5 agents, annual) | $145/mo on Freshdesk Omni Growth ($29 × 5), computed | $145/mo on Essential ($29 × 5), computed | $325/mo on Professional ($65 × 5), computed; Starter allows one channel type | $125/mo on Standard ($25 × 5), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $35 per agent on Omni Growth ($35 / $95 / $143 Omni; $23 / $66 / $107 Freshdesk) | $39 per seat on Essential ($39 / $99 / $139 for the three plans) | $85 per seat on Professional ($35 on Starter; Enterprise is annual only) | $30 per user on Standard ($30 / $54 / $90 for the three paid plans) |
| AI agent pricing | First 500 sessions included once per account; then $49 per 100 sessions | Fin $0.99 per outcome on every plan; qualifications $9.99 | Autopilot per conversation: Triage $0.05, Handoff $0.39, Resolution $0.89 | $0.75 per resolution (AI Answers) with a monthly spending limit; 3-month free trial for new accounts |
| Phone | Through Freshcaller, a separately billed Freshworks product; own carrier on Omni Pro and up | Built in on every plan; numbers and minutes billed by usage | Through partner integrations such as Aircall and Dialpad, Professional and up | Through integrations only, such as Aircall (add-on, price not listed) |
| SLA policies and CSAT | Default SLA policies on Growth; multiple SLAs and CSAT surveys from Pro ($79 Omni) | Conversation ratings on every plan; SLAs on Expert ($132) | Professional ($65), the scenario plan | Standard: one basic SLA policy and CSAT surveys; conditional SLAs from Plus |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 2 (report on request); ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (Trust Center, on request) | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (report and certificate on request) | SOC 2 Type II (report by email request); ISO 27001 not stated |
| HIPAA BAA | Mutually executed with Freshworks; the HIPAA guide lists Freshdesk Enterprise ($89), not the current Omni plans | Expert plan only, requested through support | When the annual contract price meets a threshold Front does not state | Pro only per the help article (demo, 10-user minimum); plan table shows an unpriced Plus add-on |
| EU data hosting | EEA data center chosen at sign-up, every plan | New workspaces on a contract (Advanced or Expert), through sales | US or EEA, chosen by contacting support; no plan limit stated | No EU option described; hosted on AWS servers in the United States |
| SSO | SAML on every plan of both editions | SAML on Expert only | SAML SSO and SCIM from Professional; Google and Office 365 sign-in on every plan | SAML on Pro per the help article; plan table shows an unpriced add-on on Standard and Plus |
| Data export | Whole-account export (XML in the app, JSON through the API) | All conversations to Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage; REST API | Full export by request to Front Support; Core API on every plan | Inbox API only; report CSV/XLSX exports leave out conversation threads |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Freshdesk Omni offers chat, social messaging, a knowledge base, SAML SSO and EU hosting from $29 per agent, with every plan priced in public. CSAT, multiple SLAs and custom roles start on Pro, and a few pages disagree on payment and plan details. | From its public pages, Intercom is a full help desk with an AI agent built in, priced per seat plus $0.99 per Fin outcome. SSO, SLAs and the HIPAA BAA need Expert, and a few prices differ between its pages. | From its public pages, Front is a team shared inbox with ticketing, SLAs, CSAT and SAML SSO on Professional and an audit log on every plan. Email plus chat starts at $65 per seat, phone runs through partners, and the HIPAA BAA depends on contract size. | From its public pages, Help Scout is the lowest-priced of these five for email, chat, social messaging and a knowledge base for 5 agents, with SLAs, CSAT and a free plan. Phone, EU hosting and a file export of conversations are outside it, and SSO and HIPAA sit on Pro. |
Evidence: Freshdesk: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Intercom: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Front: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Help Scout: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Review from public pages
Written from Freshdesk's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 15, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
We read the Freshdesk and Freshdesk Omni pricing pages with their plan tables and FAQs, the two product pages, the Freshchat and Freshcaller pricing pages, Freshworks' security page, Terms of Service and DPA, help center articles on plans and billing, the Free Program, web chat, WhatsApp, SLAs, CSAT, custom roles, the audit log, SSO, HIPAA, data location and export, and the API docs on Oct 15, 2026; we did not sign up for the trial or call the API for this review. The trust center (trust.freshworks.com) did not load for us, so we used the Internet Archive copy from Oct 1, 2026.
The pricing pages are clear on the main lines: two editions, each with Growth, Pro and Enterprise, all with annual and monthly prices and bought online. The web chat article says live chat is available only in Freshdesk Omni, so a team that needs chat starts at Omni Growth ($29 per agent, annual). The Freddy AI Agent's included sessions and extra packs are priced on the same pages.
A few points need a question to Freshworks. The help center describes a 6-month Free Program for up to 2 agents that the pricing page does not mention. The HIPAA guide lists Enterprise plans and an older Omnichannel plan, not the current Freshdesk Omni line. The pricing FAQ says PayPal is not accepted while the plans article lists it, and the plans article puts multiple SLAs on Enterprise while the pricing table and SLA article say Pro. Quarterly and half-yearly billing is offered without a published price.
The pricing pages tick single sign-on on Growth, Pro and Enterprise in both editions, including Freshdesk Growth at $19 per agent.
vs Help Scout: Intercom offers SAML SSO on Expert only; Help Scout’s SSO article says Pro only.
Omni Growth ($29 per agent, annual) brings email, web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram into one inbox with a portal and knowledge base, and no add-on.
Compared: Front’s Starter plan allows one channel type, so email plus chat starts on Professional at $65 per seat.
The data location article lists US, EEA, UAE, India and Australia data centers, chosen when the account is created, on every plan.
vs Help Scout: Zendesk offers a data region from Suite Professional ($115); Help Scout hosts data in the US only.
All six plans show annual and monthly prices, Enterprise included, and can be bought online.
vs Zendesk: Zendesk Suite Enterprise is priced by sales; Front publishes Enterprise at $105 per seat (annual only) but sells it through a demo.
Admins can export the whole help desk as XML from the account settings, and the API has an account export with tickets, notes, attachments, contacts and solutions in JSON.
vs Help Scout: Help Scout exports conversations through its Inbox API only; Front’s full export is requested from Support.
The CSAT and custom role articles mark Pro and Enterprise; multiple SLA policies, reminders and escalations also start on Pro, while Growth has default policies only. Omni Pro is $79 per agent on annual terms.
Workaround: The 14-day trial runs on the Enterprise plan, so these features can be tried before choosing a plan.
Phone connects through Freshcaller, which is billed on its own (a free plan plus per-minute charges, or Growth at $15 per agent annual). Bringing your own carrier is on Omni Pro and up.
Workaround: The Freshcaller pricing page lists its plans and the incoming minutes each includes.
The Free Program in the help center lasts 6 months, allows up to 2 agents, covers the Freshdesk edition only (no live chat) and has no API access. The pricing page does not list it.
Workaround: The 14-day trial needs no card, and monthly prices let a team start without an annual term.
The Terms say fees are non-refundable, seats and plan cannot be reduced during the term, plans renew unless notice is given 30 days before, and fees can be adjusted at renewal with 30 days’ notice.
Workaround: Month-to-month prices are published for every plan.
Freshdesk bills each agent per month; annual terms are about 17% below month to month (computed), while the toggle says "Save 20%". For our scenario, 5 agents on Freshdesk Omni Growth cost 5 × $29 = $145 a month on annual terms, or $175 month to month (computed), before tax. That covers email, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, a portal and knowledge base, default SLA policies, SAML SSO and 500 AI Agent sessions once. Costs rise with Omni Pro ($79, so $395 a month for 5 agents, computed) for CSAT, multiple SLAs and custom roles, and Omni Enterprise ($119, $595 computed) for audit logs. Add-ons: AI Agent sessions at $49 per 100, Copilot at $29 per agent billed annually or $35 monthly (Pro and up), Meta’s WhatsApp fees plus a 20% markup, Freshcaller for phone, day passes, and extra API capacity priced on request.
Admins can export the whole help desk (tickets, solutions, forums, customers) as XML from Admin > Account, and the API account export returns tickets with notes and attachments, archived tickets, contacts, companies, solutions and surveys as JSON. The ticket list CSV export holds fields only. The Terms keep data available for export for 14 days after the account closes, and the pricing FAQ says cancellation takes effect at the end of the term with no cancellation fee.
From its public pages, Freshdesk Omni offers chat, social messaging, a knowledge base, SAML SSO and EU hosting from $29 per agent, with every plan priced in public. CSAT, multiple SLAs and custom roles start on Pro, and a few pages disagree on payment and plan details.
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per agent per month; AI agent sessions, WhatsApp messages and phone billed separately |
| Free option | No free plan on the pricing page; 14-day trial, no card; 6-month Free Program for 2 agents in the help center |
| Reference scenario (5 agents, annual) | $145/mo on Freshdesk Omni Growth ($29 × 5), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $35 per agent on Omni Growth ($35 / $95 / $143 Omni; $23 / $66 / $107 Freshdesk) |
| AI agent pricing | First 500 sessions included once per account; then $49 per 100 sessions |
| Phone | Through Freshcaller, a separately billed Freshworks product; own carrier on Omni Pro and up |
| SLA policies and CSAT | Default SLA policies on Growth; multiple SLAs and CSAT surveys from Pro ($79 Omni) |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 2 (report on request); ISO/IEC 27001:2022 |
| HIPAA BAA | Mutually executed with Freshworks; the HIPAA guide lists Freshdesk Enterprise ($89), not the current Omni plans |
| EU data hosting | EEA data center chosen at sign-up, every plan |
| SSO | SAML on every plan of both editions |
| Data export | Whole-account export (XML in the app, JSON through the API) |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 15, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Freshdesk yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 15, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Freshdesk yet.
Freshdesk lists 6 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Growth (Freshdesk, billed annually), costs $19/agent/mo.
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-15.
Source: freshworks.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.
We read the pricing, trust, legal, help center and developer pages of three help desks on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What 5 agents with email, chat and a knowledge base cost, where SLAs, SSO and HIPAA sit, and who should pick which.
