GladlyFreshdeskGladly vs Freshdesk

Gladly vs Freshdesk: customer service or help desk

A customer service platform against a help desk: Freshdesk is $625 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 Gladly if you want one timeline per customer instead of a ticket queue, across voice and messaging. 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, Freshdesk is $625 a month cheaper than Gladly ($900 a month on Gladly against $275 on Freshdesk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $230 under Freshdesk. Gladly and Freshdesk both include email in the price; only Gladly has website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Gladly nor Freshdesk includes Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Gladly and Freshdesk sell here at one price.

At a glanceGladlyGladlyFreshdeskFreshdesk
Built aroundThe customer, not the ticket · one timeline per personEmail tickets · chat is the separate Freshchat
Entry planQuote · no printed prices$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets
Chat in the priceQuote · all channels in the seat$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on top
AI agentSidekick · per resolution, by quote$49 per 100 sessions · 500 trial sessions once per account
Copilot for agentsIn Sidekick$29/agent/mo · Freddy Copilot
Free planNone · demo firstNone · 14-day trial

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    GladlyGladly

    As a moment on the customer's timeline, whatever the channel; there is no ticket number. Freshdesk raises a ticket where Gladly keeps a conversation.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

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

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    GladlyGladly

    No price is printed; older summaries put seats near $180 a month, with a demo before a quote. $900 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 $900 on Gladly.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    GladlyGladly

    Sidekick, the AI agent, is sold per resolution, priced in the quote. 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. Gladly meters AI (Sidekick) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    GladlyGladly

    Voice, email, chat, SMS, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp on one timeline; no Telegram. website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram are here and not on Freshdesk.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

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

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    GladlyGladly

    Voice with IVR, a help center and task management for retail service teams. Freshdesk is a help desk instead.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Field service, time tracking, SLAs and a marketplace; the wider Freshworks suite for IT and sales. Gladly is a customer service platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    GladlyGladly

    A sales cycle, then a guided onboarding. 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. Gladly is a sales cycle, then a guided onboarding.

Sources: Gladly 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 Gladly customer timeline: calls, chats and emails from one person in one thread
GladlyGladly. The Gladly customer timeline: calls, chats and emails from one person in one thread
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

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

Gladly, 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.

FeatureGladlyGladlyFreshdeskFreshdeskSellio

Pricing

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

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Sidekick
Freddy, trained on the knowledge base
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Per resolution, quoted
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 a hero
Escalates to agents
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Timeline, not tickets
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Rules and routing
Automations, form-based
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reporting
Reports and CSAT
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick Gladly if

  • You want one timeline per customer instead of a ticket queue, across voice and messaging.
  • You are a consumer brand with a team large enough for a sales-led rollout.
  • You need website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram in the price, which Freshdesk does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is a sales cycle, then a guided onboarding here and a day or two on Freshdesk.

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 $625 a month less than on Gladly ($275 against $900), before AI.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Gladly does not have.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Gladly or Freshdesk who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $900 a month on Gladly against $275 on Freshdesk for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Gladly meters AI (Sidekick) above the seats, Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Gladly nor Freshdesk includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Gladly: $900 a month for five (5 seats × about $180, from older summaries); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. 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, $855 less than Gladly and $230 less than Freshdesk 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

Gladly is a customer service platform built around the customer, not the ticket; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Neither has a free plan: Gladly offers no trial, Freshdesk 14 days of Enterprise. Gladly and Freshdesk both include email in the price; only Gladly has website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Gladly nor Freshdesk includes Telegram outright. Gladly (Sidekick) and Freshdesk ($49 per 100 sessions) both meter AI above the seats. Freshdesk has tickets and Gladly does not, and neither Gladly nor Freshdesk ships a desktop app. Gladly is a sales cycle, then a guided onboarding; Freshdesk is a day or two.

What each price leaves out

Gladly: Sidekick is priced per resolution in the quote. Freshdesk: Freddy AI Copilot $29 per agent per month yearly; 500 AI agent trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100 sessions. Beside Gladly's Sidekick 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 these figures were read

Gladly does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (No prices printed; a demo, then a quote. Older summaries put seats at about $180 a month.), so they are marked unverified here beside Freshdesk's, and Gladly's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

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
    GladlyGladlySee vendorNot quoted
    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.

    GladlyGladly · None; demo first
    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

Gladly vs Freshdesk: the questions people ask

Gladly is a customer service platform built around the customer, not the ticket; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Freshdesk has tickets and Gladly does not, and neither Gladly nor Freshdesk ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Gladly Quote (no printed prices); Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets).
  • Chat in the price: Gladly Quote (all channels in the seat); Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top).
  • Sellio: Telegram, which neither Gladly nor Freshdesk has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Gladly 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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