FreshdeskLiveHelpNowFreshdesk vs LiveHelpNow

Freshdesk vs LiveHelpNow: $550 or $590 for ten people

A help desk against a help desk and live chat: Freshdesk is $20 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 Freshdesk if your support is email tickets first and you want SLAs, time tracking and field service in one help desk. Pick LiveHelpNow if you want the knowledge base and chat to be the same product from day one. For five people, Freshdesk is $20 a month cheaper than LiveHelpNow ($275 a month on Freshdesk against $295 on LiveHelpNow), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $230 under Freshdesk. Freshdesk and LiveHelpNow share no channel in the base price; only Freshdesk has email; only LiveHelpNow has website chat. Neither Freshdesk nor LiveHelpNow includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Freshdesk and LiveHelpNow sell here at one price.

At a glanceFreshdeskFreshdeskLiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow
Built aroundEmail tickets · chat is the separate FreshchatChat and a knowledge base · tickets on the middle plan
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets$39/agent/mo · Essential
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on top$39/agent/mo · chat on every plan
AI agent$49 per 100 sessions · 500 trial sessions once per accountFrom $99/mo · Knowledge AI; conversational AI from $499
Copilot for agents$29/agent/mo · Freddy CopilotIncluded · AI Agent Assist
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · no trial printed

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. LiveHelpNow has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    As a chat or a knowledge base search; email tickets arrive on the Professional plan. Freshdesk raises a ticket where LiveHelpNow keeps a conversation.

  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 $295 on LiveHelpNow.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    $39 buys chat, the knowledge base and social on Essential; ticketing starts on Professional at $59. $295 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. LiveHelpNow meters AI (from $99/mo) above the seats as well.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    Knowledge AI is from $99 a month for 2,000 answers; conversational AI from $499 for 1,000 conversations. Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Email and web forms on every plan; chat, WhatsApp and Instagram arrive with Freshchat. email is here and not on LiveHelpNow.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    Chat, email tickets, SMS and social; no native WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. website chat is here and not on Freshdesk.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Field service, time tracking, SLAs and a marketplace; the wider Freshworks suite for IT and sales. LiveHelpNow is a help desk and live chat instead.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    Workforce management, call logging and a support portal. 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. LiveHelpNow is a day.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    A day: add the chat and build the first knowledge base articles. Freshdesk is a day or two.

Sources: Freshdesk pricing · LiveHelpNow 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 LiveHelpNow agent dashboard: the chat queue with the knowledge base search beside it
LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow. The LiveHelpNow agent dashboard: the chat queue with the knowledge base search beside it

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 LiveHelpNow

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.

LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

$445/mo

Ticketing, workforce management.

5 × $59 seats
$295
300 AI conversations × $0.5
$150

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Conversational AI is $499 a month for 1,000 conversations, about $0.50 each; the rate is a stated assumption from that pack. 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); LiveHelpNow 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, LiveHelpNow 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.

FeatureFreshdeskFreshdeskLiveHelpNowLiveHelpNowSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per agent and per session
Per agent; AI in monthly packs
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
Not on the pricing page; 14-day trial
None
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Via Freshchat or Omni
All plans
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Core of the product
Professional and up
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Via Freshchat or Omni
SMS only
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Via Freshchat or Omni
Social channels
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
Knowledge AI and conversational AI
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
500 one-time trial sessions, then $49 per 100
From $99 a month in packs
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Escalates to agents
Hands to an agent
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Ticket-first
Professional and up
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Automations, form-based
Automations by plan
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Dashboards on Professional
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.
  • Five people cost $20 a month less than on LiveHelpNow ($275 against $295), before AI.
  • You need email in the price, which LiveHelpNow does not include outright.

Pick LiveHelpNow if

  • You want the knowledge base and chat to be the same product from day one.
  • AI sold in monthly answer packs suits your budgeting.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Freshdesk does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is a day here and a day or two on Freshdesk.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Freshdesk or LiveHelpNow who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $275 a month on Freshdesk against $295 on LiveHelpNow for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats, LiveHelpNow meters AI (from $99/mo) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Freshdesk nor LiveHelpNow 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. LiveHelpNow on Professional: $118, $295 and $590 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 $250 less than LiveHelpNow for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Freshdesk and $495 under LiveHelpNow.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; LiveHelpNow is a help desk and live chat built around chat and a knowledge base. Neither has a free plan: Freshdesk offers 14 days of Enterprise, LiveHelpNow no trial. Freshdesk and LiveHelpNow share no channel in the base price; only Freshdesk has email; only LiveHelpNow has website chat. Neither Freshdesk nor LiveHelpNow includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Freshdesk ($49 per 100 sessions) and LiveHelpNow (from $99/mo) both meter AI above the seats. Freshdesk has tickets and LiveHelpNow does not, and neither Freshdesk nor LiveHelpNow ships a desktop app. Freshdesk is a day or two; LiveHelpNow 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. LiveHelpNow: AI Agent Assist included; Knowledge AI from $99 a month; Conversational AI from $499 a month. Beside Freshdesk's $49 per 100 sessions and LiveHelpNow's from $99/mo, 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
    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNowAssumed $0.5$240
    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
    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow · None printed
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Freshdesk vs LiveHelpNow: the questions people ask

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; LiveHelpNow is a help desk and live chat built around chat and a knowledge base. Freshdesk has tickets and LiveHelpNow does not, and neither Freshdesk nor LiveHelpNow ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets); LiveHelpNow $39/agent/mo (Essential).
  • Chat in the price: Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top); LiveHelpNow $39/agent/mo (chat on every plan).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Freshdesk nor LiveHelpNow has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Freshdesk and LiveHelpNow 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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