Our Take
Freshdesk offers a free tier that gets people in the door, but the feature gating is aggressive. You will hit walls quickly. The interface is cleaner than Zendesk but the automation builder has a learning curve.
What Works
Free tier available (limited)
Cleaner UI than Zendesk
Good mobile app
What Does Not
Free tier is very restrictive
Automation setup is fiddly
Support quality varies by plan
Pricing
Free for up to 10 agents (very limited). Paid starts at $15/agent/month. Useful features locked behind $49+ tiers.
Best For
Teams that want Zendesk-like features at a lower price and can tolerate feature gating.