Freshchat

Growing SMBs that need a full-featured live chat with AI chatbot capabilities and room to scale into the Freshworks ecosystem

Freemiummessage-circle Live Chat & Chatbots

Visit Website

Reviews

4.3 / 5601 reviews

G2 Satisfaction Scores

Ease of Use

8.6

Ease of Setup

8.8

Quality of Support

8.2

Meets Requirements

8.0

Ease of Admin

8.4

Likely to Recommend

8.2

Rating Distribution

5 star

53%

4 star

33%

3 star

2 star

1 star

+ Generous free tier with up to 10 agents — best free plan in live chat

+ Freddy AI chatbot handles common queries and routes complex ones to agents

- Free plan limited to 100 contacts for chatbot interactions

“Freshchat's free tier let us start with 10 agents across our team without spending a dollar. The Freddy AI bot handles 40% of our support queries automatically. When we outgrew it, upgrading to Growth was painless.”

Pros

+ Generous free tier with up to 10 agents — best free plan in live chat
+ Freddy AI chatbot handles common queries and routes complex ones to agents
+ Part of Freshworks suite — seamless integration with Freshdesk, Freshsales, and Freshmarketer

Cons

- Free plan limited to 100 contacts for chatbot interactions
- Advanced features (co-browsing, live translate) locked to Pro/Enterprise
- Can feel overwhelming with so many features if you just need simple chat

Pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual	Limits
Free	Free	Free	Up to 10 agents; chatbot (100 contacts); email, chat, social channels
Growth/seat	$23	$19	Unlimited contacts; assignment rules; canned responses; basic reports
Pro/seat	$59	$49	Auto-resolve; live translate; advanced reports; co-browsing
Enterprise/seat	$95	$79	Allowed domains; user authentication; custom objects; audit logs

14-day free trialStartup discount

Freshworks for Startups program offers 90% off first year, 75% off second year

Free (10 agents); Growth $19/agent/mo; Pro $49/agent/mo; Enterprise $79/agent/mo; annual saves ~20%

Features & Capabilities

Free tier with 10 agents is the most generous in the live chat categoryFreddy AI chatbot resolves queries automatically with generative AIPart of unified Freshworks platform — chat, helpdesk, CRM, and marketing in one vendor

Feature	Available On	Limits
Live Chat Widget	free	Customizable chat widget for website and app
Freddy AI Chatbot	free	AI chatbot with 100 contacts on Free; unlimited on paid
Multichannel	free	Chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram
Canned Responses	growth	Pre-saved replies for common questions
Assignment Rules	growth	Auto-assign chats based on skills, load, or round-robin
Live Translate	pro	Real-time translation in 30+ languages
Co-browsing	pro	See and interact with customer's screen
Advanced Reports	pro	Agent performance, CSAT, and conversation analytics

Limitations

! Free plan chatbot limited to 100 contacts
! Feature-rich interface can overwhelm teams wanting simplicity
! Some advanced features (co-browse, live translate) only on expensive tiers
! Not as customizable as open-source alternatives

Market Intelligence

Who Uses This

Small Business

50%

Mid-Market

35%

Enterprise

15%

Source: G2 reviewer demographics

Top Industries

Information TechnologyComputer SoftwareEducationFinancial ServicesRetail

Is This Right for You?

Team Size

1–200 people

Sweet spot: 5-50

Complexity

simple

Best Industries

saasecommerceprofessional services

customer supportsales chatai chatbotmultichannel messaginglead capture

Pairs Well With

hubspot-crm— Sync chat conversations and leads into HubSpot contacts

shopify— Native integration for order lookup and customer context in chat

mailchimp— Capture chat leads and add to email marketing lists

Not ideal for: Solo businesses needing the absolute simplest chat widget — use Olark or Tawk.to instead

Setup & Onboarding

Setup time: hours

Learning curve: minimal

Resources: excellentMobile app

Company Health

Founded: 2010

HQ: San Mateo, California

Size: ~5200 employees

Funding: public

growingHiring: stableSentiment: positive

Freshworks revenue $720M+ (FY2025)
Freddy AI Suite expanded with generative AI capabilities
Freshchat integrated into unified Freshworks Customer Service Suite
Focus on AI-first customer engagement across all products
Named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement

Product Direction

AI: aggressiveRisk: lowAPI availableEcosystem: strongSMB friendly

AI Features

Freddy AI chatbot for automated query resolution
Freddy Copilot for agent assistance and suggested responses
AI-powered sentiment analysis in conversations
Generative AI for auto-composing replies

Recent Launches

Freddy AI generative capabilities
Unified Customer Service Suite
Advanced bot builder with NLP
Multichannel messaging (WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat)

Trust & Security

Compliance

ccpagdprsoc2hipaaiso27001

Security Features

ssoenterprise

audit logenterprise

two factorAll plans

ip allowlistenterprise

role based accessgrowth

encryption at restAll plans

Data Portability

Export formatsCSV, JSON

Bulk API exportYes

Lock-in risklow

Status page: https://status.freshworks.com(SLA: 99.9% on pro)

Support

Channels

emailfree

phonepro

live chatfree

knowledge baseYes

community forumYes

Hours24/5

Response time< 24 hours

Dedicated CSMenterprise

Docs qualityexcellent

Community AcademyCertifications available

Market Position

challengerFull-featured live chat with the best free tier in the category, backed by the Freshworks ecosystem

Top Alternatives

intercom— More powerful AI and product tours, but significantly more expensive

tidio— Simpler and cheaper for small businesses, but less scalable

Switching Awayeasy

Conversation history exportable; widget setup is a simple code swap

Transfers

conversation historycontact datacanned responses

Doesn't Transfer

chatbot flowsassignment rulesreport configurations

Time to Value

1-2 hoursChat widget can be live in minutes; Freddy AI chatbot setup takes 1-2 hours with FAQ training

Integrations

hubspot-crmsalesforce-startershopifymailchimpgoogle-analytics

+ Zapier compatible (connects to 5,000+ apps)

Alternatives in Live Chat & Chatbots

Crisp

Freemium

4.6310 reviews

Bootstrapped startups and small teams wanting a full support suite at a flat, predictable price

Drift (Salesloft)

Paid

4.51,456 reviews

B2B sales teams converting website visitors into qualified pipeline via conversational marketing

Intercom

Paid

4.54,805 reviews

SaaS companies that want a full customer communication platform with AI-first support

LiveChat

Paid

4.62,443 reviews

E-commerce and support teams wanting a battle-tested, reliable live chat tool

Olark

Freemium

4.4694 reviews

Small businesses that want simple, reliable live chat focused on human conversations without the complexity of AI chatbots

Tidio

Freemium

4.82,747 reviews

Small e-commerce shops and startups that want live chat and AI bot without enterprise pricing

Freshchat

Growing SMBs that need a full-featured live chat with AI chatbot capabilities and room to scale into the Freshworks ecosystem

Freemiummessage-circle Live Chat & Chatbots

Visit Website

Reviews

4.3 / 5601 reviews

G2 Satisfaction Scores

Ease of Use

8.6

Ease of Setup

8.8

Quality of Support

8.2

Meets Requirements

8.0

Ease of Admin

8.4

Likely to Recommend

8.2

Rating Distribution

5 star

53%

4 star

33%

3 star

2 star

1 star

+ Generous free tier with up to 10 agents — best free plan in live chat

+ Freddy AI chatbot handles common queries and routes complex ones to agents

- Free plan limited to 100 contacts for chatbot interactions

“Freshchat's free tier let us start with 10 agents across our team without spending a dollar. The Freddy AI bot handles 40% of our support queries automatically. When we outgrew it, upgrading to Growth was painless.”

Pros

+ Generous free tier with up to 10 agents — best free plan in live chat
+ Freddy AI chatbot handles common queries and routes complex ones to agents
+ Part of Freshworks suite — seamless integration with Freshdesk, Freshsales, and Freshmarketer

Cons

- Free plan limited to 100 contacts for chatbot interactions
- Advanced features (co-browsing, live translate) locked to Pro/Enterprise
- Can feel overwhelming with so many features if you just need simple chat

Pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual	Limits
Free	Free	Free	Up to 10 agents; chatbot (100 contacts); email, chat, social channels
Growth/seat	$23	$19	Unlimited contacts; assignment rules; canned responses; basic reports
Pro/seat	$59	$49	Auto-resolve; live translate; advanced reports; co-browsing
Enterprise/seat	$95	$79	Allowed domains; user authentication; custom objects; audit logs

14-day free trialStartup discount

Freshworks for Startups program offers 90% off first year, 75% off second year

Free (10 agents); Growth $19/agent/mo; Pro $49/agent/mo; Enterprise $79/agent/mo; annual saves ~20%

Features & Capabilities

Feature	Available On	Limits
Live Chat Widget	free	Customizable chat widget for website and app
Freddy AI Chatbot	free	AI chatbot with 100 contacts on Free; unlimited on paid
Multichannel	free	Chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram
Canned Responses	growth	Pre-saved replies for common questions
Assignment Rules	growth	Auto-assign chats based on skills, load, or round-robin
Live Translate	pro	Real-time translation in 30+ languages
Co-browsing	pro	See and interact with customer's screen
Advanced Reports	pro	Agent performance, CSAT, and conversation analytics

Limitations

! Free plan chatbot limited to 100 contacts
! Feature-rich interface can overwhelm teams wanting simplicity
! Some advanced features (co-browse, live translate) only on expensive tiers
! Not as customizable as open-source alternatives

Market Intelligence

Who Uses This

Small Business

50%

Mid-Market

35%

Enterprise

15%

Source: G2 reviewer demographics

Top Industries

Information TechnologyComputer SoftwareEducationFinancial ServicesRetail

Is This Right for You?

Team Size

1–200 people

Sweet spot: 5-50

Complexity

simple

Best Industries

saasecommerceprofessional services

customer supportsales chatai chatbotmultichannel messaginglead capture

Pairs Well With

hubspot-crm— Sync chat conversations and leads into HubSpot contacts

shopify— Native integration for order lookup and customer context in chat

mailchimp— Capture chat leads and add to email marketing lists

Not ideal for: Solo businesses needing the absolute simplest chat widget — use Olark or Tawk.to instead

Setup & Onboarding

Setup time: hours

Learning curve: minimal

Resources: excellentMobile app

Company Health

Founded: 2010

HQ: San Mateo, California

Size: ~5200 employees

Funding: public

growingHiring: stableSentiment: positive

Freshworks revenue $720M+ (FY2025)
Freddy AI Suite expanded with generative AI capabilities
Freshchat integrated into unified Freshworks Customer Service Suite
Focus on AI-first customer engagement across all products
Named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement

Product Direction

AI: aggressiveRisk: lowAPI availableEcosystem: strongSMB friendly

AI Features

Freddy AI chatbot for automated query resolution
Freddy Copilot for agent assistance and suggested responses
AI-powered sentiment analysis in conversations
Generative AI for auto-composing replies

Recent Launches

Freddy AI generative capabilities
Unified Customer Service Suite
Advanced bot builder with NLP
Multichannel messaging (WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat)

Trust & Security

Compliance

ccpagdprsoc2hipaaiso27001

Security Features

ssoenterprise

audit logenterprise

two factorAll plans

ip allowlistenterprise

role based accessgrowth

encryption at restAll plans

Data Portability

Export formatsCSV, JSON

Bulk API exportYes

Lock-in risklow

Status page: https://status.freshworks.com(SLA: 99.9% on pro)

Support

Channels

emailfree

phonepro

live chatfree

knowledge baseYes

community forumYes

Hours24/5

Response time< 24 hours

Dedicated CSMenterprise

Docs qualityexcellent

Community AcademyCertifications available

Market Position

challengerFull-featured live chat with the best free tier in the category, backed by the Freshworks ecosystem

Top Alternatives

intercom— More powerful AI and product tours, but significantly more expensive

tidio— Simpler and cheaper for small businesses, but less scalable

Switching Awayeasy

Conversation history exportable; widget setup is a simple code swap

Transfers

conversation historycontact datacanned responses

Doesn't Transfer

chatbot flowsassignment rulesreport configurations

Time to Value

1-2 hoursChat widget can be live in minutes; Freddy AI chatbot setup takes 1-2 hours with FAQ training

Integrations

hubspot-crmsalesforce-startershopifymailchimpgoogle-analytics

+ Zapier compatible (connects to 5,000+ apps)

Alternatives in Live Chat & Chatbots

Crisp

Freemium

4.6310 reviews

Bootstrapped startups and small teams wanting a full support suite at a flat, predictable price

Drift (Salesloft)

Paid

4.51,456 reviews

B2B sales teams converting website visitors into qualified pipeline via conversational marketing

Intercom

Paid

4.54,805 reviews

SaaS companies that want a full customer communication platform with AI-first support

LiveChat

Paid

4.62,443 reviews

E-commerce and support teams wanting a battle-tested, reliable live chat tool

Olark

Freemium

4.4694 reviews

Small businesses that want simple, reliable live chat focused on human conversations without the complexity of AI chatbots

Tidio

Freemium

4.82,747 reviews

Small e-commerce shops and startups that want live chat and AI bot without enterprise pricing