freshchat
Freshchat is an AI-powered customer messaging, live chat, and chatbot platform built by Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH) that serves B2B businesses of all sizes with omnichannel support, AI-driven self-service, and unified agent workflows, sold via SaaS subscription to SMB and enterprise customers globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersSan Mateo, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What freshchat does
Freshchat is a customer messaging, live chat, and chatbot platform developed and operated by Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH), a publicly traded software company headquartered in San Mateo, California. Launched as a standalone product in 2016 and folded into the Freshdesk Omni suite in 2021, Freshchat serves B2B businesses of all sizes with a horizontally-targeted customer support and engagement proposition, spanning SMB and mid-market customers acquired through product-led growth and enterprise accounts handled via inside/field sales. Core capabilities include AI-driven bots across web, mobile, and messaging channels, a unified agent workspace with cross-channel context, proactive customer journey campaigns, and an analytics/admin layer; the platform is built on AWS infrastructure with data centers in the US, India, Europe, and Australia, and is powered by the Freddy AI layer for conversational automation, predictive insights, and knowledge retrieval.
The product is integrated with the broader Freshworks portfolio (Freshdesk, Freshservice, Freshsales, Freshcaller) and extended through the Freshworks Marketplace, which includes a Workato-backed connector framework plus pre-built apps for Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Shopify, Stripe, HubSpot, Jira, and others. Freshchat's revenue model is subscription SaaS with monthly and annual billing, a 14-day free trial (no credit card required) for self-serve onboarding, and quote-based enterprise pricing. The platform is supported by developer tooling (JavaScript SDK, Crayons component library, serverless runtimes, and a public developer portal) enabling custom in-product extensions, as exemplified by Klarna's case study. Compliance posture includes SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA, and WCAG 2.1 AA, with the security narrative reinforced by the Freshworks Trust Center.
The go-to-market operates on a dual motion: a low-friction PLG funnel for SMB and individual users plus dedicated 'Contact Sales' and 'Request a Demo' pathways for enterprise field sales. Distribution spans the Freshworks global footprint with localized presence in the US, UK, Germany, France, India, and Australia. Customer evidence is anchored by enterprise logos including Klarna (FinTech) and SMB examples such as Iba Cosmetics (D2C beauty), situated within a broader Freshworks base of 74,000+ customers. Four G2 recognitions in 2026 (Buyer's Choice, Leader, Best Usability, User Adoption) indicate category-level competitive positioning in the customer messaging and live chat software market. No standalone product-level revenue is disclosed, as Freshchat is reported within Freshworks' consolidated financials.
freshchat firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- freshchat
- Legal name
- Freshworks Inc.
- Website
- https://freshchat.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Freshchat is an AI-powered customer messaging, live chat, and chatbot platform built by Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH) that serves B2B businesses of all sizes with omnichannel support, AI-driven self-service, and unified agent workflows, sold via SaaS subscription to SMB and enterprise customers globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
freshchat industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Customer Engagement and Messaging Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Conversational Marketing & Chat Lead Capture (Chatbots, Live Chat) (BPAFAKAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Community/Group Chat Platforms (BPAMACAH)
Keywords
Where freshchat is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Mateo
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
freshchat business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription SaaS: Cloud-based software subscription model with monthly and annual billing options. Customers pay for access to the Freshchat platform with pricing tiers based on features and usage.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free trial with full feature access for 14 days |
| Subscription | Annual | AI resolves up to 80% of queries with productivity improvements |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
freshchat product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Freshchat is a cloud-based AI-powered omnichannel customer messaging platform that enables businesses to engage customers across live chat, messaging channels (WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat, etc.), email, and voice from a unified agent workspace. It offers AI-driven chatbot automation via Freddy AI, proactive customer journey campaigns, and integrates with Freshdesk Omni for ticketing, knowledge base, and advanced support workflows.
Product overview
Freshworks offers a suite of customer engagement and support software products. Freshchat is the core customer messaging and live chat product, which integrates with Freshdesk Omni for advanced ticketing and knowledge base capabilities. The ecosystem is powered by Freddy AI for automation and intelligence. Freshdesk serves as the complementary ticketing and helpdesk solution, while Freshservice handles IT service management. The Freshworks Marketplace provides extensibility through apps and integrations. The platform supports omnichannel customer engagement across messaging, chat, email, and voice channels.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Freshdesk Omni: Unified customer service platform that includes Freshchat capabilities along with ticketing, knowledge base, and multi-channel support.
- Freddy AI
Products and services
- Freshchat Cloud-based AI-powered omnichannel customer messaging and live chat platform enabling businesses to engage customers across messaging channels, websites, and native apps with AI-driven bot support, unified agent workspace, and proactive customer journey capabilities.
- Freshdesk Omni All-in-one omnichannel customer service platform that integrates Freshchat with advanced ticketing, knowledge bases, and comprehensive support tools for delivering unified customer support across messaging, chat, email, and voice channels.
- Freddy AI AI platform powering customer service automation across Freshworks products, including AI-driven chatbots, predictive analytics, knowledge retrieval, and process automation capable of resolving up to 80% of customer queries automatically.
- Freshdesk Cloud-based help desk and ticketing system that integrates with Freshchat to provide unified agent workspace, ticket management, and customer support operations across email, chat, phone, and social channels.
- Freshworks Marketplace Platform for discovering and installing third-party apps and integrations extending Freshworks products including Freshchat, Freshdesk, Freshservice, and other solutions with pre-built workflows and connector apps.
Quantifiable outcome
- AI resolves up to 80% of customer queries automatically
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use freshchat
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
freshchat technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability8 records
Feature5 records
freshchat partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreAWS serves as Freshworks' secure hosting partner. Freshworks infrastructure is hosted in dedicated VPCs within AWS availability zones, providing the foundation for Freshchat's cloud-based messaging platform with high availability, auto-scaling, and robust security.
- Microsoft TeamsmajorMicrosoft Teams integration enables cross-team collaboration and contextual customer support. Freshchat integrates with Teams for real-time notifications and team collaboration during customer support workflows.
- SlackmajorSlack integration enables real-time collaboration between support agents and internal teams through Slack notifications, improving response coordination and internal communication.
- ShopifymajorShopify integration delivers personalized customer support with instant access to customers' recent orders within Freshdesk, enabling e-commerce businesses to provide tailored support.
- SalesforcemajorSalesforce connector app enables viewing Salesforce data inside Freshdesk and performing data sync between Salesforce CRM and Freshdesk support platform.
- Jira (Atlassian)majorJira connector app brings development teams and IT support closer by automating workflows between Freshservice and Jira for streamlined issue resolution.
- ShopifymajorShopify integration provides instant access to customers' recent orders within Freshdesk, enabling personalized e-commerce customer support.
- Microsoft Teams (Freshservice)majorServicebot for Microsoft Teams is an AI-powered virtual agent that answers employee queries and service requests within Microsoft Teams, powered by Freshservice.
- WorkatocoreConnector Apps within the Freshworks Marketplace are subject to Workato's Embedded Software Supplemental Terms, indicating deep platform integration for workflow automation.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
freshchat competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Drift (Salesloft): Drift pioneered conversational marketing and live chat for B2B sales and support; now part of Salesloft. Direct competitor in conversational AI and live chat, particularly for B2B customer engagement.
- Crisp: Crisp provides a multichannel customer messaging platform with live chat, chatbots, and shared inbox for SMBs. Direct competitor in the SMB live chat space with similar freemium positioning.
- Kustomer: Kustomer (now part of Meta) is an AI-powered customer service platform with omnichannel messaging, automation, and CRM integration. Direct competitor in mid-market/enterprise omnichannel messaging.
- Intercom: Intercom is the leading AI-first customer messaging platform offering live chat, AI agents (Fin), and helpdesk functionality. Direct competitor to Freshchat across SMB and enterprise segments, with a similar product surface but pure-play focus.
- LiveChat: LiveChat (now part of Text Holdings) offers live chat, messaging, and AI bot products for SMB and mid-market customer support. Direct competitor with overlapping functionality and customer base.
Broad incumbents
- HubSpot Service Hub: HubSpot Service Hub includes live chat, chatbots, and ticketing within its broader CRM platform. Comparable messaging capabilities wrapped in a much wider marketing/sales/CRM ecosystem; competes for SMB and mid-market.
- Zendesk: Zendesk offers Zendesk Chat within its broader customer service suite, including AI agents and omnichannel support. Larger incumbent with broader portfolio; competes with Freshchat in mid-market and enterprise messaging.
- Genesys: Genesys is a large incumbent in contact center and customer experience platforms with messaging, AI bots, and omnichannel routing. Overlaps with Freshchat at the enterprise end, especially for voice and large-scale deployments.
Emerging players
- Tawk.to: Tawk.to offers a free live chat platform with paid add-ons, widely used by SMBs and budget-conscious businesses. Competes on price in the low-end SMB segment where Freshchat's freemium tier also plays.
- Tidio: Tidio is an SMB-focused live chat and chatbot platform with AI automation (Lyro AI). Directly competes with Freshchat in the SMB segment with similar freemium and PLG mechanics.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
freshchat social profiles
Digital presencefreshchat compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
freshchat financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
freshchat leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
freshchat funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
freshchat M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about freshchat
What does freshchat do?
Freshchat is a cloud-based AI-powered omnichannel customer messaging platform that enables businesses to engage customers across live chat, messaging channels (WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat, etc.), email, and voice from a unified agent workspace. It offers AI-driven chatbot automation via Freddy AI, proactive customer journey campaigns, and integrates with Freshdesk Omni for ticketing, knowledge base, and advanced support workflows.
Is freshchat a public or private company?
freshchat is a private company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was freshchat founded?
freshchat was founded in 2016.
Where is freshchat based?
freshchat is headquartered in San Mateo, United States, in the North America region.
How does freshchat make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription SaaS.
Who are freshchat's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Drift (Salesloft), Crisp, Kustomer, Intercom and LiveChat. Broad incumbents are HubSpot Service Hub, Zendesk and Genesys. Emerging players are Tawk.to and Tidio.
Does freshchat have an API?
Yes. Freshworks provides a developer platform for building custom applications with Platform-as-a-Service capabilities including a data store and serverless runtimes. The platform offers a rich Crayons component library and SDK for developing and deploying apps. Developer portal available at https://developers.freshworks.com/. Developer documentation is at developers.freshworks.com.
What industry is freshchat in?
freshchat's product category is Customer Engagement and Messaging Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAKAJ, Conversational Marketing & Chat Lead Capture (Chatbots, Live Chat), with a secondary code of BPAMACAH, Community/Group Chat Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.