Cherwell Service Management vs Freshdesk comparison

Ivanti and Freshworks are both solutions in the Help Desk Software category. Ivanti is ranked #29, while Freshworks is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.1. Additionally, 80% of Ivanti users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Freshworks users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Freshdesk and Cherwell Service Management are in the IT service management space. Users favor Freshdesk for its support and pricing, while Cherwell is acknowledged for its superior features and perceived value.

Features: Freshdesk provides intuitive ticketing, AI-driven automation, and multichannel support. Cherwell Service Management offers workflow customization, integration capabilities, and extensive IT service management tools.

Room for Improvement: Freshdesk can improve in customization options, feature richness, and scalability for larger enterprises. Cherwell may enhance its user interface, simplify deployment, and clarify its pricing structure.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Freshdesk, with its cloud-based model, allows for quick setup and easy maintenance, known for dependable customer service. Cherwell Service Management provides on-premise options, though more complex to set up, offering tailored solutions for organizations with compliance requirements.

Pricing and ROI: Freshdesk delivers competitive and transparent pricing, ensuring quick ROI, appealing to small to medium-sized businesses. Cherwell has a higher initial cost but promises significant ROI through adaptability and depth for large enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed Cherwell Service Management vs. Freshdesk Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cherwell Service Management vs. Freshdesk

June 2026

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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

Automation Anywhere

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

Management Consultant at Accenture

Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions

Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.

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Thobile Moeketsi

Senior Manager at Sasria SOC Ltd.

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.

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Gauri Thakur

Director, Portfolio Projects at Microland Limited

Integrated support workflows have provided a unified view but need broader enterprise flexibility

Freshdesk's scalability could be improved for larger businesses across departments. Its intuitive interface is appealing for small to medium-sized businesses. However, when you look at larger enterprise levels, ServiceNow operates more efficiently. This scalability is an area where Freshdesk could expand its offerings. Additionally, I don't have too much hands-on experience with Freshdesk ticket routing. I need to check with the service desk team if they've used it. Similarly, for analytics capability, I haven't explored much on Freshdesk, but I have done it for ServiceNow. I have seen a lot on ServiceNow and the BMC Remedy, so I can speak better for them. I haven't had the chance to look at it so much that I can do a comparison. I haven't had much experience with Freshdesk's reporting. Within its paradigm of customer service management, Freshdesk is quite scalable. But I've said that inter-department and the interoperability is better off in ServiceNow than in Freshdesk.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The control room is the best part as everything can be seen and controlled from there, scheduling storing of credentials, and much more. I have used PDF extraction and other tools where data needs to be extracted and it works great at that part. I highly recommended this tool for automation."

"I would rate Automation Anywhere overall a nine out of ten."

"The most valuable features for us are the Image Recognition and Object Cloning. We used this feature to automate our web-based tasks with repetitive actions or complex conditions. These features are very easy to use and do not require you to have deep knowledge in programming to understand since it has a drop and drag feature used to control it."

"We have a plethora of good use cases saving good, hard dollars."

"The recording feature accelerates the timeline of your implementation."

"The universal recorder is a kind of hybrid recorder that enables the user to record the data across devices."

"WLM & Device Pool, where multiple devices perform the same thing parallel and complete the tasks at the same time. The credential manager for security is one of the most valuable features for storing credentials and providing security between the developer usage and future maintenance where passwords expire every 90 days."

"Automation Anywhere is stable, scalable, and easy to use."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"The dashboard is very useful to get a quick overview of current tasks."

"Clear processes with transparent responsibilities led to more efficiencies within the teams."

"All our activities are carried out in the one place."

"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."

"The dashboard and the reporting functionality are the solution's most valuable features."

"The best feature is the ability to create functional dashboards, where the IT manager can interact with its data through the dashboard using the drill down feature."

"Implementing CSM has made us very efficient and we're now able to plan changes and the steps required for implementation."

"We use the solution every day and quite extensively."

More Cherwell Service Management pros

"I like that it's very user-friendly. The way they designed this application, any layperson can just do some drag and drop actions and use it. It's not that difficult. It's also easy to implement. The most important thing is, you don't need to go to this application to create a ticket. You just send out an email, and the ticket is created automatically. I have never seen a feature like this before."

"The user experience on the platform itself is fantastic. The UI is clean and uncluttered, so it's easy to find any information about your customer or the issue at hand. You can find out the person responsible for that particular issue, what the problem is, who the stakeholders are, and how to resolve it. There are lots of tools that will help you do that as well."

"Freshdesk has positively impacted our organization by improving our customer relationships."

"It is quite easy to program custom apps and integrate them."

"Freshdesk was the best solution with the best price, as it was cost efficient and included all the features that we needed."

"Freshdesk is very easy to use, it is user-friendly, and users can access knowledge base articles."

"The most valuable features of Freshdesk are the automation of tickets to assign them to different agents, and the managing of documents is easy."

"The feature that I have found most valuable is the way that it connects to various folders especially because we use it as a CRM tool, as we can connect it with our phones and our chat, and also with the API and have it as an email service, and Freshdesk just makes our life easier."

More Freshdesk pros

Cons

"From the IQ Bot perspective, frankly speaking, they still have to improve a lot... My expectation from a straight, technical, architectural point of view was that I would be able to create my own algorithm and integrate it. But with IQ Bot, I am not able to integrate anything..."

"We have a few issues which have persisted. These end up restarting the machine. We are hoping in version 11.3 of Automation Anywhere, our compatibility and infrastructure issues will be resolved."

"We are not getting consistent behavior from the tool We would like to see this improved and the product more stable."

"Getting buy-in was a major challenge because of the various people not aware of the technologies moving and getting buy-in from top management is a challenge."

"There have been many instances, particularly in my previous organization where we did a lot of development in Automation Anywhere, catering to clients like CPA firms in America, where we raised tickets for solutions but did not always find a satisfactory resolution, despite connecting over a call."

"The error handling command on this solution still needs improvement, especially when compared to other platforms that are doing very well."

"We are at an inflection point where we have automated so much that just keeping the lights on certainly takes 20% to 50% of the time, depending on the time of year. Being able to enable the stakeholders is one of my main focuses. If we are automating their process, I want them to continue owning that as much as possible. We are just expanding on the bot insights. From a security perspective, there have been some challenges for us getting our customers in there from a role-level security perspective and making sure that they have full access to the control room and their automation after it is automated."

"It would be great if they provide installation documents that are easier to understand, place more focus on capturing the fields, and most importantly, concentrate more on the OCR capability."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"They need to improve their mobile interface, as well as features regarding the extension of the mobile access to the end user."

"Access is only available if we're on VPN."

"We need to be on VPN in order to set up and access the solution, and that has created some challenges."

"The solution could be more user-friendly."

"Agile delivery should be supported."

"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."

"The support from the actual manufacturer is poor."

"The stability, specifically in the on-premises deployment model, could be improved."

More Cherwell Service Management cons

"We have many cases where a ticket comes in, and it ends up having multiple team members working on it. It would be really nice to be able to assign a single ticket to multiple people, rather than having to create the parent-child hierarchy that they have set up. It generates a proliferation of tickets that I really don't want to have. Having to jump from a parent to one child and then to another child makes it harder for me to be able to see the entire case from end to end. A simple example is our new hire process or our termination process. We have people who leave. We also have people who come on board. We have got multiple people participating and doing things related to the leaving or onboarding process. Currently, I have to go to different tickets to be able to see whether all tasks are really done or not. If I could assign lots of people to one ticket, it would be really nice."

"With the advancements in AI now, I will say Freshdesk should consider integrating more AI, but so far, I am satisfied with every single feature."

"For integrations, we need to write code that communicates with their system in order to enable certain functionality in the system. This is a lot of work for their customers."

"An area for improvement in Freshdesk would be enabling all features regardless of company or user size."

"They were just constantly trying to get us to implement break fix after break fix after break fix instead of putting us on the right product in the first place. It wasted a year's time and money."

"Their support wasn't the best, it took a little bit for the person to understand what I was trying to say."

"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."

"There are some restrictions where you need automations and sometimes there is just no way to achieve what you need - but this is common with other tools."

More Freshdesk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product’s pricing is reasonable."

"It's cheapest among the competition, although bargaining is a must."

"The licensing cost is approximately $4,000 USD, which is a seed license."

"It has good licensing costs which are average for the market."

"Licensing for Automation Anywhere (AA) is paid on a yearly basis. Out of all the RPA tools, it has the most value for money, e.g. what you pay is what you get."

"It is expensive. Automation Anywhere has reduced the price slightly, as we have grown. However, the price is still excessive enough that we are engaged in PoCs on other tools."

"Automation Anywhere's pricing is significantly higher than other RPA solutions."

"I really enjoy the pricing options with Automation Anywhere, as they are able to flex their ability to adapt to the needs of the customer really well."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"For an ITIL user, the cost is probably about 50 bucks a month."

"The pricing is pretty manageable and acceptable."

"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."

"We use a licensing model only so we pay for the number of agents we have configured in the system only."

"Freshdesk was the best solution with the best price. It was cost efficient and included all the features that we needed."

"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."

"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."

"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."

More Freshdesk pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Construction Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Construction Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	152
Midsize Enterprise	82
Large Enterprise	535

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

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What needs improvement with Freshdesk?

I think the main problem with Freshdesk is the deep settings, interface, and analytics. When you need complex cross-f...

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What is your primary use case for Freshdesk?

My main use case for Freshdesk is customer support tickets. A specific example of how my team uses Freshdesk for cust...

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What advice do you have for others considering Freshdesk?

My advice for others looking into using Freshdesk is to consider that compared to Zendesk or Salesforce, where the se...

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Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 11% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 7% of the time

WorkFusion vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

AutomationEdge vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

More Automation Anywhere Competitors

ServiceNow vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 18% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 15% of the time

Freshservice vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 8% of the time

Ivanti Neurons for ITSM vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 6% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 4% of the time

More Cherwell Service Management Competitors

ServiceNow vs Freshdesk

Compared 13% of the time

Zendesk vs Freshdesk

Compared 8% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs Freshdesk

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs Freshdesk

Compared 5% of the time

IFS Cloud Platform vs Freshdesk

Compared 4% of the time

More Freshdesk Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

June 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

IT Service Management (ITSM)

May 2026

Download Cherwell Service Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Freshdesk

June 2026

Download Freshdesk product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

No data available

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

Ivanti

Demo not available

Freshworks

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

Cherwell Service Management is designed to provide scalable and stable support for IT processes. Enhancing reporting and management interactions, it benefits departments with its integration features, knowledge base, and open architecture.

Cherwell Service Management simplifies task and resource management for organizations handling incident, problem, and change management. With its robust framework, hospitals manage clinical and non-clinical incidents, while integration options like Azure facilitate ITSM and CMDB discovery. The platform's strong reporting capabilities support recording incidents and changes, enabling diverse enterprise applications. Enhancements are needed in areas like agility support and JIRA integration.

What are the key features of Cherwell Service Management?

Dashboard: Offers quick task overviews for enhanced productivity.
Reporting Functionality: Simplifies data analysis and communication.
Self-Service Capabilities: Empowers users to resolve issues independently.
Integration and Orchestration: Ensures seamless connectivity with other tools.
Change Management: Provides stability in adapting processes.

What benefits should users consider when evaluating Cherwell Service Management?

Scalability: Supports growth and adaptation in IT environments.
Knowledge-Based Feature: Facilitates improved decision-making and compliance.
Functional Dashboards: Allow interactive data exploration through drill-down features.
Ease of Use: Open architecture benefits diverse departmental needs.

In hospitals, Cherwell Service Management handles both clinical and non-clinical incident management with integrations like ink cartridge tracking. Middle-sized teams increase efficiency in task management, while companies utilize its CMDB discovery for ITSM needs. Modernization is essential for mobile interfaces and VPN access, ensuring improved user interaction.

Ivanti

Freshdesk enhances support operations with features like a centralized ticketing system, omnichannel communication, and seamless tool integration. It addresses customer queries and automates processes, driving efficiency and satisfaction.

Freshdesk offers robust capabilities for managing customer support, enhancing efficiency through automation and integration. Its streamlined ticketing system centralizes queries from multiple platforms, including email, chat, and social media. Features like a knowledge base help reduce repetitive inquiries, while its easy integration with tools such as Slack and Jira supports effective team collaboration. However, users seek improvements in customization flexibility, scalability, and pricing for advanced features. Performance issues may arise with high volumes, and there's room for improved API limits and cloud availability. Freshdesk's automation and communication abilities make it crucial for both internal IT and external customer service, ensuring seamless resolutions and SLA compliance.

What Features Stand Out in Freshdesk?

Ticketing System: Centralizes customer interactions for streamlined management.
Omnichannel Support: Integrates communication platforms for consistent service.
Automation: Reduces manual tasks, boosting efficiency.
Knowledge Base: Decreases repetitive inquiries with self-service resources.
Tool Integration: Connects seamlessly with platforms like Slack and Jira.
Analytics & Reporting: Tracks performance for informed decision-making.

What Benefits Should Users Look For?

Improved Efficiency: Automation and centralized systems enhance support speed.
Customer Satisfaction: Consistent and responsive service elevates user experience.
Scalability: Adapts to growing support needs with integrations and customization.
Reduced Manual Effort: Automates repetitive tasks, allowing focus on complex issues.

Freshdesk is widely adopted in industries like IT and customer service, where efficient issue resolution and communication are critical. By converting emails to tickets and automating assignments, companies enhance their response times and maintain SLA compliance. Its integration capabilities support diverse tools, facilitating a multi-channel approach for superior customer experiences.

Freshworks

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

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

Buyer's Guide

Cherwell Service Management vs. Freshdesk

June 2026

Free Report: Cherwell Service Management vs. Freshdesk

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