Softwr

Customer Support · head to head

Freshservice vs Kudos

Freshservice logo

Freshservice

Customer Support

Modern IT service management

From
$19/month
Rated
-
Kudos logo

Kudos

HR & Recruiting

Employee recognition that drives performance

From
$5/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Freshservice change, problem and release management require the Pro plan at $99 per agent per month, so core ITIL processes sit two tiers up; Kudos kudos publishes no price for any of its three tiers (Basic, Plus, Enterprise); the entire plans page gates every tier behind "Request a Demo" or "Request a Trial" with only a discount for not-for-profit organizations over 100 employees mentioned, no figures given (archived plans page, 22 February 2021)
  • They diverge on capability: Freshservice covers Incident management, Kudos covers Peer-to-peer recognition.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Freshservice and Kudos actually diverge.

Attributes where Freshservice and Kudos differ
AttributeFreshserviceKudos
Starting price$19/month$5/month
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryCustomer SupportHR & Recruiting

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), founded (2010).

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 Freshservice

  • Incident management
  • Asset management
  • Change management
  • Knowledge base
  • Automation
  • Reporting
  • AWS
  • Azure

Only in Kudos

  • Peer-to-peer recognition
  • Manager recognition
  • Social recognition wall
  • Points & rewards
  • Awards & nominations
  • Anniversary celebrations
  • Analytics dashboard
  • Company values alignment

Both cover

  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • SOC2
  • ISO27001
  • GDPR

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Freshservice

  • IT service management and internal help desk ticketingnot Kudos
  • Asset management and change control for IT teamsnot Kudos

Kudos

  • Employee recognitionnot Freshservice
  • Culture buildingnot Freshservice
  • Employee engagementnot Freshservice
  • Retention improvementnot Freshservice
  • Values reinforcementnot Freshservice

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Freshservice

  • Change, problem and release management require the Pro plan at $99 per agent per month, so core ITIL processes sit two tiers up
  • Every plan includes only 100 ITAM asset units, with more sold separately regardless of tier
  • Orchestration transactions are metered monthly, from 1,000 on Starter to 20,000 on Enterprise, with extra packs at $250 per 1,000
  • The Freddy AI copilot is a $29 per agent per month add on on top of Pro or Enterprise
  • Sandbox and audit logs are Enterprise only, which carries no published price

Kudos

  • Kudos publishes no price for any of its three tiers (Basic, Plus, Enterprise); the entire plans page gates every tier behind "Request a Demo" or "Request a Trial" with only a discount for not-for-profit organizations over 100 employees mentioned, no figures given (archived plans page, 22 February 2021)

Pricing, plan by plan

Freshservice

$19/month
  • Starter$19/month
    • Incident management
    • Knowledge base
    • Self-service portal
  • Growth$49/month
    • Asset management
    • Approval workflows
    • SLA management
  • Pro$95/month
    • Problem management
    • Change management
    • Release management
  • Enterprise$119/month
    • Freddy AI
    • Audit logs
    • Custom SSL

Kudos

$5/month
  • Plus$5/month
    • Peer recognition
    • Social recognition wall
    • Points system
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Everything in Plus
    • Awards & nominations
    • Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Freshservice if

  • You need incident management.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want asset management.

Choose Kudos if

  • You need peer-to-peer recognition.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want manager recognition.

Questions people ask

Is Freshservice or Kudos better?
Neither clearly leads. Freshservice starts at $19/month and Kudos at $5/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Freshservice or Kudos?
Freshservice starts at $19/month and Kudos at $5/month.
Does Freshservice or Kudos run on more platforms?
Freshservice runs on Web, Ios, Android. Kudos runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
What is Freshservice best used for?
Freshservice is most often used for it service management and internal help desk ticketing, asset management and change control for it teams. Of those, it service management and internal help desk ticketing and asset management and change control for it teams are not what Kudos is typically brought in for.
What can Freshservice do that Kudos cannot?
Freshservice covers Incident management, Asset management, Change management, Knowledge base. Kudos covers Peer-to-peer recognition, Manager recognition, Social recognition wall, Points & rewards. Both handle Slack, Microsoft Teams, SOC2, ISO27001.

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