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HEAD TO HEAD · RATED SEPTEMBER 2026

Freshservice vs Halo: which IT service desk fits a mid-size team in 2026?

Last reviewed 27 September 2026 · Service Desk Compare reviewers

Freshservice wins on the business-teams weights; Halo is the stronger pick where pricing transparency and integrations matter most.

Totals and ranks on this page use the business-teams weights (five criteria at 20% each; ITIL and CMDB shown for information only). For ITIL and CMDB weighted scores, see the full ITSM ranking.

How do Freshservice and Halo compare on each criterion?

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CriterionWeightFreshserviceHaloHigher score
ITIL practice coverage
Why these scores

Freshservice: Certified across 14 ITIL practices and PinkVERIFY-certified across six processes, but problem, change and release management need the Pro plan.

Halo: Incident, problem, change and request management with ITIL-aligned workflows, all in one licence.

Info only8.58.5Tie
Automation and AI assistance
Why these scores

Freshservice: Freddy AI Copilot, Agent Studio and Insights are documented; Copilot is a $29 per agent add-on rather than standard on lower plans.

Halo: The only vendor whose pages document all six lifecycle stages we track, including closure when a requester replies with thanks.

20%88Tie
Time to value
Why these scores

Freshservice: Four plans with public prices and ITIL-shaped defaults mean a mid-size team can trial the real product before talking to sales.

Halo: A 30-day full-feature trial helps, but the platform spans ITSM, CRM, billing and projects, so scoping takes time.

20%8.56.5Freshservice
Configuration management (CMDB)
Why these scores

Freshservice: Agentless discovery and dependency mapping feed a CMDB; service mapping on the scale of ServiceNow is not documented [ServiceNow CMDB page].

Halo: Assets and CMDB are included in the single licence rather than sold as an add-on.

Info only88Tie
Usability for non-IT requesters
Why these scores

Freshservice: Service catalog and SLAs from Growth, and a Freddy AI agent for routine requests; G2 reviewers rate ease of use highly.

Halo: An end-user virtual agent works across web chat, Teams, Slack and the self-service portal.

20%8.57Freshservice
Integrations
Why these scores

Freshservice: A marketplace and MCP support are mentioned, but no integration count is published.

Halo: Halo states over 250 native integrations.

20%7.58Halo
Pricing transparency
Why these scores

Freshservice: Starter, Growth and Pro are priced publicly; Enterprise and some AI capacity are quoted.

Halo: One published per-agent price with no tiers or bolt-ons; the US dollar figure sits behind a currency selector.

20%8.59Halo

Freshservice scores higher on 2 criteria, Halo on 2, and 1 is tied among the five scored criteria.

How much do Freshservice and Halo cost?

Freshservice

PlanPriceWhat changes
Starter$19 per agent/monthBilled annually. Incident management; no service catalog or SLA management.
Growth$49 per agent/monthAdds service catalog and SLA management.
Pro$99 per agent/monthAdds problem, change and release management.
EnterpriseNot published (custom)
Add-on: Freddy AI Copilot$29 per agent/month

Source: Freshservice pricing

Halo

PlanPriceWhat changes
One plan£66 per agent/monthBilled annually. UK list price; the page offers a currency selector for other regions. Named or concurrent licences at the same price.
Halo Enterprise Package$1M a yearUnlimited licences and funded implementation, fixed price.
Trial30 daysAll features and modules.

Source: Halo pricing

Which ticket stages does each one automate?

Lifecycle Automation Census: documented automation by ticket stageFreshservice documents automation at 3 of six stages, with 1 partial.01Logged◐PartialFreddy AI collects andverifies requesterdetails (generalservice page)02CategorisedNot documented03Routed✓DocumentedFreddy AI routes theissue to the rightagent04Resolved✓Documented'Domain-specific AIresolves issuesinstantly' (vendorwording)05ClosedNot documented06Reviewed✓DocumentedProblem management onPro; Freddy AIInsights surfacesemerging issues
What each vendor's public pages document for each stage, as read on 27 Sep 2026. 'Not documented' means we did not find it on the pages we read, not that the product cannot do it.

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Lifecycle Automation Census for Freshservice, as a table
StageStatusNote
01 LoggedPartialFreddy AI collects and verifies requester details (general service page) Source
02 CategorisedNot documented
03 RoutedDocumentedFreddy AI routes the issue to the right agent Source
04 ResolvedDocumented'Domain-specific AI resolves issues instantly' (vendor wording) Source
05 ClosedNot documented
06 ReviewedDocumentedProblem management on Pro; Freddy AI Insights surfaces emerging issues Source
Lifecycle Automation Census: documented automation by ticket stageHalo documents automation at 6 of six stages, with 0 partial.01Logged✓DocumentedEnd-user virtual agenttriages and logsrequests on chat,Teams, Slack and02Categorised✓DocumentedAI suggestions forcategorisation andprioritisation03Routed✓DocumentedAI suggestions forteam routing andSLA-breach warnings04Resolved✓DocumentedProcess agentsauto-resolve knownissues05Closed✓DocumentedA requester'sthank-you reply isread as resolution06Reviewed✓DocumentedTicket records turnedinto standardisedknowledge
What each vendor's public pages document for each stage, as read on 27 Sep 2026. 'Not documented' means we did not find it on the pages we read, not that the product cannot do it.

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Lifecycle Automation Census for Halo, as a table
StageStatusNote
01 LoggedDocumentedEnd-user virtual agent triages and logs requests on chat, Teams, Slack and portal Source
02 CategorisedDocumentedAI suggestions for categorisation and prioritisation Source
03 RoutedDocumentedAI suggestions for team routing and SLA-breach warnings Source
04 ResolvedDocumentedProcess agents auto-resolve known issues Source
05 ClosedDocumentedA requester's thank-you reply is read as resolution Source
06 ReviewedDocumentedTicket records turned into standardised knowledge Source

What each vendor's public pages document for each stage, as read on 27 Sep 2026. 'Not documented' means we did not find it on the pages we read, not that the product cannot do it.

When should you choose Freshservice?

Choose Freshservice if time to value and usability for non-IT requesters matter most to your team. It scores 8.5 and 8.5 there, against Halo's 6.5 and 7. Four plans with public prices and ITIL-shaped defaults mean a mid-size team can trial the real product before talking to sales. We list it as best for: mid-size IT teams that want ITIL defaults without a long build. Read the Freshservice review

When should you choose Halo?

Choose Halo if pricing transparency and integrations matter most to your team. It scores 9 and 8 there, against Freshservice's 8.5 and 7.5. One published per-agent price with no tiers or bolt-ons; the US dollar figure sits behind a currency selector. We list it as best for: teams that want every module in one per-agent licence. Read the Halo review

What do buyers ask about Freshservice and Halo?

Which is better overall, Freshservice or Halo?

On the business-teams weights, Freshservice scores 8.2 and Halo 7.7 out of 10, ranking 3 and 5 of 9 on the business-teams ranking. Freshservice leads on 2 criteria and Halo on 2, with 1 tied.

Which is cheaper, Freshservice or Halo?

Freshservice lists $19 per agent per month (annual); Halo lists £66 per agent per month (UK list, annual). Pricing units differ (per agent, per seat or per technician), so compare the plan that includes the practices you need. On pricing transparency Freshservice scores 8.5 and Halo 9. The calculator prices both for your agent count.

Which has the deeper ITIL coverage and CMDB?

On ITIL practice coverage Freshservice scores 8.5 and Halo 8.5; on configuration management (CMDB) Freshservice scores 8 and Halo 8. Both score the same on CMDB.

Where next?