Freshworks CRM: Review & Pricing

If you’re looking for a CRM that provides streamlined solutions for sales and customer service teams but doesn’t break the bank, Freshworks can fit this bill. It packs high customisation and solid value for money, scoring a high 4.5/5 overall in our independent research.

Freshworks’ price point is one of its most attractive features, making it accessible for those on a limited budget. It’s also scalable, which means you can grow the system as your business grows. But its plans are billed annually, which makes it a little inflexible and means you’ll have to commit upfront. 

Still unsure if it’s the right provider for you? No problem: just try our free quote-matching service. It’ll get us to do the heavy lifting for you, quickly matching you up with trusted CRM system providers. They’ll get in touch with you to provide you with tailored, no-obligation quotes for you to compare.

However, if you’re keen on knowing more about Freshworks, just head to our review below. We’ll cover its features, pricing tiers, and much more – all so you can make an informed decision for your business.

All prices in this article are in Canadian dollars and correct as of January 2023.

How Much Does Freshworks Cost?

Freshworks has divided its offerings into aptly named Freshdesk, Freshsales and Freshmarketer. Each has a different focus – in this review we’ll be concentrating on Freshdesk and Freshsales, which are centered around delivering customer service and sales solutions.

They also have different pricing tiers. To know how much each of these services cost, just check the tables below:

Freshsales Pricing

Freshdesk Pricing

Freshdesk Omnichannel Suite Pricing

Freshdesk prices are slashed with its omnichannel packages, which are catered towards streamlining your customer support across channels into one platform.

Does Freshworks Have a Free Plan?

Freshworks offers free plans for both its Freshsales and Freshdesk variations (as shown in the tables above). They come with basic CRM features and are more suitable for small businesses, as they provide several necessary functions.

For larger businesses, the other options are still fairly affordable compared to other CRM systems. These are full of features and functions vital to the running and maintaining of a streamlined, efficient business.

You can test out Freshworks with a 21-day free trial including all features – no payment details are required, so you can try out this platform with ease. 

Freshworks’ Pros and Cons

✔️ On-the-go mobile app

Freshsales’ mobile app ensures your sales team stays connected to the platform at all times. Whilst on the go, your sales agents can access information about sales, leads, and contacts, as well as record voice notes, make calls, book Ubers, send emails and scan documents with a phone camera. 

That’s a pretty impressive list, plus members of your sales team can also use the app to download and store information so they can access it while offline. They can also use it to check into a location, so you can effectively monitor their activity while they’re out on the road.

✔️ Customizable platforms

Every part of the portals for both customers and agents can be customized to accurately reflect your brand’s messaging and theme. Freshworks claims that Freshdesk is fully customizable, so you can make the system work for your business. 

You can define each person on your team and provide everyone with their own custom permissions. You can also create custom reports for each team or person and use key metrics to accurately track performance. 

❌ Support could be better

Freshworks provides various support channels, however some users have complained that it can be difficult to get any real help as many of their responses are automatic and pre-populated. However, Freshworks does offer tutorials and videos to aid the implementation of the system and troubleshoot problems. 

❌ Limited integrations

For all its prowess, Freshworks is limited when it comes to integrations. For example, users can see data from Freshdesk to Freshsales but not the other way around. Freshworks also has limited third-party app integrations when compared to its competitors. 

Freshworks’ Key Features Explained

Great collaboration 

Collaboration leads to effective results, and Freshdesk offers a seamless way to collaborate with others. Your customer service team will often need to reach out to others in your business to solve an issue. Instead of wasting time by going back and forth, Freshdesk offers tools to streamline communication between anyone in your business. 

Customer issues or queries can be resolved much quicker this way. Your customer service agents can loop others into tickets, and visibility remains even when others are working on the ticket. 

Collaboration can also happen with third parties, meaning better communication with business partners and suppliers. 

Workflow automation 

Freshsales provides workflow automation, freeing up your sales team to close more deals. Tasks which take up a lot of time and resources can be automated by setting up rules. These custom rules can automatically assign leads to sales agents based on factors such as language, expertise and region. 

You can also design sales sequences to automate repetitive tasks such as sending out welcome emails or following up with leads. You only need to set this up once, and these sequences run automatically in the background. 

Freshworks offers integrations with third-party apps, widening the range of sequences and automated tasks you can set up. However, it has fewer third-party app integrations compared to other CRM systems such as Salesforce and SugarCRM. 

Fantastic ticketing features 

Managing and resolving tickets is a big part of providing great customer service. Your team can use Freshdesk to prioritize, categorize, and assign tickets so you’ll never lose track of them. You can also track tickets from multiple sources all from one inbox, decreasing the likelihood of any tickets going rogue. 

Freshdesk offers ‘agent collision detection’, preventing multiple individuals from working on the same ticket by accident. This feature prevents duplication of work and reduces wasted resources. 

Another handy function is the ‘thank you detector’, which prevents a ticket from reopening when a customer replies with a thank you. These replies can get annoying and disrupt workflow efficiency, so Freshworks’ solution will be welcomed by many. 

You can also create pre-formatted replies for quicker, more consistent responses. This cuts down unnecessary responses from your agents and ensures you provide efficient customer support. 

What Kind Of Business Is Freshworks Best For?

Freshworks is best suited for small to medium-sized businesses due to its pricing, essential CRM features and user-friendliness. Freshworks is a great option for those who are new to CRM systems or who want an easily customizable platform to monitor and track sales and provide good customer service. 

A lot of the features on Freshsales are catered for businesses with full sales teams as opposed to just a one-man sales operation. If you do have a one-man sales operation, you might find that many of Freshsales’ features are unnecessary for your business. But if you have a sales team, Freshsales is a great option. 

Furthermore, Freshworks has a unique ‘day pass’ feature, which allow you to add extra people with the same access as a normal agent. Day passes are usually valid until the end of one day, or midnight on that day. Day passes are handy for when you’re expecting an increase in traffic or need some temporary expertise, making them useful for businesses with a small core team. 

Does Freshworks Have Good Customer Reviews?

Freshworks customer reviews are somewhat mixed. It fares very well in online aggregators Capterra and G2, scoring 4.5/5 on both. However, on Trustpilot, it scores only an average 2.7/5.

Its features and customization have been particularly praised.

On the other hand, Freshworks’ customer service shortcomings have come under fire.

It’s also worth noting that, despite having claimed its profile on Trustpilot and actively ask its customers for feedback, Freshworks hasn’t replied to any reviews – which reinforces the idea that its customer service could be improved.