ChatwootFreshdeskChatwoot vs Freshdesk

Chatwoot vs Freshdesk: $180 apart for five people

An open-source customer support platform against a help desk: Chatwoot is $180 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Chatwoot if you want to self-host and own the data, and have someone to run it. Pick Freshdesk if your support is email tickets first and you want SLAs, time tracking and field service in one help desk. For five people, Chatwoot is $180 a month cheaper than Freshdesk ($95 a month on Chatwoot against $275 on Freshdesk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $50 under Chatwoot. Chatwoot and Freshdesk both include email in the price; only Chatwoot has website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them Chatwoot and Freshdesk cover every channel Sellio ships. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Chatwoot and Freshdesk sell here at one price.

At a glanceChatwootChatwootFreshdeskFreshdesk
Built aroundOne inbox, self-hostable · open sourceEmail tickets · chat is the separate Freshchat
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Startups, yearly$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets
Chat in the price$0 · Hacker: 2 agents, website only$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on top
AI agent$20 per 1,000 credits · Captain, after the plan's allowance$49 per 100 sessions · 500 trial sessions once per account
Copilot for agentsIn Captain · credits$29/agent/mo · Freddy Copilot
Free planYes · 2 agents, 500 conversationsNone · 14-day trial

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    ChatwootChatwoot

    As a conversation in one inbox, whatever the channel, with labels and assignment rather than a ticket. Freshdesk raises a ticket where Chatwoot keeps a conversation.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    As a ticket in an email queue. Chat conversations live in Freshchat and become tickets when escalated. Chatwoot has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    ChatwootChatwoot

    $19 buys every channel on Startups; the Hacker plan is free for two agents on website chat only. $95 for five people, against $275 on Freshdesk.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    $19 buys email tickets on Growth. Chat and messaging mean adding Freshchat or an Omni bundle. $275 for five people, against $95 on Chatwoot.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    ChatwootChatwoot

    Captain, the AI agent, runs on credits: 300 a month on Startups, 500 on Business, then $20 per 1,000. Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats as well.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Freddy AI Agent: 500 trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100. Freddy Copilot is $29 per agent on top. Chatwoot meters AI ($20 per 1,000 credits) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    ChatwootChatwoot

    Website, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, SMS, Messenger, TikTok and Line on the paid plans. website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram are here and not on Freshdesk.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Email and web forms on every plan; chat, WhatsApp and Instagram arrive with Freshchat. Chatwoot adds website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which Freshdesk lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    ChatwootChatwoot

    Self-hosting on your own servers, an open API and a help center; no campaigns or contact center. Freshdesk is a help desk instead.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Field service, time tracking, SLAs and a marketplace; the wider Freshworks suite for IT and sales. Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    ChatwootChatwoot

    An afternoon on the cloud; a day or two self-hosted. Freshdesk is a day or two.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    A day or two: connect the support address, set groups and SLAs, then add Freshchat for the widget. Chatwoot is an afternoon on the cloud.

Sources: Chatwoot pricing · Freshdesk pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Chatwoot inbox: the conversation list with channel icons and the contact panel
ChatwootChatwoot. The Chatwoot inbox: the conversation list with channel icons and the contact panel
The Freshdesk ticket view: the queue on the left, the ticket thread and the properties panel
FreshdeskFreshdesk. The Freshdesk ticket view: the queue on the left, the ticket thread and the properties panel

What your team would pay

Move the sliders. Yearly-billing rates from each vendor’s pricing page, next to Sellio’s plan for the same number of seats.

5 people who answer customers

50

300 Captain credits on Chatwoot, AI agent sessions on Freshdesk

3000+
ChatwootChatwoot

$95/mo

All channels, 300 Captain credits a month.

5 × $19 seats
$95
0 Captain credits × $0.02
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. $20 per 1,000 Captain credits beyond the plan's allowance; a reply uses at least one credit. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

FreshdeskFreshdesk

$422/mo

Custom roles, round robin, more automations and reporting.

5 × $55 seats
$275
300 AI agent sessions × $0.49 (rounded to 100-session packs)
$147
Copilot, 5 × $29
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. 500 trial sessions are available once per account, not every month. Recurring estimates exclude that trial and charge $49 per 100-session pack. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

Sellio · Mini

$55/mo

One price for the workspace: 3 channels, 2 AI agents, $5 AI credit a month.

Workspace, 5 of 5 seats
$45
AI past 100 included conversations
$10
Copilot for agents
Included

About $0.05 per AI conversation past the credit, with a daily and monthly cap you set. Yearly billing takes 20% off. See every plan.

Pricing references: Chatwoot pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); Freshdesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06). Calculator uses yearly-billing rates. Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

5 people, website chat plus 2 more channels, 2 AI agents: $45 a month. Start free, no card.

Start freeSee every plan

Chatwoot, Freshdesk and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureChatwootChatwootFreshdeskFreshdeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI by credits
Per agent; AI per agent and per session
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
2 agents, 500 conversations, website chat
Not on the pricing page; 14-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
All plans
Via Freshchat or Omni
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Startups and up
Core of the product
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Startups and up
Via Freshchat or Omni
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Startups and up
Via Freshchat or Omni
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Startups and up
Not native
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack integration
Slack and Teams notifications
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Captain, on credits
Freddy, trained on the knowledge base
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Credits by plan, then $20 per 1,000
500 one-time trial sessions, then $49 per 100
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to an agent
Escalates to agents
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Conversations with statuses
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Automation rules
Automations, form-based
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile
Browser and mobile only
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Chatwoot if

  • You want to self-host and own the data, and have someone to run it.
  • Telegram and WhatsApp must be native, at a per-agent price.
  • Five people cost $180 a month less than on Freshdesk ($95 against $275), before AI.
  • You need website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram in the price, which Freshdesk does not include outright.

Pick Freshdesk if

  • Your support is email tickets first and you want SLAs, time tracking and field service in one help desk.
  • You are already on Freshworks products and want the same admin and billing.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Chatwoot does not have.
  • Time to the first reply is a day or two here and an afternoon on the cloud on Chatwoot.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Chatwoot or Freshdesk who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $95 a month on Chatwoot against $275 on Freshdesk for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Chatwoot meters AI ($20 per 1,000 credits) above the seats, Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Chatwoot nor Freshdesk includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Chatwoot on Startups: $38, $95 and $190 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Freshdesk on Pro: $110, $275 and $550 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $50 less than Chatwoot and $230 less than Freshdesk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $95 under Chatwoot and $455 under Freshdesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform built around one inbox, self-hostable; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Only Chatwoot has a free plan (2 agents, 500 conversations); Freshdesk offers 14 days of Enterprise. Chatwoot and Freshdesk both include email in the price; only Chatwoot has website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them Chatwoot and Freshdesk cover every channel Sellio ships. Chatwoot ($20 per 1,000 credits) and Freshdesk ($49 per 100 sessions) both meter AI above the seats. Freshdesk has tickets and Chatwoot does not, and neither Chatwoot nor Freshdesk ships a desktop app. Chatwoot is an afternoon on the cloud; Freshdesk is a day or two.

What each price leaves out

Chatwoot: Captain AI credits included by plan (300, 500, 800), then $20 per 1,000 credits. Freshdesk: Freddy AI Copilot $29 per agent per month yearly; 500 AI agent trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100 sessions. Beside Chatwoot's $20 per 1,000 credits and Freshdesk's $49 per 100 sessions, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    ChatwootChatwoot$0.02$4
    FreshdeskFreshdesk$0.49$245
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    ChatwootChatwoot · 15-day trial
    FreshdeskFreshdesk · 14 days of Enterprise
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Chatwoot vs Freshdesk: the questions people ask

Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform built around one inbox, self-hostable; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Freshdesk has tickets and Chatwoot does not, and neither Chatwoot nor Freshdesk ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Chatwoot $19/agent/mo (Startups, yearly); Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets).
  • Chat in the price: Chatwoot $0 (Hacker: 2 agents, website only); Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top).
  • Sellio: all five channels on every paid plan, where Chatwoot and Freshdesk each include only some.

Sellio's side of the Chatwoot and Freshdesk rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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