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Cherwell Service Management vs Freshdesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cherwell Service Management
Ranking in Help Desk Software
26th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
IT Service Management (ITSM) (27th)
Freshdesk
Ranking in Help Desk Software
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Customer Experience Management (4th), Field Service Management (3rd), Knowledge Management Software (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of Cherwell Service Management is 0.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Freshdesk is 3.4%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Thobile Moeketsi - PeerSpot reviewer
Having everything in one location has significantly improved our efficiency and reporting
We need to be on VPN in order to set up and access the solution, and that has created some challenges. Even though it uses our Windows login, we still have to be on VPN. The product should be able to log tickets directly from system to system. We haven't got there yet and I'm not sure it's possible but it would determine the product's capability to integrate with other systems.
SujayRao - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers insights into team performance, with ready-made reports and GenAI features that assist in creating reports
Freshdesk's major drawback is its limitation in integrating tools for App Store and Play Store reviews, and social channels like Twitter, which come with additional costs. Despite having third-party integration options, these features should be inherently available in the tool without additional expenses. Integration with social media and review platforms should be built-in.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable features are problem management and change management."
"The dashboard is very useful to get a quick overview of current tasks."
"Its integration features, orchestration features, and discovery tools are the most valuable. It is also pretty stable, and it can be as scalable as you want."
"All our activities are carried out in the one place."
"Clear processes with transparent responsibilities led to more efficiencies within the teams."
"The dashboard and the reporting functionality are the solution's most valuable features."
"Freshdesk significantly improved our customer issue resolution process. We can now easily record and track all customer requests, ensuring that no tickets are lost."
"It is very easy to make reports."
"Some of the best features of Freshdesk include automation, user-friendly interface, and comprehensive support options that enhance our workflow."
"It's free of charge for us. For our scale of business, it's very important. We don't have a lot of tickets."
"The organization that is possible with other departments is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"Omnichannel is one of the most valuable features of the solution."
"Freshdesk provides a plain vanilla solution, making it user-friendly and less complex."
"These features are easy to use, and the filtering is really good, providing a good overview of active tickets and who's working on them."
 

Cons

"The stability, specifically in the on-premises deployment model, could be improved."
"Access is only available if we're on VPN."
"Areas for improvement would be the service catalog and customer catalog, which is not very user-friendly. The shopping cart experience is also terrible - you submit and go straight to the cart, you can't continue shopping or see your overall cost."
"Application service mapping, GRC, SecOps, and things like that need improvement."
"I would like on-the-go translation,"
"There aren't any features that we want to enhance, but we need to mature in our usage of some of them. I can't say any feature is missing or needs improvement, but a tool's built-in features need to evolve customer feedback. We have a dialogue set up for that kind of feedback."
"More automation would be beneficial, as it could greatly improve our efficiency and reduce manual tasks."
"I would like to see improvements in the account management aspect, having a customer portal for better visibility into my subscription, invoices, and trouble tickets."
"The reporting, analysis modules and insights capabilities for this solution could be improved."
"It should enhance its service and its reporting capabilities."
"I would like a better integration towards Azure DevOps. The current integration is more complicated and doesn’t work as well."
"Having so many tags makes everyday work a lot more complicated, and a lot more time-consuming."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For an ITIL user, the cost is probably about 50 bucks a month."
"We pay approximately $70 per agent to use Freshdesk. We have 10 agents, which is approximately $700 or $800 per month. It is a fixed license, there are not any additional fees."
"It was definitely not expensive. It was two grand or maybe three grand total for a year. It has just straight and simple standard licensing fees. There is no additional fee."
"We use a licensing model only so we pay for the number of agents we have configured in the system only."
"The pricing is pretty manageable and acceptable."
"We use a combination of Freshdesk, Freshservice, and Freshchat. We use the whole suite. Weirdly enough, we pay more for Freshdesk than we do for Freshservice. I would rate it a three out of five in terms of pricing. You can get different bundles, and you can always move to different plans that are standard. Freshservice can go anywhere from $19 up to $120 per agent, per month. There is such a wide range, and it is very customizable to your needs."
"The price could be better, but it's okay. Compared to ServiceNow and JIRA, Freshworks offers a competitive price. There are also additional licensing costs because you need Microsoft Outlook. Each new email account costs around $15 to $19."
"Freshdesk was the best solution with the best price. It was cost efficient and included all the features that we needed."
"The best system plan is enterprise. It costs basically 79 Euros per agent per month when it's billed annually and 95 Euros per agent per month when it's billed monthly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
34%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Computer Software Company
25%
Real Estate/Law Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What do you like most about Freshdesk?
Freshdesk significantly improved our customer issue resolution process. We can now easily record and track all customer requests, ensuring that no tickets are lost.
What needs improvement with Freshdesk?
More automation would be beneficial, as it could greatly improve our efficiency and reduce manual tasks.
What is your primary use case for Freshdesk?
My primary use cases with Freshdesk involve help desk software as well as additional functionalities tailored to our operations. For the industry that I'm working in, Freshdesk is used primarily fo...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ausenco, Highlights for Children, B/E Aerospace
Honda, 3M, Hugo Boss, Petronas, Sony Pictures, The Atlantic, goodreads, Clear Channel Radio, Penn University of Pennsylvania, unicef, Kuoni, Movember
Find out what your peers are saying about Cherwell Service Management vs. Freshdesk and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,579 professionals have used our research since 2012.