Live Chat & Chatbots · head to head
Freshchat vs ManyChat
Freshchat
Live Chat & Chatbots
Modern messaging for customer engagement
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
ManyChat
Live Chat & Chatbots
Chatbot and automation platform for Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Freshchat the free plan covers up to 10 agents and omits social messengers, SMS and reporting; ManyChat pro plan pricing scales quickly with contact count, becoming expensive for large audiences.
- They diverge on capability: Freshchat covers Live chat, ManyChat covers Visual Flow Builder.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Freshchat and ManyChat actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Live Chat & Chatbots).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Freshchat
- Live chat
- Chatbots
- Campaigns
- Apple Business Chat
- Freshdesk
- Freshsales
Only in ManyChat
- Visual Flow Builder
- Instagram Automation
- WhatsApp Automation
- SMS Marketing
- Broadcast Campaigns
- E-commerce Integrations
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Freshchat
- Live chat on a website or in an appnot ManyChat
- Shared inbox across chat, email and social messengersnot ManyChat
- Chatbot deflection before a conversation reaches an agentnot ManyChat
- Routing conversations by skill or language on the higher tiersnot ManyChat
ManyChat
- Automating Instagram DM and comment repliesnot Freshchat
- Lead generation via chat funnelsnot Freshchat
- WhatsApp order updates and broadcastsnot Freshchat
- E-commerce cart recovery via chatnot Freshchat
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Freshchat
- The free plan covers up to 10 agents and omits social messengers, SMS and reporting
- Reporting and social channels need Growth at $19 per agent per month billed annually
- Intelligent routing, multilingual support and custom dashboards require Pro at $49 per agent per month
- Skill-based routing, audit logs and IP whitelisting are Enterprise only at $79 per agent per month
- Freddy AI is charged on top of the seat price, at $49 per 100 agent sessions and $29 per agent per month for Copilot
ManyChat
- Pro plan pricing scales quickly with contact count, becoming expensive for large audiences.
- WhatsApp automation requires a connected WhatsApp Business API number with separate messaging costs.
- The free plan has restrictive contact and feature limits compared to paid competitors.
- Advanced flow logic can become difficult to manage for very complex automation sequences.
Pricing, plan by plan
Freshchat
Free- FreeFree
- 100 contacts
- Chatbot
- Inbox views
- Growth$19/month
- 2000 contacts
- Pro$49/month
- 5000 contacts
- Auto-resolve
- Advanced routing
- Enterprise$79/month
- Unlimited contacts
- Custom bots
- User authentication
ManyChat
Free- Free$undefined/month
- Limited contacts
- Core automation features
- Basic channels
- Pro$15/month
- Higher contact limits
- All channels
- Broadcast messaging
Which should you pick?
Choose Freshchat if
- You need live chat.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want chatbots.
Choose ManyChat if
- You need visual flow builder.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, ios, android.
- You also want instagram automation.
Questions people ask
- Is Freshchat or ManyChat better?
- Neither clearly leads. Freshchat starts at Free and ManyChat at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Freshchat or ManyChat?
- Freshchat starts at Free and ManyChat at Free.
- Does Freshchat or ManyChat run on more platforms?
- Freshchat runs on Web, Ios, Android. ManyChat runs on web, ios, android.
- Can I use Freshchat for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Freshchat best used for?
- Freshchat is most often used for live chat on a website or in an app, shared inbox across chat, email and social messengers, chatbot deflection before a conversation reaches an agent, routing conversations by skill or language on the higher tiers. Of those, live chat on a website or in an app and shared inbox across chat, email and social messengers are not what ManyChat is typically brought in for.
- What can Freshchat do that ManyChat cannot?
- Freshchat covers Live chat, Chatbots, Campaigns, WhatsApp. ManyChat covers Visual Flow Builder, Instagram Automation, WhatsApp Automation, SMS Marketing.
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