FreshdeskAgileCRMFreshdesk vs AgileCRM

Freshdesk vs AgileCRM: entry plans at $19 and $8.99

A help desk against an all-in-one CRM with a help desk: AgileCRM is $125 a month cheaper for five people. Where Freshdesk and AgileCRM split, and a third option for small teams.

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 Freshdesk if your support is email tickets first and you want SLAs, time tracking and field service in one help desk. Pick AgileCRM if you want sales, marketing and a help desk in one cheap CRM. For five people, AgileCRM is $125 a month cheaper than Freshdesk ($275 a month on Freshdesk against $150 on AgileCRM), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $105 below AgileCRM. Freshdesk and AgileCRM both include email in the price. Neither Freshdesk nor AgileCRM includes website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Freshdesk against AgileCRM, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceFreshdeskFreshdeskAgileCRMAgileCRM
Built aroundEmail tickets · chat is the separate FreshchatThe CRM record · help desk is one module
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets$8.99/user/mo · Starter, two-year billing
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on topNone · no chat widget
AI agent$49 per 100 sessions · 500 trial sessions once per accountNone · no AI agent
Copilot for agents$29/agent/mo · Freddy CopilotNone
Free planNone · 14-day trialYes · 10 users, 1,000 contacts

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    As a ticket in an email queue. Chat conversations live in Freshchat and become tickets when escalated. AgileCRM raises tickets too, from the CRM record.

    AgileCRMAgileCRM

    As a help desk ticket attached to a CRM contact, beside the deals and campaigns. Freshdesk raises tickets too, from email tickets.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    $19 buys email tickets on Growth. Chat and messaging mean adding Freshchat or an Omni bundle. $275 for five people, against $150 on AgileCRM.

    AgileCRMAgileCRM

    $8.99 buys sales and marketing on Starter; the help desk module starts on Regular at $29.99. $150 for five people, against $275 on Freshdesk.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Freddy AI Agent: 500 trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100. Freddy Copilot is $29 per agent on top. AgileCRM has no AI to bill (none) instead.

    AgileCRMAgileCRM

    No AI agent and no copilot; automation is rule-based campaign workflows. Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Email and web forms on every plan; chat, WhatsApp and Instagram arrive with Freshchat. The same set as AgileCRM.

    AgileCRMAgileCRM

    Email tickets and telephony; no live chat widget, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. The same set as Freshdesk.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Field service, time tracking, SLAs and a marketplace; the wider Freshworks suite for IT and sales. AgileCRM is an all-in-one CRM with a help desk instead.

    AgileCRMAgileCRM

    Sales pipeline, marketing automation, landing pages and email campaigns in one CRM. Freshdesk is a help desk instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    A day or two: connect the support address, set groups and SLAs, then add Freshchat for the widget. AgileCRM is a day.

    AgileCRMAgileCRM

    A day: import contacts, connect the mailbox, set up groups and canned responses. Freshdesk is a day or two.

Sources: Freshdesk pricing · AgileCRM 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 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
The AgileCRM help desk: the ticket list beside the contact record
AgileCRMAgileCRM. The AgileCRM help desk: the ticket list beside the contact record

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 AI agent sessions on Freshdesk, AI conversations on AgileCRM

3000+
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.

AgileCRMAgileCRM

$150/mo

Help desk, groups, canned responses.

5 × $29.99 seats
$150
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. AgileCRM has no AI agent; the AI line stays at zero. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

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: Freshdesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); AgileCRM pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). 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

Freshdesk, AgileCRM 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.

FeatureFreshdeskFreshdeskAgileCRMAgileCRMSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per agent and per session
Per user; lowest price needs two-year billing
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
Not on the pricing page; 14-day trial
10 users, 1,000 contacts
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Via Freshchat or Omni
No chat widget
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Core of the product
Help desk on Regular and up
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Via Freshchat or Omni
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Via Freshchat or Omni
Not offered
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not native
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack and Teams notifications
Not offered
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Freddy, trained on the knowledge base
None
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
500 one-time trial sessions, then $49 per 100
No AI to bill
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Escalates to agents
No AI to hand off from
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Ticket-first
Groups, labels, canned responses
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Automations, form-based
Campaign workflows and triggers
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Basic reports
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

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 want an AI agent at all; AgileCRM has none.
  • Time to the first reply is a day or two here and a day on AgileCRM.

Pick AgileCRM if

  • You want sales, marketing and a help desk in one cheap CRM.
  • Support is email tickets and phone, without a chat widget.
  • Five people cost $125 a month less than on Freshdesk ($150 against $275), before AI.
  • You want a free plan to start on; Freshdesk offers 14 days of Enterprise.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $275 a month on Freshdesk against $150 on AgileCRM for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats, AgileCRM has no AI to bill (none), and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Freshdesk nor AgileCRM includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Freshdesk on Pro: $110, $275 and $550 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. AgileCRM on Regular: $60, $150 and $300 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $230 less than Freshdesk and $105 less than AgileCRM for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Freshdesk and $205 under AgileCRM.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; AgileCRM is an all-in-one CRM with a help desk built around the CRM record. Only AgileCRM has a free plan (10 users, 1,000 contacts); Freshdesk offers 14 days of Enterprise. Freshdesk and AgileCRM both include email in the price. Neither Freshdesk nor AgileCRM includes website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats; AgileCRM has no AI to bill (none). Freshdesk and AgileCRM both raise tickets, and neither Freshdesk nor AgileCRM ships a desktop app. Freshdesk is a day or two; AgileCRM is a day.

What each price leaves out

Freshdesk: Freddy AI Copilot $29 per agent per month yearly; 500 AI agent trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100 sessions. AgileCRM: No AI agent or copilot. Beside Freshdesk's $49 per 100 sessions and AgileCRM's none, 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
    FreshdeskFreshdesk$0.49$245
    AgileCRMAgileCRMAssumed $0$0
    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.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk · 14 days of Enterprise
    AgileCRMAgileCRM · Free plan, no card
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Freshdesk vs AgileCRM: the questions people ask

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; AgileCRM is an all-in-one CRM with a help desk built around the CRM record. Freshdesk and AgileCRM both raise tickets, and neither Freshdesk nor AgileCRM ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets); AgileCRM $8.99/user/mo (Starter, two-year billing).
  • Chat in the price: Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top); AgileCRM None (no chat widget).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Freshdesk nor AgileCRM has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Freshdesk and AgileCRM on the same rows.

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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