Let’s be real, customer support has changed a ton. It wasn’t that long ago when "AI" just meant a clunky chatbot that could barely help you reset your password. Now, we’re talking about AI agents that can actually understand what a customer needs, take action, and solve problems from start to finish. A big name in this game is Freshworks, which you probably know from their customer service and ITSM tools, and their native AI platform is called Freddy AI.
But what exactly is Freshworks AI, and is it the right move for your team? This guide will give you a straight, no-fluff look at what it is, what it does, how much it costs, and its biggest catch. We’ll break down who it’s a great fit for and also look at some more flexible options for teams that aren’t exactly eager to rip out their entire tech stack.
What is Freshworks AI?
"Freshworks AI" is the official name for the company’s AI tech, but you’ll almost always see it branded as Freddy AI. The first thing to know is that you can’t just go out and buy it by itself. It’s an intelligent layer baked directly into Freshworks’ own products, like Freshdesk for customer support and Freshservice for IT.
The whole Freddy AI platform is made up of three main parts that work together inside the Freshworks world:
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Freddy AI Agents: These are the bots designed to be autonomous. The goal is for them to handle customer or employee requests from beginning to end without a human ever having to jump in.
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Freddy AI Copilot: Think of this as a sidekick for your human agents. It helps them draft replies, summarize long ticket threads, and translate messages on the fly, making their jobs a little easier and faster.
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Freddy AI Insights: This is the analytics part of the equation. It digs through your support data to find trends, figure out why certain issues keep popping up, and give managers a clearer picture of what’s going on.
The main takeaway here is pretty simple: if you want to use Freddy AI, you have to use a Freshworks product. It’s an all-in-one deal, which can be great if you’re already bought into their ecosystem. But if you’re not, it comes with some pretty significant strings attached.
Key capabilities of Freshworks AI
Freshworks talks a lot about Freddy AI being an "agentic" platform. That’s a bit of a buzzword, but all it really means is that it’s designed to do things, not just pull answers from a help center article. It’s built to think, act, and solve problems.
Taking action with agentic AI
Instead of just answering basic questions, Freddy AI agents can handle tasks that have multiple steps. For instance, a Freddy agent can connect to your other business software to manage actual workflows. It could process a refund by talking to your Stripe account, check an order’s shipping status in Shopify, or update a customer’s details in your CRM.
This is a huge leap from the chatbots most of us are used to. They aren’t just deflecting simple questions anymore; they’re built to take on real, workflow-based tasks that would otherwise land in your team’s queue.
Building custom bots with the AI Agent Studio
To make all this happen, Freshworks gives you the Freddy AI Agent Studio. It’s a no-code tool where you can build and launch your own custom AI agents. The idea is to let support managers and admins create bots for their specific needs without needing to ask a developer for help.
The studio has a "Skills Library" with pre-built templates for common tasks, which can speed things up. You can teach an agent how to handle returns, book demos, or manage subscriptions by connecting it to the right systems and mapping out the steps it needs to take.
Assisting human agents with AI Copilot and Insights
While the autonomous agents do the heavy lifting, the Copilot and Insights features are there to help your human team be more productive. AI Copilot is like a real-time assistant that cuts down on manual work, while Insights helps leaders spot performance issues and see what problems customers are running into most often.
But here’s the catch we mentioned earlier: all these handy features are completely locked inside the Freshworks ecosystem. This is a massive drawback for the thousands of companies that have already spent time and money setting up other help desks like Zendesk, Intercom, or Jira Service Management. If you want Freshworks’ AI, you have to switch to Freshworks’ helpdesk.
For teams that want powerful AI without the giant headache of changing platforms, a plug-and-play tool is a much more sensible path. Solutions like eesel AI are built to plug right into the helpdesk you’re already using, giving you autonomous AI without forcing you to ditch the tools your team knows and likes.
How to get started with Freshworks AI
Getting started with Freshworks AI isn’t as simple as signing up and flipping a switch. The process starts with a much bigger decision: you have to commit to using either Freshdesk or Freshservice as your main support platform. The AI isn’t an add-on; it’s something you set up after you’re already on their platform.
This brings us to what’s often called the "rip and replace" problem. For any company not already using Freshworks, adopting Freddy AI is a huge project. You’d have to migrate your entire support operation, including:
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All your past ticket history.
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Your entire knowledge base.
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Your whole team, who will have to learn a brand new system.
This kind of migration can easily take months of planning and work, not to mention the costs and the very real risk of messing up your customer experience while you switch over.
This is where a tool built to integrate from the ground up, like eesel AI, offers a totally different, and frankly, much easier, experience. With Freshworks AI, you have to go through a full migration before you can even touch the AI. With eesel AI, you can connect your current helpdesk with a single click and get straight to building.
Better yet, you can do it all yourself without sitting through mandatory sales calls or demos. And before you turn it on for your customers, eesel AI’s simulation mode lets you test your AI on thousands of your own past tickets. You can see exactly how it would have performed, what percentage of tickets it can solve, and get a real sense of your potential cost savings. It takes the risk out of the equation in a way that’s just not possible when you’re locked into a full platform switch.
Freshworks AI pricing
Since Freddy AI isn’t sold separately, its cost is bundled into Freshworks’ product tiers. The price you pay for the AI is tied directly to your helpdesk seat licenses, and the best AI features are only available on the more expensive plans.
Here’s a quick look at the Freshdesk Omnichannel pricing plans that come with Freddy AI.
| Plan (Omnichannel) | Price (per agent/month, annual billing) | Key Freddy AI Features Included |
|---|---|---|
| Support Desk --- Growth | $15 | Basic ticketing, knowledge base |
| Omnichannel --- Pro | $59 | Freddy AI Copilot, AI-powered insights, some automation |
| Omnichannel --- Enterprise | $99 | Advanced AI, Freddy AI Agent, custom skills |
Source: Freshworks Pricing Page
The pricing is straightforward enough, but it’s based on the old-school per-agent, per-month model that usually requires an annual contract. This can get expensive as your team gets bigger and locks you into a long-term commitment before you’ve even had a chance to see if the AI is really worth it.
This is another place where a different approach can make a lot more sense. eesel AI’s pricing model is built to be transparent and predictable. Instead of charging per agent, plans are based on usage (how many AI interactions you have each month), and there are no per-resolution fees. You don’t get punished for being successful.
More importantly, eesel AI offers flexible month-to-month plans you can cancel anytime. This is perfect for businesses that want to start small, prove the ROI, and then scale up. It’s a model designed to earn your business every month, not lock you in from the start.
Is Freshworks AI right for you?
So, after all that, what’s the final call? Should you go with Freshworks AI? The answer really depends on where your company is at right now.
Who it’s for: Freshworks AI is a powerful, deeply integrated solution for companies that are already all-in on the Freshworks ecosystem. If you’re using Freshdesk or Freshservice and you love it, then adding Freddy AI is a logical next step. It’s also a decent choice for new companies looking for one platform to run their entire service operation and are happy to build their processes around Freshworks from day one.
Who it’s not for: It’s just not a practical option for the thousands of businesses that are perfectly happy with their current helpdesk and knowledge base. The need to "rip and replace" everything is a non-starter for most teams. The cost, risk, and disruption are just too high to justify.
Ultimately, the choice comes down to a trade-off: the idea of an all-in-one suite versus the flexibility and speed of a best-in-class AI platform that plays nicely with others.
If you want to use agentic AI to automate resolutions, help your agents, and bring all your knowledge together without the pain of migrating platforms, a tool built for integration is the clear winner.
eesel AI plugs directly into the tools your team already uses, goes live in minutes, and lets you test everything completely risk-free. You can see just how much you can automate today.
This video introduces Freddy AI Agent, the people-first AI solution from Freshworks designed to scale and enhance customer experiences.
Frequently asked questions
Freshworks AI is the company’s native AI platform, branded as Freddy AI, which is integrated directly into Freshworks products like Freshdesk and Freshservice. It comprises Freddy AI Agents for autonomous task handling, Freddy AI Copilot to assist human agents, and Freddy AI Insights for data analysis.
No, Freddy AI is an intelligent layer baked exclusively into Freshworks’ own products. To utilize Freshworks AI, your organization must commit to using either Freshdesk or Freshservice as its primary support platform.
Freshworks AI’s "agentic" capability means it’s designed to not just answer questions but to do things and take multi-step actions. This allows it to connect to other business software, manage workflows, and solve problems end-to-end, like processing refunds or checking order statuses.
The cost of Freshworks AI is bundled into Freshworks’ product tiers, tied to helpdesk seat licenses. More advanced AI features like Freddy AI Agent are only available on higher-tier plans, such as Omnichannel – Enterprise, which uses a per-agent, per-month annual billing model.
For new customers, the setup for Freshworks AI requires a full migration to Freshdesk or Freshservice first. This "rip and replace" process involves moving all past ticket history, knowledge bases, and team training, posing significant costs, time, and potential disruption to customer experience.
Freshworks AI is ideal for companies already deeply integrated into the Freshworks ecosystem, or new companies seeking an all-in-one platform from the start. It offers powerful, deeply integrated AI for those willing to build their service operations around Freshworks.
