Overview

Freshchat brings live-agent chat and no-code Freddy AI chatbots into a workspace for website, mobile-app, and messaging conversations. Channels include email, Facebook and Instagram messaging, SMS, WhatsApp, LINE, and Google Business Messages; agents can also manage conversations from Apple Business Chat and Slack in one workspace. APIs allow teams to connect their own channels.

The Team Inbox supports individual or bulk assignment, saved replies, and an action that assigns, responds to, and resolves a conversation. This is useful for teams sharing a queue, while mobile apps for iOS and Android let agents reply, assign, add private notes, resolve chats, and receive push notifications. Businesses can also translate incoming and outgoing conversations in more than 45 languages, a practical advantage for multilingual service teams.

Freshchat is made by Freshworks, founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Mateo, California. It is positioned for small businesses through enterprises, including e-commerce, travel and hospitality, and healthcare organizations. See our Live chat software list for other options.

Key features

Automation and integrations

Freddy AI supports no-code bots for common questions, which can deflect routine contacts before they reach an agent. Freshworks says Freddy AI Agent can deflect up to 86% of customer requests; that is a stated capability, not a guarantee for an individual team. Growth, Pro, and Enterprise each include 500 AI Agent sessions once per account, and Growth charges $49 per 100 additional sessions.

The Freshworks Marketplace has more than 1,000 ready-to-install integrations, including Shopify, Salesforce, Slack, Jira, and Five9. Connectors, templates, a low-code interface, and APIs support custom integrations and workflow automation. Connector app tasks cost $80/5000 tasks across the paid plans, so teams with substantial automation needs should account for that separately.

Controls and security

Role-based access control, business hours, and audit logs support team administration; Enterprise adds domain or IP allowlisting, audit logs, and JWT authentication. Freshchat also supports SAML single sign-on and JWT authentication. Standalone Freshchat data stores are encrypted in transit and at rest, with controls audited under SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications. These controls make the higher tier more relevant to organizations with stricter access requirements.

Pricing

Freshchat has a free plan and a 14-day trial with no credit card required. New signups receive Enterprise access during the trial, so teams can evaluate advanced capabilities before choosing a tier. Cancellation has no fee, but takes effect after the current term.

Plan	Price	What it includes
Free	0.00 USD per free	Up to 10 agents; web and mobile chat widget, shared inbox, email, and roles and permissions. Includes 100 campaign contacts per account per month.
Growth	19.00 USD per month, billed annually	Everything in Free, plus Freddy AI Agent, social media messengers, text messaging, and reporting. Includes 500 campaign contacts per account per month. Additional AI Agent sessions cost $49 per 100; day passes cost $2/pass.
Pro	49.00 USD per month, billed annually	Everything in Growth, plus multilingual conversations, custom dashboards, intelligent routing, and multiple SLA policies. Freddy AI Copilot costs $29/agent/month; day passes cost $7/pass.
Enterprise	79.00 USD per month, billed annually	Everything in Pro, plus skill-based routing, audit logs, JWT authentication, and allowed domains and IP whitelisting. Freddy AI Copilot costs $29/agent/annually; day passes cost $12/pass.

Growth is the entry point for social messaging, text messaging, reporting, and included AI sessions, but its annual billing and separately priced extra sessions matter for teams with uneven or heavy use. Pro is the fit when multilingual handling, custom dashboards, or routing and SLA controls justify the step up. Enterprise is aimed at teams needing skill-based routing and stronger administrative controls. Connector app tasks cost $80/5000 tasks on Growth, Pro, and Enterprise. The free tier's 10-agent ceiling is generous for a small team, but its campaign-contact allowance is 100 monthly per account, compared with 500 on paid plans.

Platforms

Freshchat supports websites, mobile apps, and messaging channels, with web access, iOS and Android apps, and APIs. The range covers teams whose agents work on desktop and mobile and businesses that need to connect customer channels beyond a standard website chat widget.

Who it's for

Freshchat is a strong fit for teams that want agents to work from one inbox across several customer channels, particularly when they need mobile access, integrations, or multilingual conversations. The Free plan can support up to 10 agents, making it a sensible starting point for smaller operations. Organizations that need advanced routing, audit logs, or allowlisting should look to Pro or Enterprise rather than assume the free tier covers those needs.

It is less compelling for a team that only needs a very small operator group or a narrowly scoped chat service: the paid capabilities are organized into higher tiers, and several AI and automation uses have separate charges or quotas. Teams should compare expected volumes and annual commitments before moving beyond Free.

Pros and cons

Pros

Free for up to 10 agents: the free plan includes a shared inbox, web and mobile widget, email, and roles and permissions.
Broad channel coverage: web and mobile chat sit alongside email, social messengers, SMS, WhatsApp, LINE, and Google Business Messages, with API connectivity for custom channels.
Useful collaboration and mobility: bulk assignment, saved replies, combined assignment-response-resolution, and mobile agent apps support teams working a shared queue.
Substantial integration choice: more than 1,000 marketplace integrations and custom workflow tools can connect customer messaging to business applications.

Cons

Paid plans are billed annually: the advertised monthly prices require an annual commitment, even though cancellation has no fee.
AI and automation can add cost: extra Freddy AI Agent sessions, Copilot, day passes, and connector app tasks have separate charges.
Capabilities are tiered: multilingual conversations and intelligent routing start at Pro, while skill-based routing and allowlisting are reserved for Enterprise.
Free campaign allowance is limited: Free includes 100 campaign contacts per account per month, versus 500 on paid plans.

Alternatives

Crisp is worth comparing for a smaller operation: its free plan has two seats, unlimited conversations, 100 customer profiles, and no AI credits.
Chatwoot is an open-source option for teams that value self-hosting; its free Hacker plan supports up to two agents and 500 conversations per month.
Zoho SalesIQ may fit a small team that can work within three operator licenses, 100 chats per month, 10,000 visitors per month, and 30 days of chat history on its free plan.
tawk.to offers a free Hobby plan with 100 monthly message credits, one AI chat agent, and 100 crawled web pages.
JivoChat is another free-plan alternative, with five agents included.
Smartsupp suits a very small team comfortable with one operator and 25 conversations per month on its free plan.
Chaport is another free-plan option, with two operators included.
Intercom is a paid alternative whose Essential plan starts at 19.00 USD per month, billed annually per seat, and includes Fin AI Agent, Messenger, shared inbox and ticketing, and pre-built reports.

Verdict

Choose Freshchat if your team needs to coordinate customer conversations across multiple channels and wants a free starting point for as many as 10 agents. Its shared inbox, channel breadth, integrations, and graduated routing and security options give it room to serve teams as their needs grow. Look elsewhere if annual billing, add-on charges, or the paid-tier gates around advanced routing and multilingual features do not fit your budget or workload.

	Freshchat	Velaro Live Chat
Free plan	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Paid from	$19/mo
Platforms	Android, api, iOS, Web	Web, iOS, Android
Free plan	Yes	No
Paid from	$19/mo	$19/mo
Website chatbot	Yes	Yes
Live agent chat	Yes	Yes
Visitor tracking	Yes	Yes
Chat channels	omnichannel	omnichannel
Included agent seats	10 agents	1 agents
Listed integrations	1,000 apps	20 apps

Freshchat vs Velaro Live Chat

Freshchat

Velaro Live Chat