AI customer support agent features & capabilities compared: Help Scout vs. Freshchat (Freddy AI)
Help Scout and Freshchat (Freddy AI) are both AI customer support platforms designed to manage and deflect support tickets. Help Scout offers a straightforward pricing model at $765 per 1,000 tickets/chats with no usage limits across its Standard, Plus, and Pro tiers. Despite its higher cost, Help Scout lacks several advanced features such as human handover, analytics/insights, and an AI email assistant. However, it does include email lead capture capabilities, which can be beneficial for generating potential customer leads.
In contrast, Freshchat (Freddy AI) is priced at $105 per 1,000 tickets/chats, significantly lower than Help Scout. It offers various usage tiers, including a free plan and paid plans ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 bot sessions per month. Freshchat includes advanced functionalities such as human handover and analytics/insights, which can provide deeper insights into customer interactions and facilitate smoother transitions to human agents when necessary. Additionally, like Help Scout, Freshchat includes email lead capture but does not feature an AI email assistant.
Overall, while Help Scout positions itself at a higher price point with unlimited usage tiers, Freshchat (Freddy AI) offers a more cost-effective solution with additional features that enhance customer support capabilities.
Full breakdown: All available features and pricing
| Feature | Help Scout | Freshchat (Freddy AI) | + My AskAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offers AI Customer Support Features? | No | Yes | Yes |
| Offers AI Features for Support Agents? | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI Price Per 1,000 tickets/chats | $765 | $105 | $99 |
| Usage Tiers | Standard - no usage limit Plus - no usage limit Pro - no usage limit |
Free - not specified Growth - 2,000 bot sessions/mo Pro - 3,000 bot sessions/mo Enterprise - 5,000 bot sessions/mo |
Essentials - 200 conversations/mo Pro - 1,000 conversations/mo Enterprise - Unlimited $0.10 per conversation beyond limits |
| Human Handover | No | Yes | Yes |
| Conversation Analytics/Insights | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI Email Assistant | No | No | Yes |
| Email Lead Capture | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing Page | Help Scout pricing page | Freshchat (Freddy AI) pricing page | My AskAI pricing page |
| Content Limits | Standard - no content limit Plus - no content limit Pro - no content limit |
Not provided | Essentials - Unlimited webpages & documents Pro - Unlimited webpages & documents Enterprise - Unlimited webpages & documents Updated automatically |
| Number of Chatbots/Agents | Not provided | 1 | Essentials - 1 (2 modes: public and private) Pro - 1 (2 modes: public and private) Enterprise - Unlimited |
| Hosted Help Centre | Yes | Yes | No |
| Chatbot Flow Builder | No | Yes | No |
| Integrations (Content/Knowledge) | Not provided | Not provided | Websites Files (PDF, Docx, txt, CSV, pptx, mp3, mp4 (audio), xlsx) Google Drive Notion Confluence SharePoint Gitbook OneDrive Dropbox Zendesk Intercom Salesforce |
| Integrations (End Users) | Shopify Weebly Squarespace Wix Webflow |
https://www.freshworks.com/apps/freshchat/ | Website Zendesk (app) Intercom (app) HubSpot (app) Slack (app) Teams (app) Zapier Tidio LiveChat Crisp SalesIQ (Zoho) Tawk Freshchat WhatsApp (via Intercom/Zendesk) Instagram (via Intercom/Zendesk) Messenger (via Intercom/Zendesk) X/Twitter (via Intercom/Zendesk) |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SOC-2 Compliant | Yes | Yes | No |
| Support | Support levels are consistent across plans, with all customers receiving timely and effective assistance. | Free - email, community, knowledge base Growth - email, chat, community, knowledge base Pro - email, chat, community, knowledge base Enterprise - email, chat, community, knowledge base |
Essentials - Web, email Pro - Priority web, email, video Enterprise - Slack, Success manager |
| AI Models Available | AI Assist and AI Answers are powered by OpenAI's API service | Not provided | Essentials - GPT-4o Pro - GPT-4o Enterprise - GPT-4o/Claude/Gemini |
| API Access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Help Scout
Help Scout is primarily known as a customer support platform, but it does not currently offer AI-driven customer support features. This means that while it excels in providing a hosted help center and seamless email lead capture, it lacks advanced AI functionalities such as AI support for agents, human handover, or conversation analytics. Help Scout’s pricing is structured in tiers without usage limits, which could be beneficial for businesses looking for predictable costs. However, the absence of AI capabilities might necessitate additional tools for companies requiring sophisticated support automation.
Freshchat (Freddy AI)
Freshchat (Freddy AI) provides a comprehensive set of AI customer support features. It offers AI support for agents, human handover, and conversation analytics, making it a robust solution for businesses aiming to deflect support tickets efficiently. Freshchat’s pricing is competitive, with AI costing $105 per 1,000 tickets/chats. The platform offers various usage tiers, from free to enterprise levels, accommodating different business sizes and needs. Freshchat also includes a chatbot flow builder, which helps in creating automated conversation paths. Integrations are available but not extensively detailed, and it supports a wide range of end-user integrations, enhancing its versatility.
My AskAI
My AskAI stands out by offering AI customer support features that can be integrated within platforms like Help Scout and Freshchat (Freddy AI). It provides AI assistance for support agents, human handover, and conversation analytics, similar to Freshchat. However, My AskAI offers these features at a lower price of $99 per 1,000 tickets/chats. The platform's usage tiers include Essentials, Pro, and Enterprise, with the latter offering unlimited conversations. My AskAI supports a wide range of integrations for both content and end-users, making it highly adaptable to various business environments. Notably, My AskAI includes an AI email assistant, which is not available in Freshchat or Help Scout, adding an extra layer of automation.
Key Comparisons
When comparing Help Scout and Freshchat (Freddy AI) to My AskAI, several distinctions emerge. Help Scout lacks AI-driven features, which are crucial for modern customer support automation. Freshchat offers a robust AI feature set but comes at a higher cost compared to My AskAI. My AskAI provides competitive pricing and extensive integrations, making it a versatile choice for businesses looking to enhance their customer support capabilities without incurring high costs.
Additionally, My AskAI's AI email assistant and extensive integration options provide added value that is not matched by Freshchat or Help Scout. While Help Scout and Freshchat offer hosted help centers and chatbot flow builders respectively, My AskAI focuses on delivering AI-driven support across multiple platforms, making it a flexible and cost-effective solution in the market.
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