FreshdeskPure ChatFreshdesk vs Pure Chat

Freshdesk vs Pure Chat: five seats for $275 or $52

A help desk against a live chat software: Pure Chat is $223 a month cheaper for five people. Where Freshdesk and Pure Chat 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 Pure Chat if you want cheap chat for a small team on one site with no AI. For five people, Pure Chat is $223 a month cheaper than Freshdesk ($275 a month on Freshdesk against $52 on Pure Chat), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $7 below Pure Chat. Freshdesk and Pure Chat share no channel in the base price; only Freshdesk has email; only Pure Chat has website chat. Neither Freshdesk nor Pure Chat includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Freshdesk against Pure Chat, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceFreshdeskFreshdeskPure ChatPure Chat
Built aroundEmail tickets · chat is the separate FreshchatA chat widget for small sites · operators in packs
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets$39/mo · Growth: 4 operators, 1 site
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on top$39/mo · the whole product is chat
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 trialNone · 30-day trial of PRO

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. Pure Chat has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    As a chat in the widget, with the visitor's page and history in the operator dashboard. Freshdesk raises a ticket where Pure Chat 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 $52 on Pure Chat.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    $39 buys four operators on one site; PRO at $79 buys ten operators on unlimited sites, extras $8 to $13 each. $52 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. Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none) instead.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    No AI agent or copilot; canned responses and triggers only. 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. email is here and not on Pure Chat.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Website chat only; no email, 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. Pure Chat is a live chat software instead.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Visitor tracking, transcripts and mobile apps. 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. Pure Chat is minutes.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Minutes: paste the widget. Freshdesk is a day or two.

Sources: Freshdesk pricing · Pure Chat 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 Pure Chat dashboard: the visitor list and an open chat
Pure ChatPure Chat. The Pure Chat dashboard: the visitor list and an open chat

Pricing references: Freshdesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Pure Chat pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Freshdesk, Pure Chat 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.

FeatureFreshdeskFreshdeskPure ChatPure ChatSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per agent and per session
Per month with operator packs
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
Not on the pricing page; 14-day trial
None; 30-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Via Freshchat or Omni
The whole product
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Core of the product
Not offered
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
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Automations, form-based
Triggers only
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Chat reports
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile only
Browser and mobile
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 need email in the price, which Pure Chat does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Pure Chat does not have.

Pick Pure Chat if

  • You want cheap chat for a small team on one site with no AI.
  • Operator packs suit you better than per-agent pricing.
  • Five people cost $223 a month less than on Freshdesk ($52 against $275), before AI.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Freshdesk does not include outright.

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 $52 on Pure Chat 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, Pure Chat 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 Pure Chat 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. Pure Chat: $52 a month for five ($39 for 4 operators plus $13 for the fifth); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $230 less than Freshdesk and $7 less than Pure Chat for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Freshdesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; Pure Chat is a live chat software built around a chat widget for small sites. Neither has a free plan: Freshdesk offers 14 days of Enterprise, Pure Chat a 30-day trial of PRO. Freshdesk and Pure Chat share no channel in the base price; only Freshdesk has email; only Pure Chat has website chat. Neither Freshdesk nor Pure Chat includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats; Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none). Freshdesk has tickets and Pure Chat does not, and neither Freshdesk nor Pure Chat ships a desktop app. Freshdesk is a day or two; Pure Chat is minutes.

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. Pure Chat: No AI agent. Beside Freshdesk's $49 per 100 sessions and Pure Chat'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
    Pure ChatPure ChatSee vendorNot quoted
    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
    Pure ChatPure Chat · 30-day trial of PRO
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Freshdesk vs Pure Chat: the questions people ask

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; Pure Chat is a live chat software built around a chat widget for small sites. Freshdesk has tickets and Pure Chat does not, and neither Freshdesk nor Pure Chat ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets); Pure Chat $39/mo (Growth: 4 operators, 1 site).
  • Chat in the price: Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top); Pure Chat $39/mo (the whole product is chat).
  • Sellio's inbox: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Freshdesk nor Pure Chat has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Freshdesk and Pure Chat 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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