Let's be honest, customer support has moved beyond basic chatbots that just spit out FAQ answers. We're in the age of "agentic AI" now, where smart assistants can actually do things and solve problems on their own. This is a huge relief for teams buried in manual tasks, letting them tackle the tricky problems that genuinely need a human brain.
Freshworks is taking a shot at this with its Freddy AI platform, especially with its Agent Studio and Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library. But what does "prebuilt" really mean for your team? Is it actually flexible, or does it just lock you into one way of doing things?
This guide will give you a straight-up overview of the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library. We’ll dig into what it can do, what it’s like to set up, its very real limitations, and how it stacks up against more modern, flexible alternatives.
What is the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library?
Think of the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library as a toolbox of ready-made actions. These are designed to let Freshworks' AI agent, Freddy, perform specific tasks in other popular apps. The big promise is that you can automate common customer requests without having to write code or bug your developers.
According to Freshworks, the library launched with a handful of skills for some of the most common e-commerce and subscription tools:
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Shopify: Fetch Orders, Fetch Order Details, Cancel Order.
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ShipStation: Fetch Orders.
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ShipRocket: Fetch Orders, Track Orders.
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Stripe: Cancel Subscription, Fetch Subscription Details.
These skills are all managed inside the "Freddy AI Agent Studio," a no-code builder where you can visually piece these actions together to create automated flows. The goal is to empower support managers to build and launch their own AI agents without needing any technical backup.
Setting up and customizing the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library
The setup for Freddy AI all happens in the Agent Studio, which uses a visual, drag-and-drop "Skills Builder." You connect different blocks, like one to "Collect Info" from a user and another to "Trigger API Action," to map out a workflow. For example, you could build a flow that asks for an order number, uses a Shopify skill to find it, and then replies with the shipping status. It’s meant to be simple enough for non-technical folks to get going.
The reality of "no-code" implementation
But here's the catch with a lot of "no-code" tools. They’re sold as a simple, plug-and-play dream, but often come with a hidden, steep learning curve. You might not be writing Python, but you’re still trying to figure out a complex logic builder, and it can take weeks of fiddling to get something that works without breaking.
That experience is miles away from what a truly self-serve platform feels like. With an alternative like eesel AI, you can sign up, connect your helpdesk, and have a working AI agent answering questions in just a few minutes, all without a single sales call or mandatory demo.
More importantly, how do you know your new AI agent won't go rogue and start frustrating customers? This is where testing becomes so important. While Freddy AI requires you to build and deploy your agent just to see how it performs, eesel AI has a powerful simulation mode. You can test your AI setup against thousands of your team's past tickets in a totally safe environment. This gives you a clear forecast of its resolution rate and shows you exactly how it would have responded, so you can fine-tune its behavior before it ever interacts with a real customer. That kind of risk-free rollout is a must-have for keeping customer satisfaction high.
eesel AI’s simulation mode allows testing against past tickets, a safer alternative to the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library's deploy-to-test approach.Key use cases and limitations
So, what’s this library actually good for, and where does it miss the mark? Let's get into it.
Automating common ecommerce and subscription tasks
For businesses that run on the specific platforms Freddy AI supports, the prebuilt skills can be a quick win. An AI agent can handle the endless "Where is my order?" tickets by using the Shopify skill to fetch order details and give the customer an instant update. No human agent needed.
Likewise, if a customer wants to cancel their subscription, the AI can use the Stripe skill to handle that request on its own. For these specific, high-volume tasks, the library can definitely lighten the load on your team, as long as you're already in the Freshworks ecosystem.
The challenge of the limited library
The problem is, that "prebuilt" library is pretty small. What happens if your order information is in a custom database? Or if you use a different payment processor? What if you need to check inventory in a system that isn't on their short list?
This is where the whole "prebuilt" idea starts to fall apart. Real-world support operations are messy and often rely on a dozen or more different tools. Real automation can't be confined to a handful of off-the-shelf options.
This is where a more flexible solution like eesel AI really stands out. Instead of a few prebuilt skills, eesel AI gives you over 100 one-click integrations out of the box and a fully customizable "AI Actions" engine. This means you can connect to just about any system that has an API. Your AI can be taught to look up account details, update records, or trigger workflows in any tool your team actually uses, not just the few a vendor decided to support.
eesel AI offers over 100 integrations, providing more flexibility than the limited Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library.The risk of helpdesk ecosystem lock-in
Maybe the biggest headache of all is that Freddy AI is built to live only inside the Freshworks world. If your team uses Freshdesk or Freshservice, it’s an option. But what about the thousands of companies running on other helpdesks like Zendesk, Intercom, or Jira Service Management? They're completely out of luck.
This kind of vendor lock-in is a huge drawback. Your choice of an AI tool shouldn't force you to switch your entire support setup. eesel AI is built to be helpdesk-agnostic. It plugs right into your existing tools and workflows, whether you're on Zendesk, Intercom, Gorgias, or something else entirely. You get to keep the helpdesk you know and love while adding powerful, autonomous AI, without a painful and costly migration project.
Pricing vs. a transparent alternative
When you look at the cost, Freddy AI is sold as an add-on to your Freshworks plan. The price is anywhere from $29 to $109 per agent, per month.
Let's be direct about this model. First, it can get expensive, quickly. For a small team of 10 agents, you could be looking at an extra $3,000 to $13,000 on your yearly bill. Second, this pricing doesn't scale well. As your team grows, your AI bill grows right alongside it, making it tough to predict costs. It also means you’re paying for a seat for every single agent, even if some of them only use the AI features now and then.
A much better way to do it is with transparent, usage-based pricing. Just take a look at the eesel AI pricing model to see the difference.
The transparent, usage-based pricing of eesel AI, an alternative to the per-agent costs of the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library.| Plan | Monthly (bill monthly) | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Team | $299 | Up to 1,000 AI interactions/mo, train on docs, Copilot for help desk. |
| Business | $799 | Up to 3,000 AI interactions/mo, train on past tickets, AI Actions. |
| Custom | Contact Sales | Unlimited interactions, advanced actions, custom integrations. |
The difference is pretty clear. With eesel AI, you get:
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No per-agent fees: Your cost is based on how much the AI is used, not your headcount. This is way more predictable and fair.
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Transparent tiers: You know exactly what you’re paying for and what you get. No hidden fees or surprise bills after a busy month.
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Flexibility: You can start with a monthly plan and cancel anytime, which gives you a low-risk way to prove AI’s value to your team.
The verdict: Is the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library right for you?
The Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library is a decent first step into agentic AI, but it's really only a good fit for a very specific kind of company: one that is already all-in on the Freshworks ecosystem and has automation needs that happen to line up perfectly with the few integrations it offers (like Shopify or Stripe).
For any team that needs flexibility, wants to avoid being locked into one vendor, or uses a helpdesk that isn't Freshworks, its limitations will quickly become dealbreakers.
| Feature | Freddy AI | eesel AI |
|---|---|---|
| Helpdesk Compatibility | Freshworks only | Works with any helpdesk (Zendesk, Intercom, etc.) |
| Setup Process | Requires Freshworks setup | Truly self-serve, go live in minutes |
| Integrations | Limited prebuilt "Skills" | 100+ integrations & custom API actions |
| Testing | Must deploy to test | Powerful simulation on historical tickets |
| Pricing Model | Per agent, per month add-on | Transparent, usage-based tiers |
The future is autonomous and flexible support
The future of support automation isn't about having a few prebuilt tricks up your sleeve. It's about having the freedom and flexibility to automate any process, in any tool your team uses, without being tied down to a single software company. It's about having the control to build workflows that match how your business actually runs.
eesel AI is the platform that delivers on this idea today. It gives support teams the power to deploy truly autonomous AI agents that work with the tools they already have, all with a risk-free setup and clear, honest pricing.
Ready to see what truly flexible AI automation can do for your team? Start your free eesel AI trial and build your first AI agent in minutes.
Frequently asked questions
The Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library is a collection of ready-made actions that allow Freshworks' AI agent, Freddy, to perform specific tasks in other popular apps like Shopify or Stripe. Its primary goal is to automate common customer requests, reducing manual work for support teams.
The library launched with skills for common e-commerce and subscription tools. These include actions for Shopify (Fetch Orders, Cancel Order), ShipStation (Fetch Orders), ShipRocket (Fetch Orders, Track Orders), and Stripe (Cancel Subscription, Fetch Subscription Details).
While marketed as a visual, drag-and-drop "Skills Builder" in the Agent Studio for non-technical users, "no-code" tools often have a steep learning curve. It can take significant effort to configure complex logic correctly and get an agent working without issues.
Key limitations include its small, fixed library of integrations, which may not support all the tools a business uses. Additionally, it creates vendor lock-in as it's designed to work exclusively within the Freshworks ecosystem, excluding users of other helpdesks.
The Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library is an add-on to Freshworks plans, costing $29 to $109 per agent, per month. This per-agent pricing can quickly become expensive and less predictable as your team grows, making it potentially less cost-effective than usage-based models.
No, a significant limitation is that Freddy AI is built exclusively for the Freshworks ecosystem. This means companies using other helpdesks like Zendesk, Intercom, or Jira Service Management cannot utilize the Freddy AI prebuilt Skills Library.
Freddy AI generally requires you to build and deploy your agent to see how it performs in a live environment. The blog suggests that robust pre-deployment testing and simulation capabilities, like those offered by alternatives, are important for safe rollouts.
