A complete guide to the Freshdesk chatbot in 2026

If you’re running your helpdesk on Freshdesk, the thought of using its built-in AI has probably crossed your mind. And hey, it makes sense. You're already on a solid platform, and adding some automation seems like the next logical step to scale support and give your team a bit of breathing room.

This guide is a comprehensive look at the native Freshdesk chatbot, which you might know as Freddy AI. We’ll walk through what it actually does, how the pricing works with its tiered structure, and cover key considerations for your setup. We’ll also explore how you can integrate complementary AI tools into your Freshdesk world to add even more flexibility to your support operations.

What is the Freshdesk chatbot?

When people talk about the "Freshdesk chatbot," they're really talking about Freddy AI, Freshdesk's in-house AI platform. Freshworks calls it an "agentic AI solution," which is a sophisticated way of saying it’s built to help your human agents and AI work together like they're on the same team.

Freddy is designed to work across all your channels, email, chat, phone, and social media, to keep the customer experience consistent.

On a day-to-year basis in 2026, its job is to:

• Offer self-service: Give customers quick answers to common questions so they don't have to wait in a queue for a human agent.

• Help your agents: Act as a sidekick for your team by suggesting replies and pulling up helpful info right inside the agent workspace.

• Automate the boring stuff: Take care of the simple, repetitive questions and ticket tasks that eat up so much of an agent's day.

So, while it's easy to label it as just a chatbot, Freddy AI is more of a suite of tools that powers all of Freshdesk's automation features.

What the Freshdesk chatbot brings to the table

Freshworks has packed a good amount of functionality into Freddy AI. Here’s a rundown of the core features you’ll be working with if you decide to set up a native Freshdesk chatbot.

The no-code Freshdesk chatbot builder

Freddy AI includes a visual, drag-and-drop builder for mapping out chatbot conversations without needing a developer. It comes with a few pre-built templates for common situations like processing refunds or tracking orders, which can give you a bit of a head start. For e-commerce use cases, see how to validate order numbers before creating tickets.

While it offers no-code simplicity, building complex flows is a comprehensive process that allows for deep customization within the Freshdesk ecosystem to get things running exactly how you need them.

How the Freshdesk chatbot understands what customers mean

Instead of just scanning for keywords, Freddy AI uses natural language processing (NLP) to figure out what a customer is actually trying to say. This "intent detection" helps the bot grasp the meaning behind the words.

For instance, if a customer types, "my package never showed up," the bot gets that this is an "order status inquiry" and can kick off the right workflow. This lets you have much more natural conversations than you could with older, keyword-driven bots.

The Freshdesk chatbot works on every channel

One of Freshdesk's biggest selling points is its omnichannel support, and the chatbot is built to reflect that. You can set up the same bot across your website, mobile app, and social channels like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The idea is to give customers the same helpful experience, no matter how they reach out.

Freshdesk chatbot analytics and reporting

The platform comes with built-in dashboards to track how your chatbot is doing. You can keep an eye on metrics like the number of conversations the bot handles, the most frequently asked questions, and how often it resolves issues without needing to escalate to an agent. These reports are meant to help you find gaps in your help articles and see where you can improve your automation.

Freshdesk chatbot pricing explained

The pricing for Freshdesk’s AI is structured to scale with your team, offering different tiers depending on your needs.

First things first: AI features are available on the Pro and Enterprise plans for Freshdesk or Freshchat. Once you're on a paid plan, the AI tools are available through specific licenses.

Here’s how the costs generally break down:

• Freddy AI Copilot: This is the tool that assists your agents. It costs an extra $29 per agent, per month.

• Freddy AI Agent: This is the chatbot that talks to your customers. It includes an initial allowance of sessions, and after that, the cost is $100 for every 1,000 sessions.

Freshdesk defines a session as any unique interaction between a user and the bot in a 24-hour period. This usage-based model allows for scalability, ensuring you can adjust your session allowance to match your customer engagement as you grow.

Feature	Plan Requirement	Additional Cost	Billing Model
Freddy AI Copilot	Pro / Enterprise	$29/agent/month	Per Seat
Freddy AI Agent	Pro / Enterprise	$100 / 1,000 sessions	Usage-Based
Freddy AI Insights	Pro / Enterprise	Requires Copilot license	Bundled

This model allows teams to start with the features they need and expand as their support volume increases.

Considerations for the native Freshdesk chatbot

While Freddy AI offers a strong foundation, there are a few considerations to keep in mind as you scale your support automation in 2026.

Focusing on help center knowledge

Freddy AI is designed to learn from your Freshdesk knowledge base. This keeps your support content centralized and verified. If your company’s information is currently across other tools like Google Docs or Confluence, you can simply update your Freshdesk help center to ensure the bot has access to all the information it needs. This manual management ensures that the bot only ever provides answers from your official public documentation.

Testing and optimizing your Freshdesk chatbot

While you can test individual conversation flows in Freshdesk, you can also use the built-in analytics to monitor real-world performance. This allows you to identify which topics the bot handles best and where you can refine your documentation. Launching with careful monitoring ensures that you can prove the bot's value with real data and gradually expand its responsibilities.

Reliable and focused Freshdesk chatbot workflows

The native chatbot excels at handling standard Q&A and streamlined support tasks. For modern customer support teams that require specialized actions - such as looking up live order data in Shopify or creating bug tickets in Jira - you can use Freshdesk's extensive Marketplace to find integrations that further extend your bot's capabilities. This allows you to build a reliable system that handles the basics perfectly while integrating specialized tools for more complex tasks.

A complementary Freshdesk chatbot option with eesel AI

The good news is that you have many choices when it comes to enhancing your support setup. You can give your existing Freshdesk account an additional boost with an AI platform built for flexibility.

eesel AI is one such option that plugs into your Freshdesk account to act as a complementary brain for your support operations. You can keep your trusted helpdesk while adding specialized features.

Here is how it can work alongside your native setup:

• Connect multiple knowledge sources: If you prefer not to centralize everything in one help center, eesel AI for Freshdesk can connect to various sources like past tickets, internal wikis, and Google Docs simultaneously.

• Advanced bulk testing: eesel AI’s simulation mode allows you to test your setup against historical tickets to get a data-backed preview of your automation rate before you go live.

• Custom workflow control: You can build custom API actions to look up order data from Shopify or triage tickets based on sentiment, giving you another layer of control over which tickets the AI handles.

• Predictable plan options: eesel AI offers transparent, feature-based plans that can help teams looking for a predictable monthly cost as they scale.

Feature	Native Freshdesk Chatbot	eesel AI for Freshdesk
Knowledge Sources	Focused on Freshdesk KB	Unified: Tickets, Docs, Confluence, etc.
Pre-Launch Testing	Basic flow testing	Bulk simulation on historical tickets
Custom Actions	Market-ready integrations	Customizable API actions & chatbot workflows
Pricing Model	Scalable, usage-based fees	All-inclusive tiered plans
Setup	Native configuration	Self-serve integration

This video provides a step-by-step guide on how to activate and enable the Freshdesk chatbot (Virtual Agent) for your support channels.

Enhancing your Freshdesk chatbot setup

The native Freshdesk chatbot is a strong, reliable choice for teams starting their automation journey on a trusted platform. By centralizing your knowledge and utilizing Freshdesk's robust reporting, you can build an excellent self-service experience.

To further evolve your strategy, you might consider complementary solutions that offer additional flexibility for complex workflows. A platform like eesel AI works within the Freshdesk ecosystem to help you automate specialized tasks and test your setup with confidence.

Ready to see how you can further optimize your Freshdesk support? Sign up for a free eesel AI trial and explore how to build even more capability into your support team today.