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Customer Support · head to head

Freshservice vs Scratchpad

Freshservice logo

Freshservice

Customer Support

Modern IT service management

From
$19/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Scratchpad logo

Scratchpad

CRM

Faster workspace over Salesforce for sales reps to update pipeline, take notes and manage deals

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Scratchpad has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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; Scratchpad scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • They diverge on capability: Freshservice covers Incident management, Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Freshservice and Scratchpad actually diverge.

Attributes where Freshservice and Scratchpad differ
AttributeFreshserviceScratchpad
Starting price$19/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Chrome extension
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams

Only in Scratchpad

  • Spreadsheet pipeline views
  • Call recorder and notetaker
  • AI field updates
  • Deal and account agent
  • Hygiene monitor
  • Notes linked to records
  • Custom prompts
  • Kanban and forecast views

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 Scratchpad
  • Asset management and change control for IT teamsnot Scratchpad

Scratchpad

  • A 60-rep Salesforce team whose forecast is unreliable because opportunity fields are updated once a week in a panic before the pipeline callnot Freshservice
  • A rep who wants to update twenty opportunities in a grid rather than opening twenty Salesforce recordsnot Freshservice
  • A sales manager wanting stale and incomplete pipeline records flagged automatically instead of chased by emailnot Freshservice
  • A revenue operations lead trialling AI notetaking that writes back to CRM fields before committing budget, using the free tiernot 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

Scratchpad

  • Scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • AI credits are metered per user per month at 400 on Solo and 800 on Team, which means heavy notetaking use pushes teams towards Enterprise for capacity rather than for features.
  • There is no proper native mobile application, so representatives who wanted to update records from a car park between meetings are back in a mobile browser.
  • Sync with Salesforce and call processing can lag, and a pipeline view showing yesterday state during a forecast call undermines the exact meeting the tool was bought to improve.
  • It creates a second notes surface alongside native Salesforce notes, so organisations end up with deal history split across two places unless they explicitly ban one of them.

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

Scratchpad

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Workspace limited to 3 views
    • 10 hours a month of call recording and notetaking
    • AI field updates
  • Solo$19/month
    • Unlimited views with sheets and notes
    • Call recorder and notetaker
    • AI field updates
  • Team$49/month
    • Everything in Solo
    • 800 AI credits per user per month
    • Gong integration
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited AI credits
    • White-glove agent services included
    • Enterprise security and administration

Which should you pick?

Choose Freshservice if

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

Choose Scratchpad if

  • You need spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome extension.
  • You also want call recorder and notetaker.
Scratchpad review

Questions people ask

Is Freshservice or Scratchpad better?
Neither clearly leads. Freshservice starts at $19/month and Scratchpad at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Freshservice or Scratchpad?
Scratchpad has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $19/month for Freshservice and Free for Scratchpad.
Does Freshservice or Scratchpad run on more platforms?
Freshservice runs on Web, Ios, Android. Scratchpad runs on Web, Chrome extension.
Can I use Scratchpad for free?
Yes. Scratchpad has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Freshservice starts at $19/month.
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 Scratchpad is typically brought in for.
What can Freshservice do that Scratchpad cannot?
Freshservice covers Incident management, Asset management, Change management, Knowledge base. Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views, Call recorder and notetaker, AI field updates, Deal and account agent.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Freshservice: How much does Freshservice cost?

Freshservice is priced per agent per month on annual billing: Starter at $19, Growth at $49 and Pro at $99. Enterprise is quoted by sales. Freshworks states annual billing is 20% cheaper than monthly.

Source
Scratchpad: Does Scratchpad work with HubSpot?

No. It is Salesforce-only.

Freshservice: Does Freshservice have a free trial?

Yes. Freshworks states you get free unrestricted access to all features available in Freshservice for 14 days after sign up, plus 3 free Day Passes for occasional agents.

Source
Scratchpad: Is the free plan usable in production?

Yes for an individual: full workspace with three views, 10 hours of recording and 100 AI credits a month. Teams outgrow it on views and credits.

Freshservice: Which Freshservice plan includes change management?

Problem management, change management, major incident management and release management all start on the Pro plan at $99 per agent per month. The Growth plan at $49 covers service catalog, SLA and on-call management.

Source
Scratchpad: Does it replace Salesforce licences?

No. Every user still needs their own Salesforce licence; Scratchpad is an interface on top.

Freshservice: How much does Freddy AI cost on Freshservice?

Freddy AI Copilot is an optional add-on at $29 per agent per month on the Pro plan. The Freddy AI Agent in its Classic form is included on the Enterprise plan.

Source
Scratchpad: What are AI credits spent on?

Notetaking, summarisation, field update suggestions and agent queries. Enterprise removes the cap.

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