ActiveQ as a Freshdesk alternative

Choosing between Freshdesk and ActiveQ mostly comes down to channels. If your customers reach you over chat, WhatsApp or social media, Freshdesk has them and ActiveQ doesn’t; if your IT team or MSP works by portal and email, ActiveQ is a lighter help desk at a flat price for a group of agents.

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Freshdesk facts last verified on 12 October 2026 against Freshworks’ own public pages, linked beside each fact and numbered in the sources list at the end of this page. Plans and prices change, so check Freshworks for current details.

If your customers reach you beyond email, start with Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a customer support product from Freshworks. Its pricing page lists three plans, Growth, Pro and Enterprise, with ticketing, a shared inbox and a customer portal on every plan (Freshdesk pricing page¹, as of 2026-10-12). A Freshdesk help article (modified 29 July 2026) lists email, Facebook and a basic web chat for Freshdesk, and email, web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram for Freshdesk Omni.² ActiveQ does not offer those channels.

The same pricing page lists the first 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions on every plan and a Freddy AI Copilot add-on on Pro and Enterprise, so Freshdesk can put an AI agent in front of customers. It also lists a knowledge base and analytics on every plan, and you get custom real-time dashboards on Pro and Enterprise. ActiveQ’s knowledge base is for signed-in portal users only, and its reports run when you open them. And if what you really want is a CMDB and asset lifecycle, Freshworks sells that as a separate product, Freshservice, including an offering for MSPs.³⁴

Where ActiveQ is the simpler choice

We built ActiveQ for IT teams and MSPs whose people write in through a portal or by email. One workspace can run employee support, client portals with their own branding, or both. For an MSP that means many client organizations in the same workspace, each with its own portal branding, forms, sign-in method and SLA policy.

Pricing is the other difference you’ll feel. Freshdesk prices each agent by plan, and its pricing page lists multiple SLA policies and business hours on Pro and Enterprise only. ActiveQ charges $79.99 a month for 1 to 3 agents, $149.99 for 4 to 8, and $19.99 for each agent above 8, with every feature in the one plan. And ActiveQ AI assist runs only when a staff member clicks, with a person reviewing each result, so nothing answers a customer on its own.

Side by side, as of 2026-10-12

Comparison as of 2026-10-12. Freshdesk facts come from the linked Freshworks pages, read on that date.
Topic	ActiveQ	Freshdesk
Pricing model	$79.99 a month for 1 to 3 agents, $149.99 for 4 to 8, and $19.99 for each agent above 8, in US dollars before tax. Customers, contacts and portal users are free. See pricing.	Three plans (Growth, Pro, Enterprise), each priced per agent per month, with annual billing shown. Add-ons, such as Freddy AI Copilot, are priced separately. Source: Freshdesk pricing page¹
Listed on every plan	One plan, with no feature tiers: email and portal ticketing with a live queue, macros, SLA countdowns, internal notes and ticket merging.	Ticketing, a shared inbox, threads and tasks, a customer portal, a knowledge base, and standard reports and real-time dashboards. ActiveQ has a knowledge base and reports. Source: Freshdesk pricing page¹
Customer channels	Portal and email. ActiveQ does not offer chat or phone.	A Freshdesk help article (modified 29 July 2026) lists email, Facebook and a basic web chat for Freshdesk, and email, web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram for Freshdesk Omni. ActiveQ does not offer these channels. Source: Freshdesk Support, Getting started with Freshdesk Omni²
SLAs and business hours	Response and resolution targets by priority, with policies per team or client organization, a live countdown on each ticket, and business hours or calendar hours. The clock pauses while a ticket waits on the customer.	Multiple SLA policies and business hours are listed on the Pro and Enterprise plans, not on Growth. Source: Freshdesk pricing page¹
Analytics	19 ready-made reports and a builder with 30 metrics, saved and shared reports, and PNG, PDF and CSV export.	Standard reports and real-time dashboards are listed on all plans, and custom real-time dashboards on Pro and Enterprise. Source: Freshdesk pricing page¹
AI	AI assist runs only when a staff member clicks, and a person reviews every result. Summaries, triage, translation, polish and resolution notes come from included runs; reply and help-article drafts use credits.	Every plan lists the first 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions, with more sessions sold in blocks of 100. Freddy AI Copilot is listed as an add-on on Pro and Enterprise. Source: Freshdesk pricing page¹
Trial	14-day trial with every feature and no card required. There is no permanent free tier.	A 14-day free trial with access to the Enterprise plan. Source: Freshdesk pricing page, FAQ¹
IT service management	Light ITSM: incidents, requests, approvals and tasks. Problem and change are ticket types you link to other tickets. No asset management or CMDB.	Freshworks describes Freshservice, a separate product, as an ITSM platform with a CMDB and asset lifecycle features, and offers Freshservice for MSPs. Source: Freshservice³ Source: Freshservice for MSPs⁴

Common questions

Is ActiveQ cheaper than Freshdesk?

Sometimes, depending on your agent count and the Freshdesk plan you compare with. As of 2026-10-12, the Freshdesk pricing page priced each of its three plans per agent per month, with add-ons priced separately. ActiveQ costs $79.99 a month for 1 to 3 agents, $149.99 for 4 to 8 and $19.99 for each agent above 8, in US dollars before tax, with every feature included. Check Freshworks’ current prices against your own agent count, or use the help desk cost calculator.

How do customer channels differ from Freshdesk?

ActiveQ takes requests through its customer portal and by email only, and does not offer chat or social channels. As of 2026-10-12, a Freshdesk help article listed email, Facebook and a basic web chat for Freshdesk, and more channels for Freshdesk Omni.

Can I try ActiveQ before moving off Freshdesk?

Yes. Every ActiveQ workspace starts with a 14-day trial with every feature and no card required. CSV import covers contacts and organizations; tickets from your old tool are not imported, so they stay where they are.

Try it with your own numbers

If portal and email cover how people reach you, the 14-day trial (every feature, no card) is the quickest test. Put your agent count into the help desk cost calculator next to Freshworks’ current prices, check your response targets in the SLA calculator, or read ActiveQ pricing and about ActiveQ. We also compare ActiveQ with Jira Service Management, HaloPSA, Freshservice, Zoho Desk and Help Scout; the full list is one click away.

Sources

Freshworks, Freshdesk pricing page and FAQ. Last verified 2026-10-12.
Freshdesk Support, Getting started with Freshdesk Omni (article modified 29 July 2026). Last verified 2026-10-12.
Freshworks, Freshservice. Last verified 2026-10-12.
Freshworks, Freshservice for MSPs. Last verified 2026-10-12.

Information about other products comes from their public websites and may have changed. Contact support@activeq.app to flag an inaccuracy, and we will review and correct it.

Freshdesk, Freshservice, Freddy and Freshworks are trademarks of Freshworks Inc. or its affiliates. They are used here only to name Freshworks’ products. ActiveQ is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Freshworks.

Last updated October 16, 2026