Customerly vs Freshdesk: The Better Alternative for Conversational Support
Discover why modern support teams are switching from Freshdesk to Customerly for faster, smarter, AI-driven customer service that scales with your business.
Why Consider a Freshdesk Alternative?
Freshdesk has long been a popular choice for customer support, offering ticketing, automation, and a familiar interface. However, as customer expectations shift toward instant, conversational, AI-powered support, businesses are finding limitations in traditional ticketing-centric solutions like Freshdesk. Common pain points include complex workflows, ticket management issues, and missing features—especially when it comes to advanced, human-like AI automation and seamless integration across channels.
Pricing is another area of concern. While Freshdesk offers a free tier, unlocking modern AI and automation capabilities often requires upgrading to higher, costlier plans. This can result in unpredictable costs and limited access to the latest AI innovations—particularly for growing SaaS companies, mobile apps, and marketplace platforms where responsive, scalable support is critical.
With rising customer demands for real-time, personalized engagement, many support teams find Freshdesk’s ticket-centric model cumbersome. The need to streamline workflows, boost agent productivity, and automate up to 60% of conversations with human-like quality is driving businesses to explore smarter, more agile alternatives like Customerly.
Customerly addresses these pain points head-on, offering an AI-first approach to customer service with Aura—an AI assistant that delivers instant resolutions, seamless human handoffs, and integrated customer success tools. If you’re seeking to modernize your support, reduce operational costs, and delight customers with real-time, conversational experiences, it’s time to consider Customerly as your Freshdesk alternative.
Platform Overview
Freshdesk
Freshdesk (a product of Freshworks Inc.) helps businesses delight their customers effortlessly with modern and intuitive customer support software. It supports multi-channel ticketing (email, web, phone, chat, messaging, social), automation, AI capabilities, team collaboration, integrations, predictive support, and analytics.
Freshdesk is a well-established tool known for its robust ticketing system, wide range of integrations (over 1,200 business apps), and flexibility for businesses of all sizes. However, its legacy ticketing approach can introduce complexity and bottlenecks, particularly as customer expectations move toward instant, conversational support. Advanced AI features are typically reserved for enterprise plans, limiting their availability to smaller and mid-sized teams.
Customerly
Customerly is the first-in-class AI customer service platform designed to help businesses automate customer support, enhance engagement, and drive retention. Key features include AI Agents for instant resolutions, seamless escalation to humans, email marketing automation, NPS & CSAT surveys, and integrated customer success tools—all unified in a single, user-friendly platform.
Customerly’s AI-first approach means you can automate up to 60% of conversations with Aura, delivering human-like responses that boost customer satisfaction and free up your team for high-impact work. Unlike Freshdesk, advanced AI automation and conversational tools are available across all paid plans—making powerful support technology accessible to SaaS companies, mobile apps, platforms, and marketplaces alike.
Pros and Cons
| Product | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Freshdesk | Ease of Use; Features; Helpful; Customer Support; Automation | Missing Features; Ticketing Issues; Ticket Management; Ticketing System Issues; Limitations |
| Customerly | Customer Support; Features; Useful; Helpful; Quick Setup | Cost; Cost Limitations; Expensive; AI Limitations; Bugs |
Business Impact Analysis: While Freshdesk is praised for ease of use and helpful support, ongoing complaints about missing features and ticketing limitations can hinder fast-growing companies and create friction for agents. Customerly’s strengths in quick setup, powerful features, and responsive support help teams get up and running quickly and scale efficiently. While some users cite entry costs and occasional bugs, the value delivered by advanced AI automation and integrated tools often outweighs these concerns for businesses focused on growth and efficiency.
Feature Comparison
Below is a side-by-side comparison of key features. Customerly’s AI-first platform enables automation and conversational support out-of-the-box, whereas Freshdesk’s advanced AI is reserved for top-tier plans.
| Feature | Freshdesk | Customerly |
|---|---|---|
| AI Chatbot | Yes (Enterprise only) | Yes (All paid plans) |
| Unified multi-channel ticketing | Yes | Yes (with AI-powered live chat) |
| AI-powered automation | Ticket routing, resolving (Enterprise only) | Up to 60% of conversations on all plans |
| Self-service portals/knowledge base | Yes | Yes (customizable, with help center automation) |
| Team collaboration tools | Yes | Yes |
| Analytics & reporting | Yes | Yes (plus customer success and NPS/CSAT analytics) |
| Integrations | 1200+ business apps | CRM, Zapier, Facebook Messenger, Calendly, Public API, and more |
| Email marketing automation | No | Yes (segmentation, behavioral triggers) |
| Video chat | No | Yes (Growth & Ultimate plans) |
| Surveys (NPS/CSAT) | No native NPS | Yes (Growth & Ultimate plans) |
| Live translation | No | Yes (Ultimate plan) |
| Custom lists & segmentation | Limited | Yes (Core & Growth plans) |
| AI Conversation Automation | Enterprise only, limited | All paid plans, up to 60% automated |
| Pricing transparency | Complex, based on features & seats | Simple, per seat and AI conversation |
Business Value: Customerly makes AI-driven support accessible and scalable for all teams, not just enterprise clients. Features like video chat, built-in NPS/CSAT, and advanced email marketing allow SaaS and digital businesses to unify support, marketing, and customer success—streamlining the entire customer journey.
Best for Industries
- SaaS Companies: Customerly’s instant AI chat, onboarding automation, and email workflows help SaaS companies reduce churn and deliver proactive support.
- Mobile Apps: In-app live chat, AI-powered help centers, and personalized push/email campaigns enable mobile teams to support users in real time.
- Platforms & Marketplaces: Customerly’s scalable AI automation, multi-language support, and advanced segmentation are ideal for high-volume marketplace operations.
- Digital Startups: Quick setup, affordable pricing per seat, and automation lower operational overhead for lean teams.
Customerly is designed for modern digital businesses that need to automate, personalize, and scale customer support without sacrificing quality or breaking the bank.
Pricing Analysis
Customerly and Freshdesk both offer free trials, but their pricing models differ significantly. Customerly’s transparent, per-seat pricing ensures predictable costs and access to powerful AI on every plan. Freshdesk’s advanced AI and automation require higher-tier (Enterprise) plans, often leading to hidden costs and limited features for smaller teams.
| Product | Plan | Price (per seat/month) | AI Conversations | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshdesk | Free | $0 | None | 2 agents max, basic ticketing only |
| Freshdesk | Growth | $15 | No AI chatbot | Automations, SLAs, Custom views, Email ticketing |
| Freshdesk | Pro | $49 | No AI chatbot | Custom roles, Dashboards, Segments, API |
| Freshdesk | Enterprise | $79 | AI chatbot, Agent Assist | AI, RPA, HIPAA, Enterprise features |
| Customerly | Core | €19 | 10 /mo | AI, Live chat, 500 interactions, Email, Help Center |
| Customerly | Growth | €69 | 20 /mo | All Core features + 1000 interactions, Advanced automations, Video calls, CRM, Surveys, Integrations |
| Customerly | Ultimate | €99 | 50 /mo | All Growth features + 5000 interactions, Live translate, Advanced analytics, CSAT, Identity verification |
- Customerly AI conversation cost: $0.45 per AI conversation, with unlimited contacts.
- Customerly AI seat: €19 per month per seat as add-on.
- Both platforms offer free trials for all plans.
Takeaway: Customerly’s pricing is straightforward and scales with your needs—no surprise charges for AI or automation. All paid plans include AI-powered automation, making advanced support accessible for every team, not just enterprise clients.
User Ratings
| Metric | Freshdesk Score | Customerly Score |
|---|---|---|
| Meets Requirements | 8.6 | 8.9 |
| Ease of Use | 8.8 | 9.0 |
| Ease of Setup | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Ease of Admin | 8.7 | 8.9 |
| Quality of Support | 8.7 | 8.7 |
Business Implications: Customerly consistently rates higher for meeting requirements, ease of use, and admin experience—critical factors for lean or scaling teams seeking rapid time-to-value and minimal training overhead.
Comprehensive Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | Freshdesk | Customerly |
|---|---|---|
| Unified multi-channel ticketing | Yes | Yes (AI-powered live chat, email, integrations) |
| AI Chatbot | Yes (Enterprise only) | Yes (All paid plans) |
| AI-powered automation | Enterprise only | All paid plans (up to 60% automation) |
| Help Center / Knowledge Base | Yes | Yes (custom domain, messenger integration) |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Yes |
| Analytics & Reporting | Yes | Yes (advanced analytics, team insights) |
| Email Marketing Automation | No | Yes |
| Video Calls | No | Growth & Ultimate plans |
| CRM Integration | Yes | Growth & Ultimate plans |
| Customer Feedback (NPS, CSAT) | CSAT only (higher plans) | Growth & Ultimate plans (NPS & CSAT) |
| Live Translation | No | Ultimate plan |
| Advanced Segmentation | Limited | Core & Growth plans |
| Integrations | 1200+ Apps | Zapier, Messenger, Calendly, Webhooks, Public API |
| Workflow Automation | Growth plan and up | Core plan and up |
| Custom Lists | Limited | Core (5), Growth (unlimited) |
| Surveys | No | Growth & Ultimate |
| White-labeling | Enterprise only | Growth & Ultimate |
| Public API | Yes (limit by plan) | Growth & Ultimate |
| Multi-language support | Yes | Ultimate (live translate, multi-locale help center) |
| Schedule actions/messages | Yes (higher plans) | Growth & Ultimate |
| Identity Verification | Enterprise only | Ultimate |
| Support Response Time | Varies by plan | AI only (Core), AI+48h (Growth), <30min (Ultimate) |
| Unlimited Contacts | Yes (limits by plan) | Yes (all plans) |
Migration Benefits
Switching to Customerly from Freshdesk is straightforward, thanks to dedicated migration support, data import tools, and guided onboarding. Customerly’s quick setup and intuitive interface mean your team can be up and running in hours—not weeks—reducing the friction and downtime typically associated with platform changes.
- Data Migration: Import tickets, contacts, and knowledge base articles with ease.
- Guided Onboarding: Personalized onboarding sessions accelerate adoption and ROI.
- Faster Time-to-Value: With instant AI automation and quick team ramp-up, you’ll see efficiency gains and cost savings almost immediately.
- Future-Proof Support: Customerly’s AI-first platform ensures you stay ahead as customer expectations evolve—no need for costly upgrades or complex add-ons.
Summary: If your business is ready to move beyond ticket-based support and unlock the full potential of AI-driven, conversational customer service, Customerly offers a faster, smarter, and more scalable alternative to Freshdesk—backed by higher ratings in key areas, transparent pricing, and advanced features designed for the modern customer-centric team.
This is what our customers switching from were asking
Here we collected some of the answers you might be searching if you want to switch from Freshdesk.
AI Support That Sets You Apart.
Start Leading Today.
