Freshdesk vs Gladly
Freshdesk and Gladly, side by side across AI, pricing, channels, security, and seven more categories. We pull every figure from public sources and don’t pick a winner.
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Freshdesk
Omnichannel customer service platform with built-in AI.
Best for SMB to enterprise ticketing; strong for ecommerce.
2010 · San Mateo, USA
Gladly
The only AI built for LTV. People-centered AI support; no ticket model.
Best for Mid-market to enterprise retail, ecommerce, and hospitality (Ulta, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, TUMI).
2014 · San Francisco, CA.
Claimed: from the vendor, not independently verified.
3rd-party: sourced elsewhere, not on the vendor's site.
Everything else: from the vendor's own pages and verifiable.
Pricing
List prices, seat rules, trials, and pricing transparency.
- Pricing model
- FreshdeskPer agent/month. AI billed separately.
- GladlyPer agent/mo, annual; usage fees for voice, SMS, and AI; not published on site.
- Free trial / guarantee
- Freshdesk14 days, no card
- GladlyNo (enterprise); 30-day trial with 100 AI interactions via Shopify only.
- Price
- Freshdesk$19/agent/mo (Growth); $29 Omni · $55/agent/mo (Pro); $79 Omni · $89/agent/mo (Enterprise); $119 Omni
- Gladly~$180/agent/mo (Hero, annual). · ~$210/agent/mo (Superhero, annual). · Not disclosed. Enterprise quote above Superhero.(3rd-party)source
- Implementation fee
- FreshdeskNot disclosed
- GladlyNot disclosed. Custom quote; Professional Services.(3rd-party)source
- Transparency
- FreshdeskHigh for plans; services not disclosed
- GladlyOpaque. No pricing on site; requires a demo.
Channels
Where each tool can talk to customers.
- FreshdeskNative
- GladlyNative
- Live chat
- FreshdeskNative (Freshchat, Omni plans)
- GladlyNative
- Voice
- FreshdeskAdd-on (Freshcaller, a separate product)
- GladlyNative. Built-in, enterprise-ready.
- SMS
- FreshdeskVia integration (Twilio and others)
- GladlyNative
- FreshdeskNative on Omni; integration otherwise
- GladlyNative (via WhatsApp Business API).
- Social
- FreshdeskNative (Facebook, Instagram, X)
- GladlyNative. Facebook Messenger, Instagram.
- Unified inbox
- FreshdeskNative (Omni plans)(claimed)source
- GladlyNative. Single people-centered timeline (no tickets).
Voice & Telephony
Native voice vs telephony integrations.
- Native vs via integration
- FreshdeskAdd-on. Freshcaller is a separate product.
- GladlyNative. Voice and IVR built-in, no third-party telephony needed.
- Voice AI / transcription
- FreshdeskYes. Transcription and summaries (via Freshcaller).
- GladlyYes. AI voice summaries and transcription (Deepgram).
- Telephony billed separately
- FreshdeskYes. Freshcaller is billed separately.
- GladlyYes. Per-minute on top of the seat fee (inbound local ~$0.0186/min).(3rd-party)source
AI & Automation
Autonomous resolution, agentic actions, models, and how AI is priced.
- Autonomous AI agent
- FreshdeskYes. Freddy AI Agent resolves tickets end to end.(claimed)source
- GladlyYes. Gladly Sidekick resolves end-to-end on chat, SMS, and voice (email soon); human handoff.(claimed)source
- Copilot / Assist mode
- FreshdeskYes. Freddy Copilot drafts replies, summarizes, and translates.(claimed)source
- GladlyYes. Team Assist: AI-drafted responses, real-time translation, and summaries.(claimed)source
- Claimed automation rate
- FreshdeskUp to 80% of queries(claimed)source
- Gladly76% of conversations fully resolved by AI (homepage); KUHL 59%.(claimed)source
- AI channel coverage
- FreshdeskEmail, chat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram(claimed)source
- GladlyChat, SMS, and voice (Sidekick Voice); email launching soon; social not confirmed.(claimed)source
- Agentic actions (API) vs answer-only
- FreshdeskTakes actions like refunds and order updates(claimed)source
- GladlyBoth. Refunds, cancellations, and booking updates via connected commerce and logistics APIs.(claimed)source
- Knowledge sources
- FreshdeskHelp articles, web pages, uploaded files, custom Q&A. Not past tickets.
- GladlyBrand KB (Guides), conversation history, and integrated commerce, logistics, and order data.(claimed)source
- Underlying model
- FreshdeskAzure OpenAI (GPT-3.5 and GPT-4)
- GladlyNot publicly disclosed; uses Azure, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Deepgram (voice).
- Trains on past tickets
- FreshdeskNo. On the roadmap.
- GladlyYes. Learns from every conversation, including human resolutions; not used to train its own models.(claimed)source
- Pre-deploy simulation / sandbox
- FreshdeskNot disclosed
- GladlyNot disclosed
- Multilingual
- FreshdeskYes. 60+ languages.(claimed)source
- GladlyPartial. Platform translation in 70+ languages; Sidekick AI authoring English-only; IVR 30 languages.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- FreshdeskNative to Freshdesk only
- GladlyNative only. Sidekick needs Gladly as the primary helpdesk.
- AI pricing model
- FreshdeskPer session for the AI Agent (a 72-hour window). Copilot is a per-agent add-on.
- GladlyUsage-based (per conversation or resolution) on top of a per-agent fee.(3rd-party)source
- AI unit price
- FreshdeskFirst 500 sessions free, then $49 per 100
- Gladly~$0.60/conversation (enterprise); $1.50/AI Resolution + $0.25/AI Assist (Shopify tier).(3rd-party)source
- Copilot / Assist price
- Freshdesk~$29/agent/mo(3rd-party)source
- GladlyNot disclosed (Team Assist not broken out).
How Open.cx compares
Open.cx runs on top of Freshdesk or Gladlyas an AI layer, or works as its own helpdesk. Here's where it lands on the same questions.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- Both. Add it on top of the helpdesk you already run, or use it as your own inbox. Works with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Twilio Flex, and Creatio.
- Autonomous AI agent
- Yes. Autopilot resolves tickets end to end on its own, across every channel.
- AI pricing model
- Per resolution, so you pay for outcomes. Escalations to a human are free.
- Claimed automation rate
- 77% average automation; up to 80% (Trunkrs)(claimed)source
Security & Compliance
Certifications, data residency, and access controls.
- SOC 2 Type II
- FreshdeskYes. SOC 2 Type II.
- GladlySOC 2 Type II (and AI sub-processors).
- GDPR
- FreshdeskYes. EU-US DPF certified.
- GladlyYes. DPAs with AI vendors; VeraSafe EU/UK representative.
- HIPAA / PCI
- FreshdeskYes. BAA, on Enterprise.
- GladlyNot disclosed. PCI-DSS and GDPR confirmed; HIPAA not referenced.
- SSO / SAML
- FreshdeskYes. SAML SSO.
- GladlyYes. SSO; SAML certificates.
- Data residency
- FreshdeskYes. US, EU, UAE, India, Australia.
- GladlyPartial. 9 global regions for voice; no explicit customer-selectable residency.
Integrations
Marketplace breadth, APIs, and developer tooling.
- Marketplace / integrations (approx.)
- Freshdesk1,000+ apps in the marketplace
- Gladly60+ integrations.
- Shopify depth
- FreshdeskFree Shopify app. Orders, refunds, cancellations, multi-store.
- GladlyDeep native. Customer and purchase history, order management, returns (via Loop), and shipping; Shopify App Store trial.
- Open / public API
- FreshdeskYes. REST API.
- GladlyYes. Open APIs; developer.gladly.com.
- Developer SDK / MCP
- FreshdeskYes. Serverless SDK.
- GladlyYes. SDKs, sample apps, and testing; webhooks via Messaging Automation APIs.
Automation & Workflows
Builders, triggers, routing, and SLAs.
- Workflow builder
- FreshdeskYes. Low-code rule builder.
- GladlyRouting and entry-point config; no named workflow builder.
- Triggers / automations
- FreshdeskYes. Time and event triggers.
- GladlyYes. Automated routing, proactive outreach (voice, SMS, email), and entry-point rules.
- Routing
- FreshdeskYes. Skill-based, round-robin, load-balanced.
- GladlyYes. People Match intelligent routing (history, skills, attributes).
- Macros / canned responses
- FreshdeskYes. Canned responses and templates.
- GladlyYes. Quick Reply (button responses) and macros.
- SLA management
- FreshdeskYes. Multiple SLA policies.
- GladlyYes. SLA Business Hours and Entry Point SLA settings.
Collaboration
How support teams work a queue together.
- Internal notes
- FreshdeskYes
- GladlyYes. Notes and @mentions.
- Collision detection
- FreshdeskYes (Growth+). $5/agent/mo add-on.
- GladlyReferenced in comparisons; not confirmed on a Gladly page.(3rd-party)source
- Side conversations
- FreshdeskYes. Threads, plus external collaborators on Pro+.
- GladlyNot disclosed
- Shared inbox
- FreshdeskYes
- GladlyYes. Unified inbox; task management tied to customer threads.
Self-Service & Knowledge
Knowledge base, help center, and deflection.
- Knowledge base
- FreshdeskYes. Multilingual.
- GladlyYes. Answers KB for agents and AI; configured via non-developer Guides.
- Help center
- FreshdeskYes. Customer portal.
- GladlyYes. Customer-facing, 45+ languages.
- Community forum
- FreshdeskYes
- GladlyNot offered
Reporting & Analytics
Dashboards, custom reports, and CSAT.
- Dashboards
- FreshdeskYes. Prebuilt and custom.
- GladlyYes. Liveboards (real-time) and Insight Builder.
- Custom reports
- FreshdeskYes. Custom reports.
- GladlyYes. Insight Builder custom reports.
- Included in lowest tier
- FreshdeskPrebuilt from Free; custom from Pro.
- GladlyReporting tier restrictions not published; appears standard.
- CSAT surveys
- FreshdeskYes. CSAT plus AI impact metrics.
- GladlyYes. Native CSAT; integrates Delighted, SimpleSat, Stella.
Onboarding & Support
Implementation, CSM tiers, and partners.
- Onboarding
- Freshdesk5 paid onboarding tiers, plus advisory.
- GladlyDedicated implementation team; Professional Services; guided docs.
- Support channels
- Freshdesk24/7 email; 24/5 phone and chat(claimed)source
- GladlyGladly Support team (bugs, how-tos, config); dedicated CSM post-implementation.
- Dedicated CSM
- FreshdeskOn Enterprise/Premium.
- GladlyYes. All customers get a dedicated CSM post-implementation.
- Implementation partners
- FreshdeskYes. Solution partner program.
- GladlyNot disclosed. No partner or SI page found.