Freshdesk vs HaloITSM

Compare Freshdesk and HaloITSM on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Help Desk tools, Freemium vs Subscription (custom quote) pricing to decide…

At a Glance

 FreshdeskHaloITSM
Primary categoryHelp DeskHelp Desk
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumSubscription (custom quote)
Starting priceFree (limited-time program for up to 2 agents); paid plans start at $19/agent/month billed annuallyCustom pricing, typically around $50 per agent per month
Free planYesNot documented
Free trialYesYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesYes
Public APIYesYes

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Freshdesk

Free Program — Free Limited to 6 months
Growth — $19/agent/month Annual
Pro — $55/agent/month Annual
Enterprise — $89/agent/month Annual

HaloITSM

HaloITSM (Per-Agent) — Custom quote, typically around $50 to $70 per agent per month Monthly or annual contract
Enterprise Package — Custom, promoted as an all-inclusive offer for qualifying organizations Custom contract

Pros & Cons

Freshdesk

Pros

  • Lower entry price than Zendesk with a comparable core feature set
  • Fast to set up and learn, with an intuitive agent interface
  • Strong automation and self-service tools even on mid-tier plans
  • Broad channel coverage (email, chat, phone, social, WhatsApp)

Cons

  • Permanent free plan was discontinued in 2025, replaced with a time-limited free program
  • Freddy AI Copilot is a separate paid add-on rather than bundled in lower tiers
  • Enterprise-grade features (sandboxing, advanced security, audit logs) require the top tier
  • Per-agent pricing can get expensive quickly for larger support teams

HaloITSM

Pros

  • All-inclusive pricing with no separate module fees
  • Flexible deployment options including on-premise and private cloud
  • Extensive out-of-the-box reporting library
  • AI-assisted ticket triage and automation via Halo AI
  • Scales from smaller IT teams to large enterprise deployments

Cons

  • Pricing is not published and requires a sales quote
  • Breadth of ITIL functionality can create a steeper configuration curve
  • Per-agent pricing can become costly for larger agent counts
  • Advanced ITIL workflows may require significant onboarding time
  • Third-party pricing estimates vary, making budgeting less predictable upfront

Use Cases

Freshdesk

  • Multi-channel customer support — Support teams use Freshdesk to manage email, chat, phone, and social inquiries from a single shared inbox with automated routing.
  • Self-service deflection — Companies build knowledge bases and deploy Freddy AI's self-service bot to resolve common questions without agent involvement.
  • Field service coordination — Businesses with on-site technicians use Freshdesk's field service management to schedule jobs alongside standard support tickets.

HaloITSM

  • Enterprise ITIL service desk — Enterprise IT teams implement HaloITSM to run compliant incident, request, change and problem management processes.
  • Managed service provider operations — MSPs use Halo's product family, including HaloITSM and HaloPSA, to support multiple client organizations from one platform.
  • Regulated sector service management — Government, healthcare and education organizations use HaloITSM's on-premise and private cloud options to meet compliance requirements.

Read the full Freshdesk review · Read the full HaloITSM review