What are the best alternatives to Freshworks?

Based on documented capability coverage across the Agentic Index 14 point taxonomy, the closest alternatives to Freshworks among customer support agents are Gallabox, Gorgias, Worknet, Agency AI. Each is graded on the same public evidence, and no vendor pays for placement.

Does Freshworks have SOC 2, SSO and role based access control?

Full under the Agentic Index verification standard. Freshworks publishes public evidence of enterprise security and identity controls, covering a compliance posture such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001, single sign on (SSO or SAML), and role based access control (RBAC). Evidence basis: SOC 2 Type II covering security, confidentiality and availability, plus SOC 3, SOC 1 Type II with published report periods and bridge letters, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, PCI DSS, CSA STAR, TX-RAMP, GDPR and CCPA. Products, processes and vendors. Graded from public evidence only against the Agentic Index 14 point capability taxonomy. No vendor pays for placement.

Does Freshworks support MCP and tool calling?

Partial under the Agentic Index verification standard. Freshworks publishes some public evidence of tool calling and API or SDK extensibility, but narrower than full Model Context Protocol (MCP) support as defined by the Agentic Index taxonomy. Evidence basis: Freshworks announced an MCP Gateway alongside Freddy AI Agent Studio for Freshservice at Refresh 2026, giving a documented model context protocol surface, though it is scoped to Freshservice and full developer documentation was not retrieve. Graded from public evidence only against the Agentic Index 14 point capability taxonomy. No vendor pays for placement.

Does Freshworks give you tracing and observability into agent runs?

Partial under the Agentic Index verification standard. Freshworks publishes some public evidence of logging or observability, but narrower than full tracing and auditability across agent runs. Evidence basis: Freddy AI Insights delivers proactive alerts, root cause analysis, and performance intelligence to service leaders, but this is service analytics rather than agent run tracing or decision audit trails, Freshworks Freddy product documentatio. Graded from public evidence only against the Agentic Index 14 point capability taxonomy. No vendor pays for placement.

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Freshworks

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Customer support agentindependentVerified 2026-06-28

Entry priceFree (2 agents, 6mo) · Freshdesk $15-$19/$55/$89 · Omni $29/$79/$119 per agent/mo · Copilot $29/agent · AI Agent $49/100 sessionsFull pricing detail

Freddy AI copilot and agent across the Freshdesk customer-support suite.

Freshworks (NASDAQ: FRSH) is a publicly traded software company whose customer and employee experience products are unified by Freddy, its AI layer. Rather than a single chatbot, Freddy spans the Freshworks suite, including Freshdesk for customer support, Freshservice for IT and employee service, and Freshsales for CRM, and is positioned as people-first AI meant to augment teams rather than replace them.

Freddy is organized into three parts. Freddy AI Agent autonomously resolves customer and employee requests across channels such as web chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, and, for internal service, across Microsoft Teams, Slack, and service portals. It does more than answer questions: by connecting to backend systems it takes real actions, processing refunds, updating orders, changing subscription plans, rescheduling bookings, checking stock, and creating CRM leads, completing the task end to end without a handoff.

Freddy AI Copilot works alongside human agents inside the workspace, drafting on-brand replies from ticket context, summarizing long conversation threads, surfacing sentiment, and translating live across more than 60 languages, all without context switching. Freddy AI Insights gives support leaders proactive analytics, detecting anomalies like CSAT dips or SLA-breach spikes, surfacing root causes, and answering questions conversationally.

Teams build and deploy agents through the AI Agent Studio, a no-code builder, or start from pre-built Vertical AI Agents tuned for eCommerce, fintech, travel, and logistics that ship with ready-made agentic workflows and integrations to apps like Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, and FedEx. Because the agents are pre-loaded with domain knowledge, a team with its FAQs and data ready can stand one up quickly.

The Freshdesk Command Center consolidates multi-channel conversations, AI, and customer context, such as purchase history, payment details, and shipping status, into one workspace so agents stop toggling between tools. Underpinning all of it, Freddy AI Trust provides the enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance controls and transparency that businesses need to adopt AI with confidence.

Vendor details

Canonical URL

https://freshworks.com

Subcategory

Support — suite copilot+agent

Company status

independent

Use cases & customers

Primary use cases

customer supporthelpdesk automation

Target customers

enterprisesupport teams

Deployment options

SaaS

In practice

A customer messages at midnight asking where their order is. Freshworks' Freddy AI Agent pulls live shipping status from your backend and answers instantly across chat, WhatsApp, or email, with no agent and no handoff.

Your support reps burn time rewriting the same replies and reading long ticket threads. Freddy AI Copilot drafts on-brand responses from ticket context, summarizes the thread, and translates across more than 60 languages inside the workspace.

You want an agent for your store without building one from scratch. Freshworks' Vertical AI Agents ship pre-built for eCommerce with workflows like cancel order and check stock, wired to Shopify, Stripe, and FedEx.

Agentic Index coverage score

7.5 / 14 capabilities · 54%

Integrations & Tool CallingFreddy AI Agent Studio lets teams build no code agents that call third party tools including Notion and Workday to automate service flows, Freshworks Agent Studio announcement 2026-05-14	Full
Workflow OrchestrationFreshworks describes Freddy AI Agents as digital teammates that act rather than only respond, creating the service request and pulling contextual information end to end, with Freddy AI Agent Studio positioned to orchestrate autonomous service across service domains, Freshworks Agent Studio press release 2026-05-14	Full
Knowledge Grounding & RAGFreshworks positions trusted domain specific AI grounded in enterprise context, and Freddy AI Agent resolves using the customer's existing knowledge sources to handle questions and service requests, Freshworks Agent Studio press release 2026-05-14 and Freddy support documentation 2026-07-22	Full
Human Oversight & GuardrailsAgents hand off cleanly to humans when they get stuck and Freshworks positions the platform as helping organizations scale and govern service confidently, but documented approval gates or oversight controls over agent actions were not retrieved, Freshworks Agent Studio press release 2026-05-14	Partial
Security, Identity & GovernanceSOC 2 Type II covering security, confidentiality and availability, plus SOC 3, SOC 1 Type II with published report periods and bridge letters, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, PCI DSS, CSA STAR, TX-RAMP, GDPR and CCPA. Products, processes and vendors are audited on a risk based cadence at least annually including VAPT, with findings reported to a governing committee and tracked to closure. A SafeBase powered Trust Center plus a Customer Trust Portal serve third party attestation reports, certifications, network architecture documents and application security testing reports; workloads run in dedicated segmented VPCs. Security posture is also asserted in the company's SEC 10-K filing, Freshworks Trust Center, security resources and 10-K 2026-07-30	Full
Observability & AuditabilityFreddy AI Insights delivers proactive alerts, root cause analysis, and performance intelligence to service leaders, but this is service analytics rather than agent run tracing or decision audit trails, Freshworks Freddy product documentation 2026-07-22	Partial
Memory & State PersistenceBeyond pulling contextual information within a session, no persistent agent memory or cross session state was retrieved in this pass, Freshworks product pages 2026-07-22	Unable to verify
Deployment & Data ResidencyNo deployment options, regional hosting, or data residency controls were retrieved in this pass, Freshworks product pages 2026-07-22	Unable to verify
Prebuilt Agents, Templates & PacksFreddy AI Agent Studio lets teams spin up custom agents in a no code environment or start from domain specific templates, and Freshworks offers the choice to build, customize, or deploy bespoke Freddy AI Agents in weeks, Freshworks Agent Studio press release and launch coverage 2026-05-14	Full
Triggers & Channel CoverageAgents deploy into Microsoft Teams, Slack, and employee or self service portals and answer end user questions in chat and email, with a native voice channel added in the April 2026 release, Freshworks Agent Studio announcement 2026-05-14	Full
Model Flexibility & RoutingNo model choice, routing, or bring your own model capability was documented, Freshworks product pages 2026-07-22	Unable to verify
APIs, SDKs & MCP ExtensibilityFreshworks announced an MCP Gateway alongside Freddy AI Agent Studio for Freshservice at Refresh 2026, giving a documented model context protocol surface, though it is scoped to Freshservice and full developer documentation was not retrieved, Freshworks Refresh 2026 launch coverage 2026-05-14	Partial
Testing, Debugging & OptimizationNo agent testing, debugging, simulation, or optimization tooling was retrieved in this pass, Freshworks product pages 2026-07-22	Unable to verify
Browser & Computer UseNo browser or computer use capability was documented, Freshworks product pages 2026-07-22	Unable to verify

The Agentic Index coverage score grades every vendor Full, Partial or Unable to verify against the same 14 buyer facing capabilities, from public evidence only. Each capability links to how all vendors in the index score on it. How this evidence is graded

Pricing

Free (2 agents, 6mo) · Freshdesk $15-$19/$55/$89 · Omni $29/$79/$119 per agent/mo · Copilot $29/agent · AI Agent $49/100 sessions

hybrid

Free tierTrial available

Included quota

Freshdesk Growth (~$15-$19): email/ticketing, KB, automations, reporting. Pro ($55): adds advanced automation/routing, multilingual, custom roles. Enterprise ($89): security, sandbox, skills-based assignment, audit logs. Omni tiers add omnichannel. Freddy AI Agent: 500 sessions included once per account (Omni Growth/Pro/Enterprise; classic Freshdesk Growth gets none).

What is public

Freshworks (freshworks.com) publishes per-agent pricing for its customer-service products, sold as separate modules. Freshdesk (email/ticketing): Free Program ($0, up to 2 agents, 6-month cap), Growth ~$15-$19, Pro $55, Enterprise $89 (per agent/mo, annual). Freshdesk Omni (omnichannel - web/SMS/messaging/chat/email): Growth $29, Pro $79, Enterprise $119 (per agent/mo, annual). Freddy AI is a separately-priced umbrella: Freddy AI Copilot (agent-assist) $29/agent/mo annual ($35 monthly), on Pro/Enterprise; Freddy AI Agent (autonomous bot) is SESSION-BASED - 500 sessions included once per account, then ~$49 per 100 sessions; Freddy AI Insights (analytics) currently free in beta with a Copilot license.

Billing mechanics

Hybrid: per-agent seat subscription (per module) PLUS session-based AI Agent billing. A 'session' = a unique end-user interaction with the AI agent: for EMAIL AI agents a session is a 72-hour window from the customer's first email (all AI responses within it count as ONE session), and for CHAT all interactions within a 24-hour window count as one. Copilot is a flat per-agent add-on. Modules (Freshdesk / Omni / Freshchat / Freshcaller) are priced separately and stack. ~20% off annual.

Cost watchouts

Modules priced separately (Freshdesk vs Omni vs Freshchat vs Freshcaller) - multi-product needs multiply cost; AI sessions expire each cycle (no rollover); Copilot $29/agent extra and gated to Pro/Enterprise; day passes (~$5) for occasional agents; Freshcaller telephony minutes extra.

Variable cost rationale

AI cost scales with AI-agent sessions (which charge per session window, resolved or not - at ~23-30% resolution you may consume ~4 sessions per resolved ticket, so effective cost/resolution is several times the per-session headline).

Additional watchouts

The 'starting at $15/$19' headline rarely reflects real spend once Omni + Freddy AI + extra channels are added; AI sessions metered per interaction window (not per resolution) can climb fast.

Overage / add-ons

Freddy AI Agent sessions beyond the 500 included bill ~$49 per 100 sessions (~$0.49/session for email; web-chat on Omni ~$0.10/session). Sessions expire each billing cycle - NO rollover (validity follows your payment cycle).

Sales call required

Mixed (some tiers require a call)

Lowest paid plan

~$15 base +$29/agent

Commercial notes

Publicly traded (NASDAQ: FRSH); Freddy AI spans Agent/Copilot/Insights; competes with Zendesk, Zoho Desk, Intercom, Help Scout, Gorgias.

Key ambiguities

Freshdesk Growth entry price is listed 'from $15' officially but several 2026 analyses cite ~$19; AI-agent session rates shifted upward in late 2025 (email ~$0.49/session); Copilot plan-eligibility (Pro/Enterprise only) varies across Freshdesk vs Omni docs - confirm at checkout.

Cancellation / refund

Pay-as-you-go, no cancellation fees (effective at term end); 14-day free trial (includes Enterprise access); Free Program (2 agents) expires after 6 months; ~20% off annual; no broad startup discount program.

Support SLA / resale

Standard 24x5 support; higher tiers/add-ons for enhanced support; large marketplace of connectors; EU hosting only if actively selected.

Missing data

Enterprise deals are negotiated (custom). Freddy AI-agent per-session rates have shifted over time, so confirm the current per-session rate before budgeting.

Agentic Index verified 2026-06-25

Official pricing page

Related vendors

Alternatives to Freshworks

The closest documented capability profiles to Freshworks among customer support agents tracked by Agentic Index, ordered by similarity on the same 14 point evidence the rankings use. No vendor pays for placement.

Gallabox7.0 / 14Adds documented Memory & State Persistence
Gorgias9.0 / 14Adds documented Testing, Debugging & Optimization
Worknet9.0 / 14Adds documented Memory & State Persistence and Deployment & Data Residency
Agency AI7.5 / 14Adds documented Memory & State Persistence
Fini8.5 / 14Adds documented Testing, Debugging & Optimization
Maven AGI7.5 / 14Adds documented Deployment & Data Residency and Testing, Debugging & Optimization

Similarity is computed from each vendor's Agentic Index coverage score evidence, axis by axis, not from the totals. How this evidence is graded

Compare Freshworks with other vendors →Compare all customer support agents →See where Freshworks ranks →

Data confidence: high

Head to head

Freshworks vs Help Scout Freshworks vs Intercom Fin Freshworks vs Zendesk