Zendesk vs Freshdesk, and the all-in-one option
Zendesk and Freshdesk both price paid email ticketing from $19 per agent a month billed annually, and both move live chat to a dearer plan: Zendesk Suite Team or Freshdesk Omni. Laureo is one plan for the CRM, campaigns, quotes and invoices, with the help desk and live chat on Business and Ultra.
Which is better, Zendesk or Freshdesk?
Freshdesk is the cheaper way to add live chat, from $29 per agent on Freshdesk Omni against $55 on Zendesk Suite Team, and Zendesk holds SLAs and CSAT surveys for Suite Professional at $115; both are help desks that leave the CRM to another product. For a small team that sells to the customers it supports, Laureo is the better fit: the help desk, live chat and SLA targets sit on Business and Ultra beside the pipeline, campaigns and invoices.
One support and sales workflow, step by step, on each:
| Step | Zendesk | Freshdesk | Laureo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer email tickets | Support Team, $19 an agent | Growth, $19 an agent | Tickets & Help Desk (Business and Ultra) |
| Chat with site visitors | Suite Team, $55 an agent | Freshdesk Omni, from $29 an agent | Live Chat (Business and Ultra) |
| Hold SLA targets | Suite Professional, $115 an agent | Multiple SLA policies from Pro, $55 an agent | SLA targets per priority (Business and Ultra) |
| Track the deal | A CRM through Marketplace apps or APIs | Freshsales, from $9 a user | CRM & Pipeline (every plan) |
| Send the quote and invoice | Not on its pricing page | Not on its pricing page | Quotes & Invoices (every plan) |
Is Freshdesk cheaper than Zendesk?
On the first paid plan they match, $19 per agent a month billed annually for email ticketing, but Freshdesk costs less once you add chat or SLAs: Freshdesk Omni starts at $29 per agent and multiple SLA policies come on Freshdesk Pro at $55, against $55 for Zendesk Suite Team and $115 for Suite Professional, the Zendesk plan with SLAs. Both then bill AI answers by usage, Zendesk per resolution past its allowance and Freshdesk per session after the first 500, while Laureo includes monthly AI credits on every plan and, on Ultra, the resolution agent under fair-use limits.
Prices as Zendesk and Freshdesk published them on October 30, 2026, per agent a month on annual billing.
| Cost line | Zendesk | Freshdesk | Laureo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email ticketing seat | $19 an agent | $19 an agent | Business from $166.66/mo billed annually, 2 seats |
| Seat with live chat | $55 an agent, Suite Team | $29 an agent, Freshdesk Omni | Included on Business |
| AI answers | $1.50 or $2.00 per resolution past the allowance | $49 per 100 sessions after 500 | Monthly AI credits; resolution agent on Ultra |
| Agent AI assistant | Copilot, $50 an agent | Freddy AI Copilot, $29 an agent | AI email drafting on every plan |
Do Zendesk and Freshdesk include a CRM?
No, neither does on its own: Zendesk retires its separate sales CRM, Zendesk Sell, on August 31, 2027 and connects a CRM through Marketplace apps or its APIs, and Freshworks sells its CRM, Freshsales, as a separate product from $9 per user a month billed annually. Laureo is a CRM first, with the help desk, live chat and knowledge base on Business and Ultra, so a support email from a known contact opens a ticket on that contact and their company, with the count and value of that company's open deals beside it.
Zendesk vs Freshdesk, criterion by criterion
Each row puts Zendesk, Freshdesk and Laureo on the same question. The Zendesk and Freshdesk cells come from their own pages, and the date at the top of this page says when we last checked them.
| Criterion | Zendesk | Freshdesk | Laureo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email ticketing, per agent | Support Team, $19 a month paid yearly ($25 monthly) | Growth, $19 a month billed annually | Business from $166.66/mo billed annually, with 2 full seats |
| Live chat | From Suite Team, $55 an agent a month paid yearly | In Freshdesk Omni, from $29 an agent a month billed annually | Live Chat on Business and Ultra, in the same queue as email tickets |
| SLA targets | Only on Suite Professional, $115 an agent a month paid yearly | Multiple SLA policies from Pro, $55 an agent a month billed annually | SLA targets per priority on Business and Ultra |
| Help center | None on Support Team; a help center starts on Suite Team | A customer portal and knowledge base from Growth | Knowledge Base and Public Help Center on Business and Ultra |
| AI that answers customers | 5 to 10 automated resolutions per agent a month, then $1.50 or $2.00 each | 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions once per account, then $49 per 100 | Resolution agent on Ultra, included with fair-use limits; the AI Customer Support Agent is a paid Ultra add-on |
| AI help for agents | Copilot, $50 an agent a month paid yearly, on Professional and higher | Freddy AI Copilot, $29 an agent a month billed annually, on Pro and Enterprise | AI email drafting on every plan; support reply drafts on Ultra |
| Workflow meters | Automations and triggers from Support Team; Action Builder credits for multi-system workflows, then $200 per 100K actions | Connector app tasks for syncs with external apps, $80 per 5,000 tasks | Never billed per run: 10 automation rules and 5,000 workflow runs a month on Business, unlimited on Ultra |
| Sales pipeline | Zendesk Sell, which Zendesk retires on August 31, 2027; otherwise a CRM through Marketplace apps or APIs | Freshsales, a separate product from $9 to $59 a user | CRM & Pipeline on every plan, with unlimited contacts |
| Campaigns, quotes and invoices | Not on its pricing page | Not on its pricing page | Campaigns and Quotes & Invoices on every plan |
| Your data and the AI | Service Data trains its cross-account models unless you opt out | Some Freddy AI features fine-tune on your own service data | The AI never trains on your data |
Every tool in Laureo
The table covers the criteria that matter between Zendesk and Freshdesk. Here is the whole Laureo toolset, by name. The pricing page shows which plans include each one.
Marketing & Communication
Deals & Revenue
- Quotes & Invoices
- Booking Pages
- Deal Rooms
Customer Support
- Tickets & Help Desk
- Knowledge Base
- Public Help Center
- Feedback
- Live Chat
- AI Customer Support Agent (add-on)
Automation
Zendesk, Freshdesk, or the all-in-one option
Pick Laureo over Zendesk and Freshdesk when the people who answer tickets also sell: one plan holds the pipeline, campaigns, quotes and invoices, Business and Ultra add the help desk, live chat and SLA targets with a second full seat included, and the resolution agent comes with Ultra under fair-use limits, where Zendesk bills per resolution and Freshdesk per session.
- One plan and one bill cover your CRM, inbox, email campaigns, booking pages, and quotes and invoices, so you stop paying for separate tools.
- Every plan includes monthly AI credits for the assistant, the agents and email drafting.
- Business and Ultra include a second full seat in the plan price, and no plan has a seat minimum.
- Automation rules and non-AI workflow steps never spend AI credits, and workflow runs carry no per-run fee; only AI steps use credits.
- The AI never trains on your data, and every AI request goes only to providers that keep none of it.
Related Resources
- ComparisonLaureo vs ZendeskA help desk priced per agent, with live chat on the Suite plans and the CRM kept in another product joined by an integration.
- ComparisonLaureo vs FreshdeskAn email-first help desk charged per agent, with chat on its Omni edition and the CRM sold as Freshsales.
- ComparisonInstantly vs lemlist, and the all-in-one optionInstantly vs lemlist: Outreach caps and a separate CRM plan against volume tiers and CRM integrations, next to Laureo Ultra: cold outreach inside the CRM.
- ComparisonFreshdesk vs Help Scout, and the all-in-one optionFreshdesk vs Help Scout: paid seats from $19 or $25, AI billed per session or resolution, CRM elsewhere, next to Laureo with a help desk on Business and Ultra.
- ComparisonFreshdesk vs Intercom, and the all-in-one optionFreshdesk vs Intercom: chat from $29 a seat in Freshdesk Omni or on any Intercom plan ($19 for new Intercom customers), Fin at $0.99 an outcome, next to Laureo.
- ComparisonZendesk pricingHow much does Zendesk cost? Support Team to Suite Professional per agent, the AI resolution fees and add-ons, each dated, then one team priced on Laureo.
- AlternativeZendesk alternativeA Zendesk alternative for teams that sell and support: tickets, live chat and a knowledge base on Business and Ultra, in the same CRM as the deals.
- ComparisonFreshdesk pricingHow much does Freshdesk cost? Growth, Pro and Enterprise per agent, Freshdesk Omni for chat, Freddy AI sessions and Copilot, dated, then one team on Laureo.
- ComparisonBrowse every CRM comparisonSee how Laureo stacks up against the other CRMs you are weighing.
- PricingEvery plan, what is included, and the monthly AI credits.
Zendesk vs Freshdesk FAQs
Common questions about choosing between Zendesk, Freshdesk and Laureo
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