FreshdeskSalesforce Service CloudFreshdesk vs Salesforce Service Cloud

Freshdesk vs Salesforce Service Cloud: $275 or $975 for five people

A help desk against an enterprise service CRM: Freshdesk is $700 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 Salesforce Service Cloud if the rest of the company runs on Salesforce and support must share the record. For five people, Freshdesk is $700 a month cheaper than Salesforce Service Cloud ($275 a month on Freshdesk against $975 on Salesforce Service Cloud), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $230 under Freshdesk. Freshdesk and Salesforce Service Cloud both include email in the price. Neither Freshdesk nor Salesforce Service Cloud includes website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Freshdesk and Salesforce Service Cloud sell here at one price.

At a glanceFreshdeskFreshdeskSalesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud
Built aroundEmail tickets · chat is the separate FreshchatCases on the CRM · channels bought separately
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets$25/user/mo · Starter Suite
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on top$195/user/mo · Core, plus messaging add-ons
AI agent$49 per 100 sessions · 500 trial sessions once per accountFlex Credits · Agentforce; Max includes 2.75M a year
Copilot for agents$29/agent/mo · Freddy CopilotIn Agentforce
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · trials on Starter to Advanced

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. Salesforce Service Cloud raises tickets too, from cases on the CRM.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    As a case on the Salesforce record, routed by Omni-Channel to a queue or an agent. 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 $975 on Salesforce Service Cloud.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    $25 buys the Starter Suite; the service editions run $195 on Core to $550 on Max, with channels as add-ons. $975 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. Salesforce Service Cloud meters AI (Flex Credits) above the seats as well.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Agentforce is sold in Flex Credits by usage; only Max includes an allowance. 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. The same set as Salesforce Service Cloud.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Email and web on the editions; chat, messaging, WhatsApp and voice are bought as add-ons. 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. Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM instead.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    The whole CRM: sales, marketing, commerce, analytics and thousands of AppExchange 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. Salesforce Service Cloud is weeks to months.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Weeks to months: an implementation, often with a partner. Freshdesk is a day or two.

Sources: Freshdesk pricing · Salesforce Service Cloud 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 Service Cloud console: the case with the contact, the knowledge panel and Omni-Channel
Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud. The Service Cloud console: the case with the contact, the knowledge panel and Omni-Channel

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, Agentforce conversations on Salesforce Service Cloud

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.

Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

$1,575/mo

The service console; channels as add-ons.

5 × $195 seats
$975
300 Agentforce conversations × $2
$600

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Agentforce was listed at $2 per conversation before moving to Flex Credits; the rate is a stated assumption. 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); Salesforce Service Cloud 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, Salesforce Service Cloud 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.

FeatureFreshdeskFreshdeskSalesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service CloudSellio

Pricing

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

Channels

Website live chat
Via Freshchat or Omni
Messaging add-on
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Core of the product
Email-to-case
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Via Freshchat or Omni
Messaging add-on
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Via Freshchat or Omni
Messenger via add-on
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
Slack is a Salesforce product
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

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

Support operations

Tickets
Ticket-first
Cases
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Automations, form-based
Flow
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Reports and Tableau
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.
  • Five people cost $700 a month less than on Salesforce Service Cloud ($275 against $975), before AI.
  • Time to the first reply is a day or two here and weeks to months on Salesforce Service Cloud.

Pick Salesforce Service Cloud if

  • The rest of the company runs on Salesforce and support must share the record.
  • You have an implementation partner and a budget for add-ons.
  • Time to the first reply is weeks to months here and a day or two on Freshdesk.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Freshdesk's: per user per month, billed yearly. Channels and Agentforce are bought on top of the edition.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Freshdesk or Salesforce Service Cloud who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $275 a month on Freshdesk against $975 on Salesforce Service Cloud for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats, Salesforce Service Cloud meters AI (Flex Credits) 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 Salesforce Service Cloud 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. Salesforce Service Cloud on Core: $390, $975 and $1,950 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 $930 less than Salesforce Service Cloud for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Freshdesk and $1,855 under Salesforce Service Cloud.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM built around cases on the CRM. Neither has a free plan: Freshdesk offers 14 days of Enterprise, Salesforce Service Cloud a free trial. Freshdesk and Salesforce Service Cloud both include email in the price. Neither Freshdesk nor Salesforce Service Cloud includes website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Freshdesk ($49 per 100 sessions) and Salesforce Service Cloud (Flex Credits) both meter AI above the seats. Freshdesk and Salesforce Service Cloud both raise tickets, and neither Freshdesk nor Salesforce Service Cloud ships a desktop app. Freshdesk is a day or two; Salesforce Service Cloud is weeks to months.

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. Salesforce Service Cloud: Agentforce by Flex Credits; Max includes 2.75M a year, others buy by usage. Beside Freshdesk's $49 per 100 sessions and Salesforce Service Cloud's Flex Credits, 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
    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service CloudAssumed $2$960
    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
    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud · Free trials on Starter, Pro, Core and Advanced
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Freshdesk vs Salesforce Service Cloud: the questions people ask

Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets; Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM built around cases on the CRM. Freshdesk and Salesforce Service Cloud both raise tickets, and neither Freshdesk nor Salesforce Service Cloud ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets); Salesforce Service Cloud $25/user/mo (Starter Suite).
  • Chat in the price: Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top); Salesforce Service Cloud $195/user/mo (Core, plus messaging add-ons).
  • Sellio's inbox: website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Freshdesk nor Salesforce Service Cloud has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Freshdesk and Salesforce Service Cloud 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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