LiveChatFreshdeskLiveChat vs Freshdesk

LiveChat vs Freshdesk: $30 apart for five people

A live chat software against a help desk: LiveChat is $30 a month cheaper for five people. Where LiveChat and Freshdesk 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 LiveChat if website chat is the channel and you want the most refined console and widget available. 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, LiveChat is $30 a month cheaper than Freshdesk ($245 a month on LiveChat against $275 on Freshdesk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $200 below LiveChat. LiveChat and Freshdesk share no channel in the base price; only LiveChat has website chat; only Freshdesk has email. Neither LiveChat nor Freshdesk includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing LiveChat against Freshdesk, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceLiveChatLiveChatFreshdeskFreshdesk
Built aroundThe chat console · help desk and chatbot sold separatelyEmail tickets · chat is the separate Freshchat
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Starter: 60-day history$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets
Chat in the price$49/agent/mo · Team$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on top
AI agentChatBot from $52/mo · a separate product$49 per 100 sessions · 500 trial sessions once per account
Copilot for agentsIncluded · Text Intelligence$29/agent/mo · Freddy Copilot
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · 14-day trial

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    LiveChatLiveChat

    As a chat in the agent console, with the visitor's page and typing shown live; tickets go to the separate HelpDesk product. Freshdesk raises a ticket where LiveChat keeps a conversation.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

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

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    LiveChatLiveChat

    $19 buys the console with 60 days of history. Team at $49 keeps the history and adds reports. $245 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 $245 on LiveChat.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    LiveChatLiveChat

    Text Intelligence assists are included; an AI answering customers means the separate ChatBot product from $52 a month. 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. LiveChat meters AI (ChatBot from $52/mo) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    LiveChatLiveChat

    Website chat, Messenger, Apple Messages, WhatsApp and email in the console; SMS via integration. website chat is here and not on Freshdesk.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

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

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    LiveChatLiveChat

    A large marketplace, and sibling products for chatbot, help desk and knowledge base at their own prices. Freshdesk is a help desk instead.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

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

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    LiveChatLiveChat

    An hour: paste the snippet, invite agents, answer. 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. LiveChat is an hour.

Sources: LiveChat 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 LiveChat agent console: the chat list, the conversation and the visitor details
LiveChatLiveChat. The LiveChat agent console: the chat list, the conversation and the visitor details
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

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 conversations on LiveChat, AI agent sessions on Freshdesk

3000+
LiveChatLiveChat

$245/mo

Full history, reports, agent groups.

5 × $49 seats
$245
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. LiveChat sells its chatbot as a separate ChatBot subscription from $52 a month, not per conversation; add that flat fee. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

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.

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

LiveChat, 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.

FeatureLiveChatLiveChatFreshdeskFreshdeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; ChatBot is a separate product.
Per agent; AI per agent and per session
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
14-day trial.
Not on the pricing page; 14-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
ChatBot, a separate subscription.
Freddy, trained on the knowledge base
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $52/mo for ChatBot; copilot included.
500 one-time trial sessions, then $49 per 100
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
ChatBot transfers to agents.
Escalates to agents
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
HelpDesk is a separate product.
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Routing rules; flows live in ChatBot.
Automations, form-based
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and ratings.
Reports and CSAT
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick LiveChat if

  • Website chat is the channel and you want the most refined console and widget available.
  • You need Apple Messages for Business.
  • Five people cost $30 a month less than on Freshdesk ($245 against $275), before AI.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Freshdesk does not include outright.

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 LiveChat does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which LiveChat does not have.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $245 a month on LiveChat against $275 on Freshdesk for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: LiveChat meters AI (ChatBot from $52/mo) above the seats, Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither LiveChat nor Freshdesk includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

LiveChat on Team: $98, $245 and $490 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. 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, $200 less than LiveChat and $230 less than Freshdesk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $395 under LiveChat and $455 under Freshdesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

LiveChat is a live chat software built around the chat console; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Neither has a free plan: LiveChat offers 14 days, no card, Freshdesk 14 days of Enterprise. LiveChat and Freshdesk share no channel in the base price; only LiveChat has website chat; only Freshdesk has email. Neither LiveChat nor Freshdesk includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. LiveChat (ChatBot from $52/mo) and Freshdesk ($49 per 100 sessions) both meter AI above the seats. Freshdesk has tickets and LiveChat does not, and only LiveChat ships desktop apps. LiveChat is an hour; Freshdesk is a day or two.

What each price leaves out

LiveChat: Text Intelligence (copilot, suggestions, summaries) included. The ChatBot product is separate, from $52 a month yearly. Freshdesk: Freddy AI Copilot $29 per agent per month yearly; 500 AI agent trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100 sessions. Beside LiveChat's ChatBot from $52/mo 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 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
    LiveChatLiveChatAssumed $0$0
    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.

    LiveChatLiveChat · 14 days, no card
    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

LiveChat vs Freshdesk: the questions people ask

LiveChat is a live chat software built around the chat console; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Freshdesk has tickets and LiveChat does not, and only LiveChat ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: LiveChat $19/agent/mo (Starter: 60-day history); Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets).
  • Chat in the price: LiveChat $49/agent/mo (Team); Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither LiveChat nor Freshdesk has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside LiveChat and Freshdesk 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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