Comparison
FyneDesk vs Freshdesk
Freshdesk discontinued its free plan in June 2025. FyneDesk gives your team a complete customer support platform with AI, knowledge base, customer portal, and reporting — at no cost.
The short version
Freshdesk's free plan is gone. Their cheapest option is now $15/agent/month, and AI features cost an extra $29/agent/month on top of a Pro plan ($49/agent/month). For a 5-person team, that's $75-$390/month depending on what you need.
FyneDesk includes ticket management, AI-powered summaries and suggestions, knowledge base, customer portal, email-to-ticket, SLA tracking, dashboard analytics, asset management, and team collaboration — all free for up to 5 agents, forever.
Create Free Account →What happened to Freshdesk's free plan?
Freshdesk originally offered a free tier called "Sprout" that supported up to 3 agents. Over the years, they reduced it to 2 agents, then converted it to a 6-month "Free Program." In 2025, Freshdesk began emailing users that the free plan would be fully discontinued as of June 9, 2025. Users on the free plan were given the choice: upgrade to a paid plan or lose access.
This left many small businesses, schools, nonprofits, and startups without the support tool they depended on — often with only weeks of notice. Community forums filled with users sharing their frustration about a "free forever" promise being reversed.
FyneDesk was built with a different philosophy. The free plan is not a marketing funnel — it's a real product. There's no expiration date, no credit card required, and no bait-and-switch.
Pricing at a glance
- All core features included
- AI assistant included
- No credit card required
- No trial, no time limit
What does a 5-agent team actually pay?
| Setup | FyneDesk | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Basic ticketing + knowledge base | $0/month | $75/month Growth |
| + Custom reports + SLA management | $0/month | $245/month Pro |
| + AI ticket summaries + suggestions | $0/month | $390/month Pro + Copilot |
| Annual cost | $0/year | $900 — $4,680/year |
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | FyneDesk | Freshdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, forever | Discontinued June 2025 |
| Agents on free plan | Up to 5 | N/A (no free plan) |
| Cheapest paid plan | $0 | $15/agent/month |
| Unlimited tickets | Yes, free | Yes, all plans |
| Customer portal | Yes, free | Growth plan ($15/mo) |
| Knowledge base | Yes, free | Yes, all plans |
| Email-to-ticket | Yes, free | Yes, all plans |
| AI ticket summaries | Yes, free | $29/agent/mo add-on |
| AI suggested replies | Yes, free | $29/agent/mo add-on |
| SLA tracking | Yes, free | Growth plan ($15/mo) |
| Dashboard analytics | Yes, free | Basic on free, custom on Pro ($49/mo) |
| Custom reports | Yes, free | Pro plan ($49/agent/mo) |
| Teams & assignment | Yes, free | Yes, all plans |
| Role-based access | Yes, free | Pro plan ($49/agent/mo) |
| Asset management | Yes, free | Not included |
| Contact/customer CRM | Yes, free | Basic contact info only |
| Audit trail | Yes, free | Enterprise plan ($79/agent/mo) |
| Multi-tenant data isolation | Yes, row-level security | Yes |
| File attachments | Yes, free | Yes, all plans |
| Themes & branding | 5 themes + logo, free | Portal customization on paid |
Where Freshdesk is stronger
This is a fair comparison, not a marketing stunt. Freshdesk has been around since 2010 and has capabilities that FyneDesk doesn't — yet.
- Marketplace integrations: Freshdesk has 1,000+ third-party app integrations. FyneDesk currently supports webhooks and REST API on the Pro plan.
- Phone and voice support: Freshdesk offers Freshcaller for phone support with IVR and call routing. FyneDesk does not include voice channels.
- Live chat: Freshdesk offers Freshchat for website live chat and messaging apps. FyneDesk focuses on email-based and portal-based ticket creation.
- Social media ticketing: Freshdesk can create tickets from Twitter and Facebook. FyneDesk supports email and portal channels.
- Scale for large enterprises: Freshdesk is battle-tested with millions of tickets across large organizations. FyneDesk is built for small-to-medium teams.
If you need phone support, live chat widgets, or deep integrations with hundreds of tools, Freshdesk's paid plans may be the better fit. But if your team manages customer support primarily through email and a support portal, and you need AI assistance, knowledge base, reporting, and SLA tracking without paying per agent — FyneDesk does that for free.
Who switches from Freshdesk to FyneDesk?
Teams that switch typically share a few things in common:
- They were on Freshdesk's free plan and lost access when it was discontinued
- They're a small team (2-5 agents) and can't justify $15-49 per agent per month
- They want AI features without paying $29/agent/month on top of an existing plan
- They need a knowledge base and customer portal without upgrading to a paid tier
- They're a school, nonprofit, or startup that needs professional support tools on a tight budget
- They want something that works out of the box without months of configuration
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Freshdesk began notifying users in April-May 2025 that their free plan (previously called Sprout) would be discontinued as of June 9, 2025. Existing free plan users had their accounts limited to a 6-month free program with only 2 agents, which has since ended. There is no longer a permanent free option for Freshdesk.
Freshdesk's cheapest paid plan (Growth) starts at $15 per agent per month when billed annually. The Pro plan is $49/agent/month and Enterprise is $79/agent/month. AI features (Freddy Copilot) cost an additional $29/agent/month on top of Pro or Enterprise plans. AI Agent sessions are billed separately at $100 per 1,000 sessions.
Yes. FyneDesk's free plan includes up to 5 agents with unlimited tickets, knowledge base, customer portal, email-to-ticket, AI assistant, dashboard analytics, SLA tracking, asset management, and more. There is no trial period, no credit card required, and no time limit.
You can start using FyneDesk immediately by creating a free account. Set up your workspace, invite your team, and start managing tickets right away. Your Freshdesk data (tickets, contacts) can be recreated in FyneDesk as you transition. For migration assistance, contact us at support@fynedesk.io.
FyneDesk includes AI-powered ticket summaries, suggested replies, and resolution suggestions for free on every plan. Freshdesk's comparable AI features (Freddy Copilot) cost $29 per agent per month as an add-on and are only available on Pro or Enterprise plans. Additionally, Freshdesk's AI Agent sessions are billed separately at $100 per 1,000 sessions and expire at the end of each billing cycle.
Freshdesk has a larger marketplace of third-party integrations, phone/voice support (via Freshcaller), live chat (via Freshchat), social media ticketing, and more advanced automation rules on higher tiers. FyneDesk focuses on providing a complete core support platform for free, with Pro features like webhooks, REST API, and advanced AI coming for teams that need integrations.
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