Freshdesk Alternatives 2026: 6 Free Options
Freshdesk alternatives: FreeScout, Chatwoot, Zammad, Zoho Desk and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•Customer Support & Help Desk
Verdict:Freshdesk lists Growth at $19 per agent per month on annual billing and offers only a 14-day trial, with no permanent free plan on its pricing page. That is cheap per seat, but it climbs once you add AI sessions or move up a plan. The practical free exits are open source. FreeScout is the simplest: install it on a small server, connect a mailbox, and you have a shared inbox and ticket queue with no seat fee. Chatwoot suits teams where web chat and messaging apps matter as much as email, and its hosted free plan covers two agents and 500 conversations a month with 30 days of retention. Zammad sits between them with a more traditional ticket model. If you want zero server work, Zoho Desk gives three users free, HubSpot Service Hub gives two, and Help Scout gives five on a limited plan. The trade-off is automation. Freshdesk's rules, SLA handling and Freddy AI do not have one-to-one equivalents in these tools, and self-hosting means you own backups, updates and uptime. If your team leans on Freshdesk's automations, stay and pay. If you mostly answer email from five agents or fewer, test FreeScout or Help Scout's free plan with a copy of last month's tickets first, since import quality has not been tested here.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeScout | Free (free self-hosted core; you pay for your own server) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Teams that can host a PHP/MySQL app themselves | Docs only |
| Chatwoot | Free (Hacker plan: 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live chat only, 30 days retention); paid from $19 per agent/month, billed monthly (Startups) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Chat-heavy support teams on a budget | Docs only |
| Zammad | Free (open-source code is free to self-host; hosted plans have a 30-day trial); paid from EUR 7 per agent/month, billed annually (hosted Starter v2; EUR 9 monthly) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Teams wanting classic tickets without vendor lock-in | Docs only |
| Zoho Desk | Free (3 users) | Web browser | Small teams already using Zoho products | Docs only |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Free (free for up to 2 users, HubSpot-branded live chat and email); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) | Web browser | Teams that want support and CRM in one free login | Docs only |
| Help Scout | Free (5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site); paid from $25 per user/month (Standard, billed monthly; annual toggle shows a discount) | Web browser | Small teams that want a calm, email-first help desk | Docs only |
| Zendesk | Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Support Team) | Web browser | Help Desk | Docs only |
| Intercom | Paid from $29 per seat/month (Essential; the page also shows $19, which appears to be the annual rate; Advanced $85, Expert $132; Fin AI Agent $0.99 per outcome) | Web browser | Customer Support | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want an open-source help desk with no seat fee (FreeScout is the pick)
- Customers contact you through chat and social apps (Chatwoot is the pick)
- You want classic ticketing and may self-host later (Zammad is the pick)
- You want a free hosted plan alongside a CRM (HubSpot Service Hub is the pick)
- You need a small, email-style team inbox (Help Scout is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Freshdesk features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Freshdesk today: Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Growth) (Freshdesk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Freshdesk alternatives
Freshdesk lists no permanent free plan. Growth is $19 per agent per month billed annually, Pro $55 and Enterprise $89. Multiple SLA policies and round-robin assignment start at Pro, skill-based assignment and audit logs at Enterprise, and the Freddy AI Copilot add-on at $29 per agent is not offered on Growth. The 500 included AI Agent sessions are once per account, then $49 per 100.
FreeScout
Compared with Freshdesk: Free AGPL-3.0 self-hosted help desk. It lacks Freshdesk's built-in Freddy AI and its automation depth, but you pay no per-agent fee, and Freshdesk's own pricing page lists no permanent free plan.
Price: Free (free self-hosted core; you pay for your own server) (FreeScout pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 4.6k GitHub stars · latest release 1.8.248 (Oct 17, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Teams that can host a PHP/MySQL app themselves.
Chatwoot
Compared with Freshdesk: MIT-licensed support platform with email, web chat and social inbox. Less ticket-field and SLA tooling than Freshdesk, but hosted free for 2 agents and open to self-hosting.
Price: Free (Hacker plan: 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live chat only, 30 days retention); paid from $19 per agent/month, billed monthly (Startups) (Chatwoot pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. MIT (repo also contains an enterprise folder) (open source).
Project activity: 38.4k GitHub stars · latest release v4.19.1 (Oct 24, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Chat-heavy support teams on a budget.
Zammad
Compared with Freshdesk: AGPL-3.0 ticket system with a conventional agent interface. Fewer bundled AI features than Freshdesk and a smaller app list, but hosted from EUR 7 per agent monthly on annual billing or self-hosted.
Price: Free (open-source code is free to self-host; hosted plans have a 30-day trial); paid from EUR 7 per agent/month, billed annually (hosted Starter v2; EUR 9 monthly) (Zammad pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 6k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Teams wanting classic tickets without vendor lock-in.
Worth knowing: Zammad's own self-hosted packages start at EUR 2,999 per year (Business), which buy support, not the software.
Zoho Desk
Compared with Freshdesk: Three free users where Freshdesk offers only a 14-day trial. You get a comparable ticketing model inside the Zoho suite, but check the pricing page for paid tier prices in USD.
Price: Free (3 users) (Zoho Desk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small teams already using Zoho products.
HubSpot Service Hub
Compared with Freshdesk: Free for 2 users with live chat and limited bots. Ticket workflow is thinner than Freshdesk's, but you get a free CRM alongside it and a Starter tier listed at $7 per seat.
Price: Free (free for up to 2 users, HubSpot-branded live chat and email); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) (HubSpot Service Hub pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Teams that want support and CRM in one free login.
Help Scout
Compared with Freshdesk: Free for up to 5 users with 1 inbox and 1 Docs site. It is lighter than Freshdesk, with no field-service or heavy automation focus, and paid Standard starts at $25 per user monthly.
Price: Free (5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site); paid from $25 per user/month (Standard, billed monthly; annual toggle shows a discount) (Help Scout pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small teams that want a calm, email-first help desk.
Other popular options (paid)
Zendesk
Compared with Freshdesk: Support Team starts at $19 per agent per month billed annually, the same entry price as Freshdesk Growth, with no permanent free plan. Messaging and live chat arrive with Suite Team at $55, and AI resolutions are metered per outcome.
Price: Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Support Team) (Zendesk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Intercom
Compared with Freshdesk: Essential is $29 per seat per month, with $19 shown on the page, and its Fin AI Agent costs $0.99 per outcome, against Freshdesk's 500 included AI Agent sessions and $49 for each extra 100.
Price: Paid from $29 per seat/month (Essential; the page also shows $19, which appears to be the annual rate; Advanced $85, Expert $132; Fin AI Agent $0.99 per outcome) (Intercom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want an open-source help desk with no seat fee: FreeScout
- Customers contact you through chat and social apps: Chatwoot
- You want classic ticketing and may self-host later: Zammad
- You want a free hosted plan alongside a CRM: HubSpot Service Hub
- You need a small, email-style team inbox: Help Scout
Limits of this review
Docs-only for FreeScout, Chatwoot, Zammad, Zoho Desk, HubSpot Service Hub, Help Scout: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Freshdesk. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Freshdesk, FreeScout, Chatwoot, Zammad, Zoho Desk, HubSpot Service Hub, Help Scout, Zendesk, Intercom. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.