# Is Freshdesk Free? No Self-Serve Free Plan, a 14-Day Trial (2026)

> Freshdesk has no self-serve free plan: a 14-day Enterprise trial with no card, then Growth at $19 per agent per month billed annually. Full rules.

_Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/is-freshdesk-free — The Professional's Toolkit · updated October 2026_

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No. A new buyer cannot pick a free Freshdesk plan in October 2026. Freshdesk's pricing page lists three paid plans, Growth, Pro and Enterprise, and shows no free plan card at all.[1] What you get instead is a **14-day trial of Enterprise features with no credit card**, and when it ends you either buy a plan or the account is suspended. Freshdesk's pricing page lists the cheapest step, Growth, at $19 per agent per month billed annually, which is $228 per agent a year. A Free program for up to 2 agents still exists. Since 2026, though, Freshdesk moves accounts into it only through its Customer Success team. Plan around the trial.


**14 days** — Freshdesk's free trial: Enterprise features, no credit card, and no self-serve free plan afterward.



- **$19 per agent/mo** — Growth billed annually ($228 per agent a year), the cheapest paid step
- **2 agents** — Free program cap; switching in only through Customer Success
- **500 sessions** — Email AI Agent sessions included once per account on paid plans


## No self-serve free plan, whatever older pages say

Older pages are where most of the confusion starts. Several Freshworks comparison pages still describe a forever-free Freshdesk plan and a lower starting price than the one listed today. Those pages are out of date. Ignore them. The pricing page is the one that sets what you can buy, and it lists only Growth, Pro and Enterprise. The change behind it is dated: Freshdesk's 2026 feature notes say switching to the Free program is no longer a self-serve option inside the product and now goes through Customer Success Managers.[2]

So the honest answer has two parts. **There is no self-serve free plan.** After the trial, Freshdesk can move a small account into its Free program through Customer Success, but that is Freshdesk's call, not a button you press. The loss shows up in the complaint record too. On Trustpilot, the free plan going away is one of the recurring themes in recent reviews, next to billing, cancellation timing and forced moves off legacy plans.

One more trap sits in the product names. Read them twice. Freshchat, Freshworks' live chat and messaging product, does have a free plan for up to 10 agents. That plan is Freshchat's, not Freshdesk's, and it does not give you Freshdesk's email ticketing. The reverse also holds: standalone Freshdesk has no live chat for new accounts, so a free chat tool and a paid help desk are two separate purchases.

## What the 14-day trial actually gives you

The trial is generous on features and short on time. Freshdesk's trial page says it lasts 14 days, opens every Enterprise plan feature, needs no credit card, and lets you invite up to 2 team members; a card can be added at any point to buy a plan.[3] Freshdesk also offers free onboarding help during the trial, and trial questions go to its support email. If two weeks is not enough, extending the trial means asking an account manager or the sales team.

A few limits are tighter than on paid plans. Every trial account gets 50 API calls a minute, half of Growth's 100. Email attachments are capped at 15 MB instead of 20 MB per conversation. The trial also includes 1,000 MCP actions once, for teams that want to connect AI tools to their tickets. And trial accounts can already buy Freddy AI Copilot, which matters only if you plan to land on Pro or Enterprise. Two choices made during the trial stick. The currency you pick is fixed after your first purchase and can only be changed through Freshworks' billing team. Your data center is chosen at sign-up, and moving it later takes a support ticket.


> 💡 **Judge the plan you will buy:** The trial opens Enterprise features. Round-robin assignment, multiple SLAs and custom roles start on Pro, and skill-based routing and the audit log are Enterprise only, so set them aside if you are budgeting for Growth.


The real risk is that the trial flatters the plan you will buy. Skill-based routing, the sandbox, the audit log and Freddy AI Insights are Enterprise only. Automatic round-robin assignment, multiple SLA policies, custom roles and collaborators start on Pro. If your budget points at Growth, switch those features off in your head while you evaluate, or you will judge a product you are not paying for.

## Day 15: suspension, and the clock on your trial data

Nothing converts automatically. The trial needs no card. When the trial ends, the account is suspended. From that moment tickets cannot be updated or answered and no new tickets come in, which means customer emails stop becoming tickets. Only the Account Administrator gets the link to pay and reactivate; other agents just see a message telling them to contact their administrator.

The legal side is harsher. Freshworks' Terms say that when a free trial expires, Freshworks may suspend access immediately, has no obligation to keep trial data, and deletes it permanently unless you exported it first.[4] Treat the last trial days as an export deadline if you are not sure you will buy. Payment, if you do buy, is by Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express. PayPal is not accepted.


> ⚠ **Export before the trial ends:** When the 14-day trial ends without a purchase, the account is suspended and Freshworks' Terms say trial data is deleted permanently unless you exported it first.


## The Free program: who can still get it, and what it lacks

The Free program is a Freshdesk-only arrangement, not available on Freshdesk Omni. It covers **up to 2 agents**, and Freshdesk's help center describes it as free for six months for small businesses and startups. Today the route in is a conversation with Customer Success after the trial, not a plan you select. It is still a working help desk. Email ticketing, ticket dispatch, groups and default roles, a knowledge base, canned responses, collaboration threads, ticket-creation automation rules, the help widget, the agent mobile apps and 24x5 email support are all included.

What it leaves out is the reason most teams outgrow it fast:

- No API access (zero calls) and no marketplace apps, apart from telephony partner extensions such as Five9 and Amazon Connect.
- No SLA policies, no business hours and no custom ticket fields.
- No Email AI Agent and no AI sessions.
- One support email, 100 outbound emails an hour and 15 MB attachments.
- No Facebook channel; email is the only ticket channel.

The program also behaves like a one-way door. Freshdesk's help center warns that dropping from a higher trial plan to the Free program loses certain features and their configurations. After a paid upgrade you cannot switch back, and an account with more than 2 agents cannot revert. Freshworks can end or charge for free programs at any time, according to its Supplemental Terms. That is a fragile base for a support team that customers depend on.

## The cheapest paid step, and when annual billing pays

Freshdesk's pricing page lists these per-agent prices; every agent on an account sits on the same plan.



> **About these prices:** Prices shown are what Freshdesk lists for visitors in the United States, in US dollars. Your price can differ by country, currency and local taxes such as VAT. Check your current price — Freshdesk: https://api.colosus.site/go/freshdesk?to=pricing


| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Per agent a year (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth | $23 per agent per month | $19 per agent per month | $228 |
| Pro | $66 per agent per month | $55 per agent per month | $660 |
| Enterprise | $107 per agent per month | $89 per agent per month | $1,068 |

Growth fills the Free program's gaps. It allows more than 2 agents, occasional agents on day passes, business hours with one default SLA policy, custom ticket fields, marketplace apps, an API at 100 calls a minute, and the Email AI Agent with 500 sessions included once per account. After those 500, Freshdesk's pricing page lists $49 per pack of 100 sessions, added to the current billing cycle; unused purchased sessions do not carry over. Copilot is not sold on Growth. Billing is per agent, so the bill grows with every seat you add; the full add-on picture is in our [Freshdesk pricing guide](/articles/freshdesk-pricing).

Annual billing is not automatically the smart move. Billed monthly, one agent costs $276 a year, against $228 on the annual plan. By our arithmetic, monthly billing stays cheaper for any stay of nine months or less ($207), and annual wins from ten months ($230 billed monthly). The page advertises a bigger annual saving than the plans deliver; per plan it works out to about 17%. **Annual payments are non-refundable**, and cancellations and downgrades take effect only at the end of the term. Plans renew automatically unless written notice arrives at least 30 days before the term ends, so set a reminder 45 to 60 days ahead.

For a small team, the numbers stay modest. Two agents on annual billing come to $456 a year and three come to $684, by the same arithmetic. Someone who answers tickets only now and then does not need a full seat: on Growth, day passes cost $2 per pass, and every plan includes 3 free passes. By our arithmetic, a Growth seat billed annually becomes cheaper from 10 login days a month, but a seat added mid-term on an annual plan stays billed until the term ends, so short-term help is usually cheaper on passes.


> 💡 **Annual billing pays from month ten:** One Growth agent billed monthly costs $207 over nine months and $230 over ten, against $228 per agent a year billed annually, by our arithmetic. Choose monthly if you might leave sooner.


## Free help desks worth comparing before you pay

If free is a hard requirement, look outside Freshdesk, and compare on each rival's own terms. HubSpot Service Hub has a free plan with ticketing and team email, with no card needed, and paid seats above it. Zoho Desk keeps a free edition for up to 3 users; its 15-day trial drops back to that free edition automatically instead of suspending the account. Help Scout's Free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site, with 100 contacts a month.

Chat-first tools are a different shape. Tidio's free plan allows 50 billable conversations and up to 10 seats, and Freshchat's free plan covers up to 10 agents, but both center on live chat rather than an email ticket queue. Each free tier caps something real: contacts, conversations, seats or channels. Check which cap you will hit first. Our [Freshdesk alternatives guide](/articles/freshdesk-alternatives) sets these rivals side by side.


## FAQ

**Is Freshdesk Omni free?**

No. Freshdesk Omni is sold as paid plans with its own 14-day trial on Enterprise, and the Free program covers standalone Freshdesk only, not Omni.

**Does Freshdesk offer nonprofit, education or startup discounts?**

Freshdesk does not publish a nonprofit, education or startup discount. Its help center says discounts based on subscription length and agent count go through the sales team.

**Can I get my data back if I leave a paid Freshdesk plan?**

After an account is closed, Freshworks' Terms keep customer data available for export for 14 days. A cancelled account can also be reactivated through support within 14 days of cancellation.

**Can I pay for Freshdesk with PayPal?**

No. Freshdesk's pricing page accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express cards, and offline payments in USD; PayPal is not accepted.


## The bottom line

Freshdesk has no self-serve free plan for new buyers. The real offer is a 14-day Enterprise trial without a card, followed by suspension unless you pay, and trial data can be deleted once it ends. The Free program still exists for up to 2 agents, but only through Customer Success, with no API, no SLAs, no AI and almost no integrations, and Freshworks can end it at any time. If Freshdesk fits after the trial, Growth at $19 per agent per month billed annually is the real entry point. Choose monthly billing if you might leave within nine months.



## Sources

[1] Freshdesk Customer Support Software Pricing & Plans — https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/pricing/ (2026-10)
[2] Product updates — https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/new-features/ (2026-10)
[3] Freshdesk Free Trial: This is How It Works! English Contact Sales Login Skip to main content Products AI Platform Resources Pricing Start fo — https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/pricing/free/ (2026-10)
[4] English Contact Sales Login Skip to main content Products AI Platform Resources Pricing Start for free Get a demo Terms Data Processing Adde — https://www.freshworks.com/terms/ (2026-10)
[5] Freshdesk Support (help center) — https://support.freshdesk.com/support/home
[6] App Store (US), Freshdesk listing — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/freshdesk/id849713306