10 Freshdesk Alternatives for AI-Powered, Omnichannel Support

by | Jul 18, 2025

Your support team deserves more than outdated and clunky systems. They need intuitive automation, advanced AI tools, cost optimization, and a knowledge base—features that modern customer support software should deliver. 

If you’ve been using or considering purchasing Freshdesk customer support software, you might also be wondering about Freshdesk alternatives. While it’s a great option for many teams, it can fall short when it comes to certain features and delivering a true all-in-one experience.

So, if you’re looking to make a smart decision, find a solution that works for your unique business goals, and go beyond basic ticketing—keep on reading!

In this article, you’ll learn:

  • Why people are leaving Freshdesk
  • Best Freshdesk alternatives based on different business goals and needs
  • What to look for in customer support software 

Let’s begin!

Why consider Freshdesk alternatives in the first place?

Freshdesk AI customer service software

Automated, easy-to-use, and affordable customer support software is key to business efficiency and to customers who keep coming back. Freshdesk can definitely offer you that. However, purchasing a customer support solution is a big commitment. You can’t change tools every few months because it’d make your work unbearable and eat into your budget. 

The smart thing to do is look for systems that can solve as many pain points as possible without making you feel like you need to change your entire business to adjust to a new system.

So, whether you’ve been a loyal Freshdesk customer or are just browsing for alternatives, it’s important to know why you might consider a switch. We looked into Freshdesk customer reviews to see the main reasons users leave the provider and look for alternatives.

Here’s where it falls short:

Freshdesk customer review

  • You need advanced features and an omnichannel experience: If you want advanced customization, modern automation features, and a fast ticketing system, Freshdesk might not meet your expectations 100%. Customers notice that the system is on the slower side and lacks essential features like advanced ticketing or a true omnichannel experience that are supposed to make customer support seamless.
  • You’re searching for modern ticketing software: Although Freshdesk was originally a ticketing system, many customers notice that it doesn’t allow them to properly search for tickets or update them easily. Given the Freshdesk pricing, many customers expect more advanced features.
  • You value fast and responsive customer support: Some Freshdesk clients point out that when they have an issue with the system, they need to wait a long time to connect with customer support agents. Many times, their attempts go unanswered.
  • You want automation that saves time: Customers notice that automation rules are incomplete and difficult to manage. They point out that the system lacks the full functionality needed to assist support teams. System reports are bulky to create and often fail to include all the necessary data elements.

If you want more advanced features, automation that saves hours of your work, and AI tools that feel like something out of the future, continue reading because we gathered 10 top Freshdesk alternatives for you!

Freshdesk alternatives: Your tl;dr

  • You’ll be able to connect your entire knowledge base and automate internal and external customer support with Capacity
  • You’ll be able to build complex, enterprise-level support setups with Zendesk
  • You’ll be able to run your e-commerce business seamlessly with Kustomer

Freshdesk alternativeStarting priceFree trialBest for
CapacityCustom pricing14 daysUnifying all business processes and adding an orchestrated AI layer
Zendesk$55 per agent per month, billed annually14 daysComplex, enterprise-level support setups
Intercom$29 per seat per month when billed annually14 daysReal-time, conversational support
Help ScoutFree15 daysSmall and medium-sized businesses
HubSpot Service Hub$9 per seat per month, billed annually14 daysCustomer support, integrated with sales, marketing, and CRM
Kustomer$89 per user per monthNoE-commerce businesses
Zoho Desk$7 per user per month, billed annually15 daysAffordable help desk solution
UVdeskFree for open open-source help desk30 daysOpen source
LiveAgent$15 per month, per agent, billed annually30 daysMultichannel help desk
HappyFox$29 per agent per month, billed monthlyAfter trying a demo versionMid-sized to large teams that need deep automation

The top 10 Freshdesk alternatives: Features, pros & cons, and pricing explained

We went over the top 10 Freshdesk alternatives and compared their pricing, features, and customer reviews to compile a comprehensive comparison list. Our goal is that by the end of it, you’ll have a clearer picture of what kind of tool you want to integrate into your business and make a decision. And this time, one that sticks.

1. Capacity

Capacity business AI solution

Best Freshdesk alternative for unifying all business processes and adding an orchestrated AI layer 

If you think that it’s time for your business to invest in white-label solutions that work as one unified ecosystem, then you shouldn’t skip Capacity. Capacity is an AI-powered support automation platform designed to help businesses streamline customer support, internal team communication, and sales through self-service, automation, and knowledge management.

Don’t think of it as just another software—see it as an addition to your business: an orchestrated AI layer.

Main features

A unified knowledge layer

Some reports show that, on average, knowledge workers spend 2 hours of their day searching for information, documents, and files. That’s 10 hours per week, or around 400 hours per year. So much time could be spent doing something more useful!

Capacity helps save this time by creating a centralized knowledge base for your teams. By gathering information from your communication channels, documentation, third-party integrations, and other data sources, Capacity helps you build your own business search engine. One you can use for internal and external support.

Say a customer has a routine inquiry, like booking an appointment with you. AI virtual agents can handle that before it even reaches your human staff. Or say your agents need help finding information about your refund policy. Capacity gives them direct answers instantly, skipping the lengthy information search.

Proactive support and live coaching

Customer support starts with well-prepared support teams. But Capacity isn’t just a tool that helps them automate a couple of tasks. It’s a virtual assistant that always gives suggestions, offers improvements, and pulls out information when you need it the most. 

Your agents can access Agent Assist functionality through the integrated help desk platform. It works like a chat, where employees can send prompts, and the system gives them direct answers. It’s useful during live calls or conversations with customers, but it also helps deal with day-to-day processes like vacation requests or basic HR questions. 

Capacity also proactively coaches agents to speed up onboarding and make their jobs easier. With Capacity, even a completely new hire can become an expert in record time. The platform displays real-time pop-ups to help agents resolve customer requests faster and provides post-call recommendations on what they could improve. 

Managers can use this information to understand their team’s needs, strengths, and weaknesses.

Conversational AI

Smart businesses know that just adding a basic AI chatbot doesn’t cut it anymore. You need tools that feel like your human staff and actually get things done. Capacity offers that and more. 

Our conversational AI supports your team and customers across all your communication channels without missing a beat. 

Let’s say a customer calls, wanting to book a room in one of your hotels. An AI voice agent helps them find the best option based on location, price range, and extras like pet-friendly accommodation. And no, it doesn’t sound like an answering machine. The virtual agent listens, pauses, identifies sentiment, and reacts to the emotions and mood of the customer. 

Need to switch to email? No problem! The conversation isn’t lost, and your customers can just continue from where they left off on the call. All this interaction is then analyzed and turned into data to help you see your business’s progress.

Improved insights for better decisions

When you’re sitting on a mountain of data, you need the right tools to centralize it and make sense of it. For example, what does it mean that your sales dropped in March? Or that you had a surge of subscriptions in September? Capacity analyzes data and identifies trends to help you spot opportunities and close the gaps. 

Intuitive graphs and real-time analytics help you stay on top of your business 24/7. 

You also get:

  • A bot dashboard to view all inquiries, active users, session durations, and deflection rates
  • User behavior analysis to understand how customers interact with automation to refine responses
  • Sentiment analysis to see whether your customers enjoy the service or get frustrated with it, allowing you to remove any friction points 
  • Agent Assist metrics to see how your team is doing and evaluate their speed, accuracy, and knowledge
  • Demand forecasting to predict ticket volume and staffing needs, so you’re never caught off guard again

Automation that works

By 2030, up to 30% of the tasks people currently perform in workforce could be handled by automation. Think about data entry between different business tools, post-call notes, or even answering the same customer question 10 times a day. 

However, true automation is harder to come by than most people believe. 

Let’s say you automate your email sequences. But can you integrate them into your help desk platform to track customer support tickets? True automation happens when you can connect multiple processes within a single system and actually automate them. 

That’s what Capacity brings to the table. It’s not just another automation sequence. It’s a business ecosystem and automation strategy—from communication with customers to internal support for your teams.

True automation offers:

  • Dynamic audience targeting to help you segment and engage customers based on real-time data
  • Automated messaging sequences that trigger personalized emails, SMS, and in-app messages
  • Drag-and-drop features to help you create workflows without breaking a sweat
  • Conditional logic and triggers to automate actions based on specific events
  • Seamless integration with your tools, where each system “talks” to the other

Capacity pros and cons

Pros

  • All-in-one AI platform with an AI chatbot, knowledge management, workflow automation, and ticketing 
  • Internal and external support that handles customer-facing and employee support, like IT and HR, on the same platform
  • Strong AI-powered search and knowledge management
  • Deep custom automation workflows
  • Easy integration with over 250 business tools

Cons

  • The learning curve for setup can be steep and take more time upfront
  • Better for support and enablement than for pure sales funnels

Pricing

We offer custom pricing based on the products and features you want to integrate into your business. No pressure, though — you can book a free demo to try out the application and see if you like it. If you do, we can schedule a quick call to discuss your needs to give you an exact quote.

Free trial? Yes, you can try Capacity for free for 14 days.

2. Zendesk

Zendesk AI-powered support

Best Freshdesk alternative for complex, enterprise-level support setups

Consider Zendesk if you’re looking for an enterprise-level suite of tools for your business. It’s a leading customer support platform built to help businesses manage customer conversations at scale. 

Known for its robust ticketing system and multi-channel support, it offers many great features and a wide range of integrations, so it’s best suited for enterprises. However, it can feel complex and pricey for smaller teams or those just starting out.

Main features

  • Multi-channel ticketing: One of the main benefits of Zendesk is its suite of tools. This allows the platform to centralize support across email, chat, phone, social media, and more into one unified dashboard.
  • Advanced automation: Zendesk offers decent automation features. You can streamline repetitive tasks like routing tickets or sending replies to improve team efficiency.
  • Help center and knowledge base: You can keep everything in one place with Zendesk. The platform lets you create a branded self-service portal so customers can find answers without contacting support.
  • Analytics and reporting: If you’re looking for a 360-degree view of your business, it’s a great tool for that. Zendesk offers detailed dashboards to track response times, customer satisfaction, agent performance, and more.

Zendesk pros and cons

Pros

  • Mature, enterprise-ready platform with deep customization options
  • Extensive integration library with over 1,000 apps and tools
  • Great for scaling with advanced workflows and automations

Cons

  • It can be expensive for small businesses or startups
  • A steep learning curve for new users
  • Support can feel impersonal on lower-tier plans
  • Customization often requires technical help or add-ons

Pricing

Zendesk’s pricing depends on the products and features you choose to integrate. The cost can add up quickly if you want more advanced functionality or have a large team. 

Their most affordable plan starts at $55 per agent per month, billed annually. You get core ticketing, email, and social media support, automation, basic analytics, and AI agents. 

The Suite Growth plan, with more advanced features, costs $89 per agent per month, billed annually, and Suite Professional—$115 per agent per month, billed annually. They also offer custom pricing for enterprise customers.
Free trial? Yes, they offer a 14-day free trial.

3. Intercom

Intercom customer support solution

Best Freshdesk alternative for real-time, conversational support

Intercom is a modern customer communications platform that blends live chat, bots, and email into a unified experience. It’s especially popular among SaaS companies and startups for real-time support, proactive messaging, and customer engagement. 

Its clean interface and customizable automation make it easy to guide users, qualify leads, and deliver support. However, Intercom’s pricing can scale quickly and may not suit teams with limited budgets. If you look at their customer reviews, you’ll notice that some mention unexpected price increases, so you might also want to look at Intercom alternatives.

Main features

  • AI chatbot: One of the main benefits of Intercom is its AI chatbot, Fin. It combines human chat and AI-powered bots to answer questions, qualify leads, and route conversations effectively.
  • Outbound messages: If you want to connect with your customers through automated communication, Intercom offers some great features. It allows proactive outreach through in-app messages, email, or push notifications to drive engagement and upsells.
  • Shared inbox: You save a lot of time when you can access all customer information and tickets in one place. The platform gives a collaborative inbox that lets support, sales, and success teams manage conversations across channels.
  • Customizable workflows: If you want customization that feels like an interactive game, their user-friendly workflows let you do just that. You can use a no-code automation builder to create flows for onboarding, lead capture, support routing, and more.

Intercom pros and cons

Pros

  • Strong automation and proactive messaging for sales and support
  • Easy integration with CRMs, product tools, and analytics platforms
  • Ideal for SaaS and fast-growing tech companies

Cons

  • High pricing tiers—can get expensive quickly as usage grows
  • Limited ticketing features 
  • Some core features are only available on premium plans
  • Might be overkill for small businesses with basic support needs

Pricing

Intercom lets you customize your plan with add-ons and extras. Their Essential plan starts at $29 per seat per month when billed annually. The Advanced plan costs $85 per seat per month, and the Expert plan is $132 per seat per month. You can also purchase their Fin AI Agent, starting at $0.99 per resolved conversation.

Free trial? Yes, they offer a 14-day free trial.

4. Help Scout

Help Scout customer support software

Best Freshdesk alternative for small and medium-sized businesses

If you run a small or mid-sized business, then Help Scout is an interesting option for you to consider. It’s a customer-centric help desk platform. With its clean shared inbox, lightweight live chat (Beacon), and knowledge base, it makes email-based support feel personal and efficient. However, its pricing is based on contact volume and can be unpredictable and steep for growing teams.

Main features

  • Shared inbox and collision detection: You won’t duplicate your efforts with this tool. It organizes multiple mailboxes while avoiding duplicate responses by showing real-time agent activity. 
  • Beacon live chat: Beacon is Help Scout’s messaging tool, integrated with the knowledge base. You can adjust it based on agent availability for better expectation management. 
  • Custom workflow automation: Like most customer support tools, Help Scout offers user-friendly workflow automation. You can automate tagging, prioritizing, and routing conversations with manual or triggered workflows, along with robust API support. 
  • AI‑enhanced summaries and drafts: If you’re tired of spending hours summarizing email threads and customer interactions, Help Scout offers AI-powered assistance. The tool summarizes long threads and suggests email drafts during replies.

Help Scout pros and cons

Pros

  • Clean, intuitive email-centric UI that feels less like a ticketing system 
  • Responsive customer support 
  • Basic plans offer robust capabilities 

Cons

  • Usage-based pricing can be unpredictable and contact-volume billing can spike unexpectedly 
  • Mobile app lacks full workflow access 
  • Limited advanced reporting and custom templates 
  • Fewer integrations and less customization compared to competitors

Pricing

A great thing about Help Scout’s pricing is that it offers a basic plan for free. The Standard plan starts at $25 per month, billed annually, starting at 100 contacts. The Plus plan starts $75 per month and includes extras like integrations with Salesforce, Jira, and HubSpot.

Free trial? They offer a free plan and a 15-day free trial for their premium plans.

5. Hubspot Service Hub

HubSpot Service Hub

Best Freshdesk alternative for customer support, integrated with sales, marketing, and CRM 

You’ve probably heard about HubSpot as a marketing and sales tool. While it does focus heavily on those areas, it also offers the HubSpot Service Hub. It’s part of the HubSpot Customer Platform—a modern, AI-enhanced service tool that brings together help desk ticketing, chat, knowledge base, feedback, and powerful CRM integration. 

It’s designed to scale with your team, providing seamless handoffs between support, sales, and marketing. But the per-seat pricing and onboarding fees can add up quickly for larger teams.

Main features

  • Omnichannel ticketing and universal inbox: The platform lets you keep all your customer information in one place. It consolidates emails, chat, and forms into one workspace with routing, pipelines, SLAs, and ticket automation. 
  • Knockout knowledge base and customer portal: A great thing about the Service Hub is that it lets you create a tailored customer portal and share resources with your customers. You can allow customers to self-serve with articles and track their ticket history via portal access. 
  • Breeze AI customer agent and chatbots: Like most customer support tools, Service Hub also offers smart AI features. Their AI-powered assistant resolves queries 24/7 and deflects basic support. 
  • Customer feedback and success tools: You can get a full view of how your customers are doing with this solution. The system offers integrated tools for NPS, CSAT, health scores, conversation intelligence, and success workspaces to help prevent churn. 

HubSpot Service Hub pros and cons

Pros

  • Seamless integration with HubSpot CRM, Marketing, and Sales Hubs 
  • Strong customer success tools like health scoring and feedback drive retention
  • Free tier and Starter plan offer solid entry-level value for small teams 

Cons

  • Core AI and knowledge features are locked behind the Professional plan
  • Feature gaps compared to dedicated help desks, such as advanced macros and conditional automations
  • Complexity increases at scale, especially when bundling with other Hubs and add-ons

Pricing 

One great thing about HubSpot is that it offers a free plan, which includes ticketing, a team email inbox, live chat, basic bots, and contact management for up to 2 users. For more advanced features, they offer premium plans, starting with the Service Hub Starter at $9 per seat per month. 

Premium plans for large companies and enterprises begin with the Service Hub Professional plan at $90 per seat per month, billed annually. This adds a knowledge base, a customer portal, SLAs, NPS surveys, chatbots, and a Breeze AI agent. The Service Hub Enterprise plan starts at $150 per seat per month and includes playbooks, advanced routing and SLAs, single sign-on, multiple knowledge bases, and conversation intelligence.

Free trial? They offer a free plan.

6. Kustomer

Kustomer AI-optimized customer support

Best Freshdesk alternative for e-commerce businesses 

If you run an e-commerce business, then you shouldn’t miss out on Kustomer. It’s an AI-enhanced, omnichannel customer service CRM built to unify customer interactions across email, chat, social, calls, and SMS. It offers powerful automation, contextual timelines, and deep integration capabilities. However, users sometimes experience performance hiccups and minor data inconsistencies under load.

Main features

  • Omnichannel conversation timeline: Never miss a detail about your customers. The tool unifies all customer interactions into a single, chronological timeline.
  • AI-powered workflow automation: With Kustomer, you can automate routing, tagging, and responses using rules and bots to boost efficiency and reduce manual workload.
  • Rich integrations and customization: One of the main benefits of Kustomer is its e-commerce-focused integrations. It connects with Shopify, ShipStation, WhatsApp, phone systems, and more.
  • Contextual customer profiles: If you want to offer more tailored service, this is a standout feature. The tool aggregates customer orders, conversation history, and satisfaction scores into unified profiles for personalized support.

Kustomer pros and cons

Pros

  • Easy to use and navigate
  • Highly customizable and integrative
  • Unifies support channels in one place

Cons

  • Performance issues under heavy load
  • Occasional data inaccuracies and discrepancies in productivity metrics, or missing ticket logs
  • A learning curve for advanced custom search and workflows

Pricing

The company offers two main premium plans: Enterprise, starting at $89 per user per month, and Ultimate, starting at $139 per user per month.
Free trial? No, but they offer personalized demos.

7. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk automated help desk platform

Best Freshdesk alternative for a cost-effective help desk solution

If you’ve been in the market for a while, you know that Zoho was one of the first software companies of its kind. Since its launch, the company has provided a versatile, omnichannel help desk platform—ideal for small to mid-sized teams.

It combines ticketing, AI-powered automation, self-service portals, and robust analytics. With competitive pricing and strong security, it’s a compelling choice. However, the learning curve and occasional interface clutter may challenge new users.

Main features

  • Omnichannel ticketing: If you need an efficient ticketing tool, Zoho Desk is a solid option. It handles email, chat, phone, social, and web forms in a unified workflow.
  • Zia AI assistant: The platform also offers its own AI assistant. It uses AI for sentiment analysis, smart replies, drafting, and ticket summaries to boost agent productivity.
  • Self-service portals and knowledge base: One of the great benefits of Zoho Desk is that you can integrate self-service directly into the platform. A customizable help center, community forums, and guides help build customer trust and connect key operations in one place.
  • Workflow automation: Rules, SLAs, alerts, and drag-and-drop blueprints let you automate and visualize ticket lifecycles more easily.

Zoho Desk pros and cons

Pros

  • High feature-per-dollar value, especially with AI and multichannel support
  • Intuitive and clean UI
  • Strong security and compliance, offering AES‑256 encryption, GDPR support, and data residency options

Cons

  • Steep initial setup and navigation challenges
  • Feature overload can overwhelm new users
  • Mobile app is limited and doesn’t offer all desktop features like reports and workflows
  • Advanced analytics may require the Zoho Analytics add-on

Pricing

Zoho Desk offers affordable plans:

  • Express plan: $7 per user per month, billed annually
  • Standard plan: $14 per user per month, billed annually
  • Professional plan: $23 per user per month, billed annually
  • Enterprise plan: $40 per user per month, billed annually

Free trial? Yes, they offer a 15-day free trial for all their plans.

8. UVDesk

UVdesk open source help desk platform

Best Freshdesk alternative for open source

UVdesk is another great Freshdesk alternative. This flexible, developer-friendly, open-source help desk ticketing system is built on PHP and Symfony, which makes it ideal for businesses that want full control over their support solution. 

It supports email, web forms, knowledge bases, and e-commerce integrations like Magento. However, its DIY setup and ongoing maintenance can be time-consuming for non-technical teams.

Main features

  • Customizable ticketing and workflows: The tool does a great job supporting email, form, and social media tickets with multilevel automation and workflow rules.
  • Knowledge base module: You can build self-service documentation alongside ticket resolution tools with UVdesk.
  • Extensible PHP and Symfony framework: You can customize the platform using its developer-friendly foundation, extensions, and plugins.
  • E-commerce integrations: If you run an e-commerce business, this tool is worth considering. It offers pre-built connectors for Magento 2 and integration capabilities with Shopify and other platforms.

UVdesk pros and cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open source
  • Highly customizable with PHP and Symfony
  • Strong e-commerce support with integrations for Magento, Shopify, and more

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires developer expertise and maintenance can be challenging for non-technical teams
  • Cloud plans may offer limited support compared to enterprise SaaS alternatives
  • The user interface feels dated

Pricing

UVdesk’s open-source help desk is free to download and install on your own server. They also offer two premium plans: Pro, which starts at $22 for 2 agents, and Enterprise, which starts at $36 for 2 agents.

Free trial? Yes, their Pro plan comes with a 30-day free trial.

9. LiveAgent

LiveAgent customer service solution

Best Freshdesk alternative for a multichannel help desk with a strong live chat focus

LiveAgent is an all-in-one help desk and live chat solution that combines ticketing, real-time chat, call center capabilities, and social media integrations. It’s designed for teams that need omnichannel support wrapped into one platform. Its beginner-friendly interface and visitor tracking make it easy to deploy, though some users report occasional interface lag and a less modern UI design.

Main features

  • Omnichannel ticketing and unified inbox: It’s a great tool to convert emails, chats, calls, social messages, and forms into tickets for centralized management.
  • Real-time live chat with visitor tracking: LiveAgent offers customizable chat widgets, automatic greetings, pre-chat forms, typing previews, and proactive invitations.
  • Built-in call center: If you’re looking to support voice call routing, log conversations as tickets, and access real-time monitoring tools, LiveAgent is worth considering.
  • Automation, canned responses, and analytics: The platform includes auto ticket routing, canned replies, satisfaction surveys, detailed reports, and AI-powered suggestions.

LiveAgent pros and cons

Pros

  • Full-featured platform that provides chat, email, call, and social media support 
  • Visitor tracking and proactive chat 
  • Strong support and knowledge base

Cons

  • Outdated UI and occasional lag
  • Social integration costs extra
  • Overwhelming feature set for startups
  • Mobile app limitations

Pricing

LiveAgent offers four plans:

  • Small: $15 per month, per agent, billed annually 
  • Medium: $29 per month, per agent, billed annually
  • Large: $49 per month, per agent, billed annually
  • Enterprise: $69 per month, per agent, billed annually

Free trial? Yes, they offer a 30-day free trial.

10. HappyFox

HappyFox advanced help desk and customer support software

Best Freshdesk alternative for mid-sized to large teams that need deep automation

If you’re looking for a Freshdesk alternative that offers advanced ticketing features, HappyFox should be on your radar. It’s a robust, all-in-one help desk platform designed to streamline omnichannel customer support. With powerful ticketing, automation via “Smart Rules,” live chat, call center tools, and knowledge base management, it’s great for medium to large teams that need deep customization. 

However, if you’re looking for advanced features, expect a higher price tag and support tiers that may not be budget-friendly for smaller organizations.

Main features

  • Omnichannel ticketing and unified inbox: The platform lets you aggregate support from email, chat, calls, social media, and web forms into a single workflow.
  • Smart rules and automation: The feature automates ticket assignments, follow-ups, SLAs, and smart routing, reducing manual work.
  • Built-in call center and live chat: HappyFox does a great job of logging support voice calls as tickets, complete with monitoring tools. Their live chat includes visitor tracking and proactive greetings.
  • Knowledge base and self-service portal: You get an integrated knowledge base with easy article linking in tickets to reduce support volume.

HappyFox pros and cons

Pros

  • Features like omnichannel support, automation, analytics, and a call center in one platform
  • Highly customizable workflows with Smart Rules and UI flexibility that adapt to complex business processes

Cons

  • Pricing is steep for smaller teams
  • Lower-tier support is limited
  • Some interface performance issues during high activity

Pricing

HappyFox offers agent-based and unlimited pricing. 

Priced monthly, their plans are:

  • Basic: $29 per agent per month, billed monthly. It includes unlimited tickets, SLAs, knowledge base, and SSO, for up to 5 agents
  • Team: $69 per agent per month, billed monthly. It includes multibrand support, custom domains, roles, queues, and 24/5 email support
  • Pro: $119 per agent per month, billed monthly. It includes collision detection, task and asset management, scheduled tickets, 24/7 support, and uptime SLA

They also offer an Enterprise plan with custom pricing.

Free trial? They offer a demo version to test out the software.

What to look for when purchasing AI support automation software

While pricing and advanced features are important, you should also pay attention to the key functionality that AI support automation software should provide. With these features, you can automate and scale your business without the fear of interruptions. Let’s look at some of them.

Automation quality and AI capabilities

It’s common nowadays to “slap” AI on every basic feature. So, try to figure out whether the platform offers genuinely helpful AI that can handle real queries, not just keyword matching.

Look for features like:

  • Natural language understanding (NLU)
  • Context retention 
  • AI-generated summaries or reply suggestions
  • Intent detection and sentiment analysis

These features are necessary for effective AI integration. That’s why tools like Capacity don’t just offer simple automation—they provide orchestrated AI at a business level. With AI-powered customer support, you can deflect more customer inquiries, better utilize your support teams, and serve more customers while reducing their wait time.

Omnichannel support

Support inquiries are on the rise worldwide. In fact, 57% of business leaders expect call volumes to jump by up to 20% in just the next year or two. Yet even as demand grows, your customers still expect the same thing: fast, personalized attention. The key to meeting those expectations? A seamless, omnichannel support strategy.

Look for tools that support all the channels your customers use:

  • Email
  • Live chat
  • Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
  • WhatsApp
  • SMS
  • Voice

It’s a great bonus if the system you use can provide continuous omnichannel customer support. So no minute is wasted, and customers feel valued and cared for.

Ease of use and customization

One of the key reasons teams experience tech burnout is a steep learning curve. If you feel like every time you integrate a new system, you need to go back to university for a degree—that’s not the right tool.

Your team should be able to:

  • Build workflows or automations without a developer
  • Customize responses, branding, and escalation logic
  • Set up knowledge bases and feedback systems easily

If the UI is clunky or the automation builder is overly technical, adoption will suffer.

Integrations and data centralization

Your customer support touches many business units, such as product, marketing, sales, accounting, and more. That’s why the software you choose has to communicate easily between these systems. Information exchange should happen automatically, without manual input. This way, it can effectively reduce errors and save time.

Look for CRM, e-commerce, and business tool integrations. AI support works best when it has context—order history, previous tickets, or behavior data. Without integration, you’ll create silos and frustrate both users and agents.

Scalability and transparent pricing

When you purchase new business tools, don’t think only of your business as it is now. Think about what it’ll look like in a year—or five years—from now.

Can the platform grow with your team and support volume? If every time your team grows, you have to go to war with your service provider over pricing, and you dread seeing the final bill at the end of the month, that’s not how it’s supposed to be.

Get clear on pricing. Some providers charge by conversation, resolution, agent seat, or contact volume. Also, be aware of hnderstand hidden costs like add-ons for chatbots, social channels, or knowledge base access. Ideally, you want predictable pricing and clear limits on usage to avoid billing shocks.

Security and compliance

Data safety is a major concern when integrating new tools. Reports show that 61% of companies experienced a third-party data breach or other security incident in the last 12 months. That’s why choosing a business partner that provides the highest level of security is a must.

If you’re in finance, healthcare, or handle user data, check for GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2 compliance, data encryption, and access controls. Choosing secure tools to integrate with protects not only your data but also your business reputation and customers.

Access true automation with the tools that last

Integrating customer support software that offers time-saving AI features, customization beyond just your logo and colors, and seamless integration that even your least tech-savvy colleagues can use is the way to go.

If you want to access:

  • A unified knowledge base
  • Proactive agent coaching and support
  • Conversational AI features
  • Hundreds of integrations
  • Clear business and customer insights
  • Automation that saves hours of your time

Capacity has just the right thing to offer.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to connect your business through true automation. If that sounds like something you’d want to integrate into your business, let’s talk. But first, we invite you to book a demo. If you like what you see, we’ll discuss pricing and custom features to get you started right away.

Not sure where to start with AI?

FAQs

What is similar to Freshdesk?

Similar tools include Capacity, Zoho Desk, Help Scout, LiveAgent, HappyFox, and HubSpot Service Hub. All offer multichannel ticketing, automation, knowledge bases, and varying levels of AI support.

Why is Freshdesk so expensive?

Freshdesk can feel expensive due to:
– Per-agent pricing
– Feature gating, e.g., automation, SLAs, or Freddy AI
– Add-ons for bots, field service, and analytics

What are the disadvantages of Freshdesk?

Although Freshdesk is a powerful customer support automation platform, it has some disadvantages, like:
– Feature limitations on lower plans
– Add-on costs for AI and reporting
– Occasional UI sluggishness
– Basic customization compared to competitors like Capacity or Zendesk

What is the new name for Freshdesk?

Freshdesk is now part of the Freshworks Customer Service Suite, which includes Freshchat, Freshcaller, and Freddy AI under one brand. The “Freshdesk” name still exists but is increasingly marketed as part of a broader suite.

Is Freshdesk cheaper than Zendesk?

Yes, typically. Freshdesk’s pricing starts lower and includes a free plan, while Zendesk’s plans start at a higher base cost. However, costs can even out depending on team size, required features, and add-ons.

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