HEAD TO HEAD · RATED SEPTEMBER 2026
Last reviewed 27 September 2026 · Service Desk Compare reviewers
Freshservice wins on the business-teams weights; Jira Service Management is the stronger pick where integrations and pricing transparency 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.
Freshservice
8.2 / 10
Rank 3 of 9 on the business-teams ranking
Full ITSM ranking: rank 1 at 8.3
$19 per agent per month (annual)
Read the Freshservice reviewJira Service Management
7.9 / 10
Rank 4 of 9 on the business-teams ranking
Full ITSM ranking: rank 2= at 7.8
Free for 3 agents; Standard $20 per agent per month
Read the Jira Service Management reviewScroll for more
| Criterion | Weight | Freshservice | JSM | Higher score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ITIL practice coverageWhy these scoresFreshservice: Certified across 14 ITIL practices and PinkVERIFY-certified across six processes, but problem, change and release management need the Pro plan. JSM: Incident, problem and change management are documented and a PinkVERIFY logo is shown, but change and advanced incident and problem management are Premium. | Info only | 8.5 | 8 | Freshservice |
Automation and AI assistanceWhy these scoresFreshservice: Freddy AI Copilot, Agent Studio and Insights are documented; Copilot is a $29 per agent add-on rather than standard on lower plans. JSM: Rovo Agents from Standard; the virtual service agent is Premium only. | 20% | 8 | 7.5 | Freshservice |
Time to valueWhy these scoresFreshservice: Four plans with public prices and ITIL-shaped defaults mean a mid-size team can trial the real product before talking to sales. JSM: A free plan for three agents and preconfigured templates, with more configuration once ITSM practices beyond request handling are switched on. | 20% | 8.5 | 7 | Freshservice |
Configuration management (CMDB)Why these scoresFreshservice: Agentless discovery and dependency mapping feed a CMDB; service mapping on the scale of ServiceNow is not documented [ServiceNow CMDB page]. JSM: Asset and configuration management from Standard and advanced Assets on Premium; no discovery claim on the pages we read. | Info only | 8 | 7.5 | Freshservice |
Usability for non-IT requestersWhy these scoresFreshservice: Service catalog and SLAs from Growth, and a Freddy AI agent for routine requests; G2 reviewers rate ease of use highly. JSM: Customer portal, email and chat on every plan, with a custom-branded help center from Standard. | 20% | 8.5 | 7 | Freshservice |
IntegrationsWhy these scoresFreshservice: A marketplace and MCP support are mentioned, but no integration count is published. JSM: Native ties to Jira for engineering teams and deployment gating with CI/CD tools on Premium. | 20% | 7.5 | 9 | JSM |
Pricing transparencyWhy these scoresFreshservice: Starter, Growth and Pro are priced publicly; Enterprise and some AI capacity are quoted. JSM: Every plan except Enterprise has a public per-agent price, including a free tier. | 20% | 8.5 | 9 | JSM |
Freshservice scores higher on 3 criteria, JSM on 2, and 0 are tied among the five scored criteria.
| Plan | Price | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19 per agent/month | Billed annually. Incident management; no service catalog or SLA management. |
| Growth | $49 per agent/month | Adds service catalog and SLA management. |
| Pro | $99 per agent/month | Adds problem, change and release management. |
| Enterprise | Not published (custom) | |
| Add-on: Freddy AI Copilot | $29 per agent/month |
Source: Freshservice pricing
| Plan | Price | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 3 agents. |
| Standard | $20 per agent/month | Rovo Agents, asset and configuration management, 250 Rovo credits. |
| Premium | $51.42 per agent/month | Advanced assets, virtual service agent, advanced incident and problem management, change management, deployment gating with CI/CD tools. |
| Enterprise | Not published (custom, billed annually) |
Source: Jira Service Management pricing
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| Stage | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Logged | Partial | Freddy AI collects and verifies requester details (general service page) Source |
| 02 Categorised | Not documented | |
| 03 Routed | Documented | Freddy AI routes the issue to the right agent Source |
| 04 Resolved | Documented | 'Domain-specific AI resolves issues instantly' (vendor wording) Source |
| 05 Closed | Not documented | |
| 06 Reviewed | Documented | Problem management on Pro; Freddy AI Insights surfaces emerging issues Source |
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| Stage | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Logged | Documented | Portal, email, chat and forms on every plan Source |
| 02 Categorised | Partial | Rovo Agents for AI-powered employee support; no auto-categorisation claim Source |
| 03 Routed | Partial | Queues and workflows; no AI routing claim Source |
| 04 Resolved | Documented | Virtual service agent (Premium) Source |
| 05 Closed | Not documented | |
| 06 Reviewed | Documented | Group incidents to problems for root cause analysis 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.
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 Jira Service Management's 7 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
Choose Jira Service Management if integrations and pricing transparency matter most to your team. It scores 9 and 9 there, against Freshservice's 7.5 and 8.5. Native ties to Jira for engineering teams and deployment gating with CI/CD tools on Premium. We list it as best for: IT and engineering teams that share Jira and want a free starting tier. Read the Jira Service Management review
On the business-teams weights, Freshservice scores 8.2 and Jira Service Management 7.9 out of 10, ranking 3 and 4 of 9 on the business-teams ranking. Freshservice leads on 3 criteria and Jira Service Management on 2.
Freshservice lists $19 per agent per month (annual); Jira Service Management lists Free for 3 agents; Standard $20 per agent per month. 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 Jira Service Management 9. The calculator prices both for your agent count.
On ITIL practice coverage Freshservice scores 8.5 and Jira Service Management 8; on configuration management (CMDB) Freshservice scores 8 and Jira Service Management 7.5. Agentless discovery and dependency mapping feed a CMDB; service mapping on the scale of ServiceNow is not documented [ServiceNow CMDB page].