8 Freshdesk Alternatives, Priced With AI Included (2026)

Key Takeaways

• In October 2026, Freshdesk bills on three meters: agent licenses, Freddy AI Copilot per agent and Freddy AI Agent session packs. Growth, Pro and Enterprise cost $23, $66 and $107 per agent monthly ($19, $55 and $89 annual). Copilot adds $35 per agent ($29 annual) on Pro and Enterprise.
• Freddy AI Agent sessions cost $49 per pack of 100 after an account's one-time 500 free sessions run out. Packs renew each billing cycle until you cut them, and unused sessions lapse.
• In the example, eight people answer 1,000 conversations a month, and AI resolves 500. On plans matched to Freshdesk Pro, the eight Freshdesk alternatives cost them $280 to $2,032 a month ($232 to $1,760 annual). LiveAgent lists lowest, with AI provider usage on top, and Zendesk Suite Professional lists highest.
• For eight people answering 1,000 conversations a month, Helply costs $399 ($339 annual) on B2B sizing or $249 ($212) on B2C. Freshdesk collaborators can add private notes but can't reply. Three more repliers add $198 a month ($165 annual) to Freshdesk Pro and nothing to Helply's bill.
• Request Freshdesk's XML export before you cancel, since delivery can take up to 10 business days. Freshdesk keeps account data only 14 days past the subscription's end.

Freshdesk Alternatives and Competitors at a Glance

Every bill below uses one team: eight people, 1,000 monthly conversations and an AI agent that works every conversation and resolves 500. Prices are October 26, 2026 list prices, monthly first with annual billing in parentheses.

Why Teams Look for a Freshdesk Alternative

Your Freshdesk renewal quote has arrived. Five agents hold Pro licenses, and three more people now answer customers: a success lead, an ops manager and an engineer.

In Freshdesk, those three are collaborators. They can add private notes but can't post a reply. Licensing all three on Pro adds $198 a month ($165 annual) to the renewal.

A mid-market team on G2 hit this after changing plans to save money. "But collaborators can't send responses to the customers, which was our biggest requirement," its reviewer wrote in November 2025.

Freshworks bills Copilot per agent you assign it to, and Freddy AI Agent session packs renew every billing cycle. In October 2026, one Trustpilot reviewer pointed to yearly price rises: "What is terrible though is the escalating cost."

Freshdesk bills that team on three meters, and each of the eight alternatives to Freshdesk below drops or replaces at least one.

Freshdesk Pricing Runs on Three Meters: Agents, Copilot and AI Sessions

The first meter is the agent license. On Growth, Pro or Enterprise, Freshdesk costs $23, $66 or $107 per agent a month ($19, $55 or $89 annual).

The second is Freddy AI Copilot, the agent-assist add-on. It costs $35 per agent a month ($29 annual), and Freshworks sells it only on Pro and Enterprise. On Pro, Freddy AI Insights also needs a Copilot license.

The third is Freddy AI Agent, the AI that answers customers. Every account gets 500 free sessions once, then pays $49 per 100 on either billing term.

An email session covers 72 hours from the customer's first email. Packs renew each billing cycle until you reduce them, and unused sessions don't carry over.

For the example team, licensing all eight people who reply costs $528 a month ($440 annual) on Pro. Copilot for all eight adds $280 ($232). Once the free 500 run out, 1,000 sessions a month need 10 packs, or $490.

Together, the three meters come to $1,298 a month ($1,162 annual). Each new person who answers customers adds a license and, if your team uses it, another Copilot license.

Freshdesk Collaborators Can Add Notes but Can't Reply

Pro and Enterprise include up to 5,000 collaborators, who can add private notes to tickets. Growth includes none.

Replying takes agent access, through a full license or day passes. Day passes cost $2, $7 or $12 a day on Growth, Pro or Enterprise, with three free on every plan.

An occasional agent uses a pass only on days they log into the portal, and replying from an email notification uses none. On Pro, 10 day passes in a month cost $70, more than the $66 monthly license.

An engineer answering a bug report needs agent access to reply, and so does a warehouse lead answering a delivery question.

WhatsApp, Chat AI and Phone Sit Outside Plain Freshdesk

Plain Freshdesk covers email, Facebook and a basic web chat. WhatsApp, Instagram and the chat AI agent need Freshdesk Omni. Accounts created before December 2025 keep an existing WhatsApp integration.

Freshdesk Omni's plans cost $35, $95 or $143 per agent a month ($29, $79 or $119 annual). Moving the example team to Omni Pro lifts license costs from $528 to $760 a month ($440 to $632 annual). With sessions added, the team pays $1,250 a month ($1,122 annual) on Omni Pro.

Phone runs through Freshcaller, a separate product. Its paid plans cost $18 to $83 per agent a month ($15 to $69 annual), plus per-minute charges.

Teams Shop Around After Freshdesk Renewals and Plan Jumps

A customer success manager wrote on G2 in March 2026: "The pricing structure feels unrealistic, especially when switching between plans."

Two months after one price increase, an education team on G2 learned of another. "At the beginning of a new contract term, there was a price increase," its reviewer wrote in October 2026.

One Trustpilot reviewer upgraded from a legacy plan to Pro. In August 2026, they wrote: "We now need only four seats, but Freshworks still charges us for 19."

Freshdesk holds 4.4 out of 5 from more than 3,800 G2 reviews (October 2026). On Trustpilot, 412 reviews give freshdesk.com a TrustScore of 1.5, with 40% at one star and 37% at five. Freshdesk hasn't invited reviews there recently, so Trustpilot warns that the reviews may not be representative.

The 8 Best Freshdesk Alternatives

Each entry prices the example team: eight people answering 1,000 conversations monthly, with AI resolving 500 of them. If a vendor limits SLA policies or its AI agent to certain plans, the entry uses its first plan with both.

1. Helply: Best for Teams Where Everyone Answers Customers

Helply lets your success lead, ops manager and engineer reply from your agents' inbox, with no license or day pass. Its Support Agent, included on every plan, can resolve requests end to end.

Helply is a complete AI-native help desk built around three AI agents, with ticketing, a shared inbox, SLAs and a knowledge base. Unlimited users come with every plan, and AI work comes out of a monthly credit block.

What Helply Replaces in Freshdesk

• Agent licenses. Users never change the price, whether a fourth person outside support starts replying or the team shrinks. You buy credits for AI work and nothing else.
• Copilot licenses. The Assist Agent comes with every plan, while Freddy AI Copilot for eight Freshdesk agents costs $280 a month ($232 annual). Assist drafts from the conversation, the customer's context and your guidelines, and a rep can direct it to take supported actions.
• AI session packs. One credit block covers all AI work. Drafting a reply uses 1 credit, explaining a charge uses 4, and assessing and preparing a refund uses 12.
• AI that resolves on every channel. On chat as well as email, the Support Agent can investigate, act and resolve a request from start to finish. You set the rules for when it hands off, and the person who takes over gets its investigation and the customer's context.
• WhatsApp without Freshdesk Omni. Email, WhatsApp, live chat, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, Discord and SMS come into one inbox, and you can connect your phone tool.
• Insights on every plan. Background Agents watch conversations for churn risk, revenue opportunities and missing answers. They can then alert teammates, update systems or trigger workflows.

Gatekeeper Press supports more than 3,000 authors with one small team, and its author support runs on Helply. Across more than 1,500 monthly author conversations, the Support Agent resolved 92%, with only around 120 a month escalating to a human.

"It took everything we'd learned over the years and turned it into support that runs itself, takes action, and warns us early," says Rob Price, Gatekeeper Press's CEO and founder.

Cost for the Example Team

Helply sizes AI work at about 7 credits per B2B conversation and about 4 per B2C conversation. Under the B2B rule, the example team's 1,000 conversations land near 7,000 credits, a block that costs $399 a month ($339 annual). On Freshdesk Pro, the same team pays $1,018 a month ($930 annual) with sessions, or $1,298 ($1,162) with Copilot for all eight.

Under the B2C rule, the same team needs about 4,000 credits, which cost $249 a month ($212 annual). The smallest block, 500 credits, costs $49 monthly ($42 annual).

Retries, failed actions, drafts rejected before sending and spam never cost credits. Your monthly cap defaults to the block price. If you switch off auto top-up, AI work pauses at that cap while people keep answering in the help desk.

On monthly billing, unused credits roll one month forward before they lapse. Annual billing pools them across the whole year.

Watch-Outs

• Credit use depends on your mix. The 7 and 4 credits per conversation are sizing estimates, and a refund assessment alone costs 12. Review your cap and auto top-up setting before you go live.
• Phone needs a connected phone tool. Helply connects that tool's supported call information, transcripts and follow-up to each customer's support history.
• Size the block on real tickets. Your trial's 1,000 credits cover a slice of the queue, so track what each ticket type uses before you choose a block.

Moving Over From Freshdesk

Helply's Freshdesk importer connects your account, then brings over supported ticket history, customer data and knowledge content.

Keep Freshdesk running while Helply works part of the queue. Switch the rest of the queue once Helply's resolution rate on that slice meets your target. Cut session packs as Helply takes over, since they renew until you reduce them.

For larger rollouts on Enterprise, Helply's team works with yours on migration, integrations and workflows.

Helply keeps a SOC 2 Type II report and offers a DPA on request. Helply's AI providers don't use your customer data to train their models.

Read the full Helply and Freshdesk comparison.

2. Zendesk: Best for Larger Teams That Want Included AI Resolutions

Zendesk costs the most of the eight alternatives for an 8-person team answering 1,000 conversations a month. With 500 AI resolutions, Suite Professional comes to $2,032 a month ($1,760 annual) before Zendesk's Copilot. Pick it for a larger team that wants Zendesk's AI agents and resolution tiers and can carry a higher per-agent price.

Freshdesk vs Zendesk: Which Meter Zendesk Removes

Zendesk swaps session packs for an allowance of AI resolutions. On its pricing page, Suite Professional includes 10 per agent each month. Each extra resolution costs $2.00 without a commitment, or $1.50 committed.

Zendesk's help center says assisted escalations and contained resolutions don't count against the allowance under the tiers Zendesk introduced on May 18, 2026.

Cost for the Example Team

Eight Zendesk Suite Professional agents cost $1,192 a month ($920 annual). Past the 80 included resolutions, 420 more at $2.00 add $840, for $2,032 ($1,760).

Zendesk's Copilot, the agent-assist add-on for Professional and higher, adds $400 a month for eight agents, at $50 each on yearly billing. Suite Professional is the lowest listed plan with SLAs.

Watch-Outs

• Each replier needs an agent license. Three more people add $387 a month ($285 annual): $447 ($345) in licenses, less $60 for the 30 resolutions their licenses include.
• Two descriptions of AI pricing. Zendesk's pricing page counts resolutions one way and its help center another, and per-tier prices aren't public. Get resolution pricing in writing before you sign.

Moving Over From Freshdesk

Zendesk has no native Freshdesk importer. Tickets go in through its Ticket Import API or a Marketplace app such as Help Desk Migration, which lists Freshdesk.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Zendesk

Choose Helply over Zendesk when people outside support answer customers, or when you'd rather not add Copilot at $50 per agent. At 1,000 monthly conversations and 500 AI resolutions, eight people pay Helply $399 a month ($339 annual). Zendesk Suite Professional costs them $2,032 ($1,760).

Compare Helply and Zendesk line by line.

3. Zoho Desk: Best for Low Per-User Prices

Among per-user tools, Zoho Desk lists the cheapest paid plan. Its plans run from $9 to $50 per user a month ($7 to $40 annual).

Choose Zoho Desk for a low license price if your team will track its own AI token use.

Freshdesk vs Zoho Desk: Which Meter Zoho Desk Removes

Zoho bills AI, including its Zia Agents, by model usage instead of sessions. Zoho-hosted standard models include 30 million free tokens monthly, and each million past that costs $1.

Pre-built Zoho Desk AI agents come on Enterprise. Express and Standard use generative AI through your own model key, and Professional adds Zoho's native models.

Cost for the Example Team

On Zoho Desk Enterprise, eight users cost $400 a month ($320 annual), plus model usage past the free token allowance. Enterprise allows 20 SLA policies per department.

Zoho Desk Standard costs $160 ($112) for eight, with four SLA policies, if you run AI through your own key.

Watch-Outs

• Each replier needs a user license. Three more users add $150 a month ($120 annual) on Zoho Desk Enterprise.
• AI cost moves with usage. Zoho bills tokens past the free 30 million a month, so measure usage during Zoho's 15-day trial.

Moving Over From Freshdesk

Zwitch, Zoho Desk's built-in migration tool, moves Freshdesk companies, users, tickets and solution articles. Zoho advertises switching from other help desks as free.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Zoho Desk

Pick Helply over Zoho Desk if you want AI priced per action in a fixed monthly block, with unlimited users. At 1,000 monthly conversations and 500 AI resolutions, eight people pay Helply $399 a month ($339 annual). Zoho Desk Enterprise costs them $400 ($320) plus tokens.

See how Helply's credit blocks work.

4. Help Scout: Best for Small Email-First Teams

Help Scout's Standard, Plus and Pro plans cost $30, $54 and $90 per user monthly ($25, $45 and $75 annual). Pick Help Scout if your small team answers customers by email first.

Freshdesk vs Help Scout: Which Meters Help Scout Removes

Help Scout charges $0.75 per resolution instead of a session fee. Its AI agent, Scout, resolves conversations across Beacon chat and email. Help Scout sells it as the Envoy add-on.

Help Scout's AI Drafts come unlimited on Plus and Pro, so drafting needs no per-agent add-on. New accounts get three months of the AI agent free, and a monthly cap switches it off for the rest of the cycle.

Cost for the Example Team

Help Scout Plus is the first plan with SLA policies that take conditions. Eight users on Help Scout Plus cost $432 a month ($360 annual), and 500 resolutions add $375, for $807 ($735).

Watch-Outs

• Each replier counts as a paid user. Three more people add $162 a month ($135 annual) on Help Scout Plus.
• Plus caps SLA policies at two. Unlimited policies need Help Scout Pro, at $90 per user ($75) with a 10-user minimum.

Moving Over From Freshdesk

Help Scout's built-in importer runs with partner Import2 on Standard, Plus and Pro. Imports of 500,000 records or fewer are free, but knowledge base articles don't come across.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Help Scout

Go with Helply when people outside support reply, since each one adds $54 a month ($45 annual) on Help Scout Plus. At 1,000 monthly conversations and 500 AI resolutions, eight people pay Helply $399 a month ($339 annual). Help Scout Plus costs them $807 ($735).

Compare Helply and Help Scout in detail.

For Help Scout's own alternatives and what they cost, see the Help Scout alternatives guide.

5. Intercom: Best for Chat-Led Support With Fin

Intercom lists $39 to $139 per seat a month ($29 to $132 annual).

Look at Intercom if customers reach you through a chat messenger first and you want Fin as the AI agent.

Freshdesk vs Intercom: Which Meter Intercom Removes

Intercom's Fin replaces session packs with a fee per outcome: $0.99, charged at most once per conversation. Intercom bills an outcome when a customer confirms a fix or asks nothing more after Fin replies. A Procedure that Fin completes also counts, handoffs included.

Fin costs nothing on a conversation where the customer asks for a person at any point.

Cost for the Example Team

Intercom puts SLAs only on Expert. Eight Intercom Expert seats cost $1,112 a month ($1,056 annual), and 500 outcomes add $495, for $1,607 ($1,551).

Intercom's Copilot costs $35 per agent a month ($29 annual) on top. On Intercom Advanced, without SLAs, the same team pays $1,287 ($1,175).

Watch-Outs

• Each replier needs an Expert seat. Three more teammates add $417 a month ($396 annual).
• Procedure handoffs count as outcomes. Each one costs $0.99, so plan your Procedures with that cost in mind.

Moving Over From Freshdesk

Intercom syncs Freshdesk knowledge base articles for Fin and Copilot. Ticket history moves through Intercom's paid implementation services, your own API scripts or a partner such as Help Desk Migration.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Intercom

Helply makes more sense than Intercom when every teammate should reply and agent assist shouldn't add $35 per agent a month ($29 annual). At 1,000 monthly conversations and 500 AI resolutions, eight people pay Helply $399 a month ($339 annual). Intercom Expert costs them $1,607 ($1,551).

Compare Helply and Intercom feature by feature.

6. HubSpot Service Hub: Best for Teams Already on HubSpot CRM

HubSpot Service Hub Professional costs $100 per seat paid monthly on an annual commitment, or $90 paid annually. It also carries a required one-time onboarding fee of $1,500.

Pick Service Hub if your sales and marketing teams already work in HubSpot CRM.

Freshdesk vs HubSpot Service Hub: Which Meter HubSpot Removes

HubSpot's Customer Agent costs $0.50 per resolved conversation, paid as 50 HubSpot Credits. A resolution means the agent helped and nobody handed the conversation to a person for 72 hours.

Each Service Hub Professional subscription includes 3,000 HubSpot Credits monthly, and more cost $0.01 apiece. Unused HubSpot Credits don't roll over, and Customer Agent needs Professional or Enterprise.

Cost for the Example Team

Eight Service Hub Professional seats cost $800 a month ($720 annual). Five hundred resolutions use 25,000 HubSpot Credits, and the 22,000 past the included 3,000 cost $220.

Service Hub SLAs start on Professional. HubSpot's total comes to $1,020 ($940), plus the $1,500 onboarding fee once.

Watch-Outs

• Monthly billing still means a year. HubSpot's $100 monthly price comes with an annual commitment.
• Each replier needs a seat. Three more Service Hub seats add $300 a month ($270 annual).

Moving Over From Freshdesk

HubSpot imports Freshdesk knowledge base articles natively on Professional and Enterprise, up to 400 per import. Smart Transfer lists Freshdesk as a one-time source.

Full ticket history usually moves through a Marketplace app such as Help Desk Migration.

Where Helply Fits Better Than HubSpot Service Hub

Pair Helply with HubSpot CRM to skip a Service Hub seat per replier; Helply's AI agents can use HubSpot data where configured. At 1,000 monthly conversations and 500 AI resolutions, eight people pay Helply $399 a month ($339 annual). Service Hub Professional costs them $1,020 ($940).

7. Gorgias: Best for Shopify and Ecommerce Stores

Gorgias prices its help desk by ticket volume, with Pro at $360 a month ($300 annual) for 2,000 tickets. It targets ecommerce teams, with Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce integrations.

Freshdesk vs Gorgias: Which Meters Gorgias Removes

Gorgias drops per-agent pricing, and Basic, Pro and Advanced include 500 user seats. It bills its AI Agent per automated interaction: a ticket the AI fully resolves with no human reply for 72 hours.

Each Gorgias automated interaction costs $1.00 on monthly plans or $0.90 on annual, and $1.50 past the plan's included number. It also counts as a help desk ticket.

Cost for the Example Team

Gorgias Pro with AI Agent costs $550 monthly ($471 annual), with 190 automated interactions included. The other 310 cost $465, for $1,015 ($936).

The example team's 1,000 conversations fit inside Gorgias Pro's 2,000 tickets, and three more teammates cost nothing extra.

Watch-Outs

• Ticket volume drives the bill. Gorgias Pro charges $0.36 per ticket past 2,000.
• The trial is short. Gorgias gives 7 days, with no card.

Moving Over From Freshdesk

Gorgias has no native Freshdesk importer. Its docs point to Help Desk Migration, and its sales team helps stores with more than 500 tickets a month migrate.

Where Helply Fits Better Than Gorgias

Consider Helply if you want AI priced by effort from one credit block, with no ticket allowance to outgrow. At 1,000 monthly conversations and 500 AI resolutions, eight people pay Helply $399 a month ($339 annual). Gorgias Pro costs them $1,015 ($936).

Under Helply's B2C rule, about 4 credits a conversation, a store pays $249 a month ($212 annual) instead.

For Gorgias's own alternatives, see the Gorgias alternatives breakdown.

8. LiveAgent: Best for Phone and Call Center Teams

LiveAgent costs $19 to $59 per agent a month ($15 to $49 annual), and its call center starts on Team. Choose LiveAgent if your team takes calls and wants phone, chat and email in one tool.

Freshdesk vs LiveAgent: Which Meters LiveAgent Removes

LiveAgent moves the AI meter out of its own bill. It charges nothing for AI: you connect OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini or FlowHunt and pay that provider.

LiveAgent also replaces Freshcaller. Inbound and outbound calls, IVR, recording and transcripts come on Team and up, and LiveAgent charges nothing for calling minutes.

Cost for the Example Team

Eight LiveAgent Team agents cost $280 a month ($232 annual), plus your AI provider's usage. Team includes SLA rules and covers up to 15 agents.

Watch-Outs

• You run the AI setup. Your team picks the model and watches its usage.
• Calls need a VoIP provider. LiveAgent doesn't sell numbers directly, and call charges come from your VoIP provider.
• Each replier needs an agent license. Three more agents add $105 a month ($87 annual) on LiveAgent Team.

Moving Over From Freshdesk

LiveAgent's Freshdesk migration plugin needs only your API key. The standard migration is free when you sign up for a paid plan.

Where Helply Fits Better Than LiveAgent

If you want AI work priced and capped in one place, with people outside support replying too, Helply is the closer match. At 1,000 monthly conversations and 500 AI resolutions, eight people pay Helply $399 a month ($339 annual). LiveAgent Team costs them $280 ($232) plus AI provider usage.

Which Freshdesk Alternative Costs Least for an 8-Person Team?

Among plans matched to Freshdesk Pro, LiveAgent Team costs eight people the least: $280 a month ($232 annual), plus AI provider usage. Helply follows at $399 ($339), with AI work on all 1,000 monthly conversations included. At October 26, 2026 list prices, Zendesk Suite Professional costs the most: $2,032 ($1,760) once AI resolves 500.

Zoho Desk Standard comes in lower, at $160 ($112), if you skip Zoho's pre-built AI agents and use your own model key.

Copilot for all eight takes Freshdesk Pro to $1,298 a month ($1,162 annual).

How Do You Switch From Freshdesk Without Losing Tickets?

1. Back up first: Freshdesk's Export data option sits under Admin, Account, Account Details. It sends tickets, solutions, forums and customers as XML, and delivery can take up to 10 business days.
2. Pick the importer: Helply's importer moves supported tickets, and so do Zoho's Zwitch, Help Scout's importer with Import2 and LiveAgent's plugin. Zendesk, Intercom, HubSpot and Gorgias use an API, the vendor's own services or partners such as Help Desk Migration.
3. Run both on a slice of the queue: Route one mailbox or channel to the new tool and compare its resolutions with Freshdesk's.
4. Reduce session packs early: A pack you remove stays on your bill until the next cycle, and unused sessions don't carry over.
5. Move the rest, then cancel: Freshdesk deletes account data 14 days after the subscription ends, so keep your export somewhere safe.

When Freshdesk Is Still the Right Choice

Freshdesk still fits teams with one or two agents, a small AI volume where only licensed agents reply, or a Freshworks stack.

• You have one or two agents. Freshdesk's Free Program covers up to two agents for six months, but not on Freshdesk Omni. For email ticketing without AI, Growth runs $23 per agent monthly ($19 annual).
• Your AI volume stays small and only licensed agents reply. The one-time 500 sessions and a few $49 packs can cover a low-volume queue. On Pro and Enterprise, teammates who only add private notes can stay collaborators.
• You already work inside the Freshworks suite. Freshdesk fits email-first teams there, with Omni for chat and messaging. Freshcaller adds phone on a Free plan or from $18 per agent a month ($15 annual), plus per-minute charges.

Keep Paying Three Meters, or Move to One Bill?

Pick among the eight Freshdesk alternatives by the charge you most want gone, then by the stack you already run. For the lowest list price with your own AI model, look at LiveAgent or Zoho Desk Standard. A Shopify store should shortlist Gorgias, and a team on HubSpot CRM should shortlist Service Hub.

Zendesk works for larger teams that want included AI resolutions and accept a higher per-agent bill. Intercom is for teams set on Fin, and Help Scout for a small email team. Helply fits teams where people beyond support answer customers, such as an engineer on bug reports or a warehouse lead on deliveries.

Your success lead, ops manager and engineer can reply from one inbox, because every plan has unlimited users. The Assist Agent drafts for all of them without a Copilot license. One capped credit block replaces session packs, and unused monthly credits carry one month forward.

"Our authors move faster and my team isn't buried," says Rob Price of Gatekeeper Press.

For the example team, Helply costs $399 a month ($339 annual), against $1,298 ($1,162) on Freshdesk Pro with Copilot for all eight. Book a demo and walk Helply's team through your queue, or route one Freshdesk mailbox to Helply first.