Freshchat Review: Pros, Cons, Features and Pricing

Freshchat excels with its intuitive interface and robust features, making it a top choice for teams looking to enhance their customer engagement strategies.

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By Tim Fisher
VP of AI at Black & White Zebra, applying 25+ years in IT & media to CX

We review tools independently, and commissions help fund our testing. See our transparency policy, our methodology, or suggest a tool.

Freshchat is a customer engagement software built around AI-powered messaging across live chat, email, and social channels. It's worth considering if your team manages high volumes of customer conversations and needs built-in bot workflows without the overhead of a full CRM. Compared to Intercom, Freshchat is a more accessible option for growing teams—particularly if you want multi-channel messaging and automation without Intercom's steeper pricing and implementation demands.

Freshchat Evaluation Summary

Freshchat unifies chat, bots, and channels to drive real-time engagement.
Customer rating

4.4/5

Pricing
  • From $19/user/month (billed annually)
  • 14-day free trial + free demo available

Why Trust Our Software Recommendations

6,700+

Reviews

20

Industry experts

16+

Evaluation factors

14

Years

Our team has been testing and reviewing software since 2012. As CX leaders ourselves, we know how difficult—and important—it is to choose the right software.

For this guide, we evaluated tools using hands-on testing and independent research, scoring tools using our selection criteria.

Our reviews reflect our human editorial judgment, not a sales pitch.

Freshchat Overview

In my opinion, Freshchat stands out as a solid choice for businesses seeking a customer engagement platform. It excels with its user-friendly interface and seamless integration capabilities, making it easy for your team to get up and running quickly. While it offers robust real-time support and a unified inbox for managing conversations, its chatbot functions could use some refinement compared to competitors. 

Freshchat is particularly well-suited for small to mid-sized businesses looking to enhance their customer service interactions without breaking the bank. If your team values ease of use and efficient onboarding, Freshchat is worth considering.

Pros

  • You can easily manage multiple conversations with its intuitive interface.
  • Your team benefits from quick response times thanks to its efficient chat features and notifications.
  • You’ll appreciate the ability to customize chat widgets and templates to match your brand.

Cons

  • You might find the reporting features a bit limited compared to other tools.
  • Your team could struggle with the initial setup due to its complexity.
  • You may notice that the mobile app lacks some functionalities present in the web version.

Is Freshchat Right For Your Needs?

Who Would be a Good Fit for Freshchat?

Freshchat is ideal for customer service teams in small to medium-sized businesses looking to improve their customer engagement. If your team values real-time communication and seamless integration with other platforms, Freshchat's robust messaging features make it a strong contender. Its ability to handle high volumes of customer inquiries efficiently makes it particularly useful for industries like e-commerce and tech support, where quick responses are critical. It’s also effective for managing an omnichannel communication strategy across web, social media, and mobile touchpoints.

  • E-Commerce Support
    Freshchat excels in e-commerce by providing real-time chat and integration with platforms like Shopify, helping you address customer inquiries quickly.
  • Tech Support Teams
    For tech support, its ability to manage multiple conversations simultaneously ensures your team can resolve issues faster and streamline collaboration with live agents.
  • Small Businesses
    Freshchat's user-friendly interface and cost-effective pricing make it a great fit for small businesses aiming to enhance customer interaction without breaking the bank.
  • Remote Customer Service
    Its cloud-based nature allows remote teams to stay connected and manage customer queries from anywhere, while integrating with CRM tools for centralized insights.
  • Marketing Teams
    The software's engagement tools are perfect for marketing teams looking to interact with website visitors and convert leads through social media and chat automation.
  • Startups
    Startups benefit from Freshchat's scalability, growing with your team as your customer base expands and enabling access to multiple providers and communication channels.

Who Would be a Bad Fit for Freshchat?

Freshchat might not suit small businesses that need basic customer service tools without the bells and whistles. Its feature-rich environment could overwhelm teams that don't require advanced functionalities. If your team doesn't need extensive integration capabilities, Freshchat might not be the best choice. 

Businesses with limited technical support might struggle with its setup and customization options. The learning curve could also be steep for teams that want a straightforward, easy-to-use solution. For these reasons, Freshchat might not align well with your team's needs.

  • Small Startups
    Freshchat's advanced features and pricing might be excessive for small startups needing only basic chat functions.
  • Non-Tech Savvy Teams
    The platform's setup and customization can be daunting without dedicated IT support.
  • Budget-Conscious Companies
    If you're on a tight budget, Freshchat's premium features could be out of reach compared to the free version.
  • Industries Needing Specialized Tools
    Manufacturing and healthcare sectors might find Freshchat lacking in industry-specific functionalities.
  • Simple Customer Support Needs
    If your support requirements are minimal, Freshchat's robust feature set might be overkill.

How We Test & Score Tools

We’ve spent years building, refining, and improving our software testing and scoring system. The rubric is designed to capture the nuances of software selection and what makes a tool effective, focusing on critical aspects of the decision-making process.

Below, you can see exactly how our testing and scoring works across seven criteria. It allows us to provide an unbiased evaluation of the software based on core functionality, standout features, ease of use, onboarding, customer support, integrations, customer reviews, and value for money.

Core Functionality (25% of final scoring)

The starting point of our evaluation is always the core functionality of the tool. Does it have the basic features and functions that a user would expect to see? Are any of those core features locked to higher-tiered pricing plans? At its core, we expect a tool to stand up against the baseline capabilities of its competitors.

Standout Features (25% of final scoring)

Next, we evaluate uncommon standout features that go above and beyond the core functionality typically found in tools of its kind. A high score reflects specialized or unique features that make the product faster, more efficient, or offer additional value to the user.

We also evaluate how easy it is to integrate with other tools typically found in the tech stack to expand the functionality and utility of the software. Tools offering plentiful native integrations, 3rd party connections, and API access to build custom integrations score best.

Ease of Use (10% of final scoring)

We consider how quick and easy it is to execute the tasks defined in the core functionality using the tool. High scoring software is well designed, intuitive to use, offers mobile apps, provides templates, and makes relatively complex tasks seem simple.

Onboarding (10% of final scoring)

We know how important rapid team adoption is for a new platform, so we evaluate how easy it is to learn and use a tool with minimal training. We evaluate how quickly a team member can get set up and start using the tool with no experience. High scoring solutions indicate little or no support is required.

Customer Support (10% of final scoring)

We review how quick and easy it is to get unstuck and find help by phone, live chat, or knowledge base. Tools and companies that provide real-time support score best, while chatbots score worst.

Customer Reviews (10% of final scoring)

Beyond our own testing and evaluation, we consider the net promoter score from current and past customers. We review their likelihood, given the option, to choose the tool again for the core functionality. A high scoring software reflects a high net promoter score from current or past customers.

Value for Money (10% of final scoring)

Lastly, in consideration of all the other criteria, we review the average price of entry level plans against the core features and consider the value of the other evaluation criteria. Software that delivers more, for less, will score higher.

Freshchat Specs

  • API: Yes
  • Batch Permissions & Access: Yes
  • Chat: Yes
  • Contact Management: Yes
  • Contact Sharing: No
  • Document Comparison: No
  • Email Integration: No
  • External Integrations: No
  • File Sharing: Yes
  • File Transfer: Yes
  • Google Apps Integration: No
  • History/Version Control: Yes
  • Marketing Automation: Yes
  • Multi-User: Yes
  • Notifications: Yes
  • Project Management: No

Alternatives to Freshchat

Freshchat FAQs