Freshservice vs. Jira Service Management comparison. Choose the right ITSM software in 2024.

Businesses handle 10,000+ service requests per month on average. That is a new ticket every 4 minutes. 

In 2024, a comprehensive IT Service Management (ITSM) tool is a must-have. Two options stand out among the competition: Freshservice and Jira Service Management. Both promise to support agents and optimize the service desk. But which one fits YOUR business? 

Let’s explore Freshservice vs. Jira Service Management to find your perfect match.

Here’s where Freshservice and Jira Service Management come in. They’re both designed to help businesses manage their IT service desk. Let’s take a look at the tools.

Freshservice is an ITSM software solution, based on Cloud hosting. It allows you to manage IT requests, from password resets to technical problems. Freshservice is intuitive and easy to set up. This makes it a good fit for businesses of all sizes.

Yes. Freshservice is a fully functional ITSM solution, offering features like incident management, problem management, change management, and self-service options for users. 

Jira Service Management is another popular ITSM software solution. It’s part of the wider Jira family of project management tools. JSM integrates with other Atlassian products like Confluence and Bitbucket. Most users value the software for its customization options.

Both Freshservice and Jira Service Management are ITSM solutions. However, they have some differences you should consider before making the final decision. 

Further in this article, we’ll also take a look at the following criteria:

We’ll talk about the platforms’ pros and cons in these areas. All to give you an understanding of which one fits your organization’s needs and budget.

Ultimately, the choice between Freshservice and Jira Service Management depends on your organization’s specific requirements, budget, and existing toolset. If you’re having trouble choosing, check out the comparison table below. 

Both tools offer ITSM features but are dedicated to slightly different needs. Let’s dive into details to find the best fit for your organization.

Freshservice has an intuitive interface with drag-and-drop options. It allows teams to match the UI to their preference easily. In contrast, Jira Service Management can feel complex initially. However, remember that it offers wider customization possibilities once you get the hang of it.

Freshservice and Jira Service Management include multi-channel support for agents. With both, you can handle requests from anywhere. The tools also let teams organize ticket management to track issues and automate repetitive tasks in Jira.

Here Freshservice brings an extra advantage to the table: Freddy, their AI-powered chatbot. Freddy deals with simple users’ questions so your support team can focus on more complicated issues. This is a strong benefit for businesses looking to reduce agent workload.

Freshservice and Jira Service Management can both support you when it comes to IT incidents. However, they each have their strengths. Consider your team’s preferences and what support would work best for them.

Freshservice is all about speed and ease. It gives your team instant alerts and automatically escalates issues. This keeps things moving smoothly. 

On the other hand, Jira Service Management offers more control and organization. It provides detailed reports to help you understand your incidents better and lets you schedule who’s on call for emergencies. 

Both tools have features to help identify and resolve problems. Freshservice allows users to link related incidents to them. It gives you a centralized view of problem records. Jira Service Management offers similar functionalities. Plus, it integrates with Jira Software where developers work on fixes. This way, you get a complete development workflow and manage everything in one place.

Change management is an area where Jira Service Management shines. It offers a comprehensive change management module. The module includes risk assessment, change calendars, and built-in approval workflows. Freshservice also has change management features, however, they are not as extensive as in JSM. 

Freshservice has a built-in asset management module. It allows IT teams to track and manage hardware and software assets. It offers automatic discovery, asset lifecycle management, and software license management.

Jira Service Management also offers asset management features through plugins. This gives you flexibility but might require additional setup.

In both Freshservice and JSM, you get a knowledge base and a self-service portal. They let agents create, organize, and share knowledge articles, FAQs, and guides. End-users can find answers to their questions, send tickets, and track their progress.

Freshservice and Jira Service Management provide reporting and analytics features. They offer pre-built reports, custom report creation, and real-time dashboards. These abilities help IT teams track service desk KPIs and make data-driven decisions.

Both tools have SLM and SLA support. They help IT teams track and manage service levels. You can set up SLAs and monitor performance against agreed-upon metrics. 

Thanks to this you ensure SLA compliance to your customers. To keep them even more in the loop, you can use plugins, like Extension for Jira Service Management. The app lets you display SLAs to your clients, so they can track the progress of their requests anytime they need. 

Pricing is a key thing to consider when choosing between Freshservice and Jira ticketing systems. In this section, you’ll see the monthly pricing of both.

Freshservice gives you per-agent pricing, while Jira Service Management uses a per-user pricing model. The final price depends on team size and usage.

Freshservice has four pricing plans:

All plans include core features like incident management, a knowledge base, and a service catalog. Higher-tier plans offer additional features like change management, asset management, and AI-powered automation.

Jira Service Management provides users the free version for up to 3 agents. It also has three pricing tiers:

The Standard plan includes request management, unlimited notification, and a custom-planned help center. The Premium plan adds features like change management, asset management, and AI-powered operations.

To help you understand the costs for your business, let’s compare the pricing for different team sizes:

As you can see, the cost difference is around $100-400. and the choice should ultimately depend on the features your team needs.

We’ve just considered the pricing and plans for Freshservice and Jira Service Management. It’s time to discover how these tools can be installed and scaled within your company.

As mentioned, Freshservice offers a user-friendly interface and a guided setup process. It makes it easier for IT teams to get started quickly.

On the other hand, Jira Service Management requires more technical expertise to set up and configure. The initial setup process can be more time-consuming compared to Freshservice. 

Nevertheless, with Jira Service Management templates you can simplify the process. They come in different categories, like ones for ITSM, Jira HR service management, or customer support. The templates are pre-configured with request types and workflows. 

As your business grows, you should secure a ticketing system that can scale with you. Freshservice has a flexible architecture. It allows you to add new users, departments, and workflows. 

Jira Service Management also assists in scaling. It handles large volumes of tickets and can support multiple teams and projects at once. However, it comes with a steeper learning curve. For this reason, you may need more resources to manage it effectively.  

With both, you get advanced reporting and multi-site support. However, Jira Service Management has a strong plus. It’s the ecosystem of apps. It can be used to extend its functionalities.  

Of course, features matter, but support capabilities are the key in ITSM. In this section, you’ll discover the tools’ support channels, training, and user communities.

First, check out differences in availability and response times.

Jira Service Management support working hours are: 

The initial response time (IRT) for Jira Service Management support depends on the severity of the issue. For Priority Support, the response times are:

The document does not specify the initial response time for standard Jira Service Management support. However, it does say that standard support is bundled with Jira Service Management cloud deployments.

When it comes to Freshservice, you can use a self-service portal for support. Admins can also chat with the Freshservice team on 24/5. 

Access to training materials and documentation is important. It comes in handy when onboarding new users and ensuring your team makes the most of the tool they’re using. Let’s compare what’s in store in Jira Service Management and Freshservice:

As you can see, Jira Service Management’s workshops are slightly more comprehensive. They include paid instructor-led courses and certification programs. It can be especially beneficial for larger organizations.

Active user communities are great for troubleshooting tips and sharing success stories. Both Jira Service Management and Freshservice offer good support resources. However, JSM distinguishes itself with a dedicated Atlassian Community. 

Connecting your ITSM tool with the development ecosystem supports collaboration between support and dev teams. Let’s see how JSM and Freshservice differ in their approach and the tools they integrate with. 

Freshservice provides a range of built-in integrations with popular development tools. They include GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. It allows you to link incidents and requests to specific code commits, pull requests, or branches. Connecting the tools supports communication between IT and development teams.

JSM naturally integrates with other Atlassian tools: Jira Software, Bitbucket, and Confluence. It simplifies collaboration and synchronizing data. 

For example, linking Jira Service Management with Jira Software allows IT teams to escalate issues to the development team easily. Only then can the dev team create linked development tasks to resolve them. This reduces manual effort. And no critical information is lost in the process.

AI is changing the way companies handle ITSM. Let’s compare the AI capabilities of Freshservice and Jira Service Management.

Freshservice’s AI, Freddy, uses machine learning to provide intelligent automation and assistance. Key features include:

The chatbot significantly reduces manual work for agents.

Jira Service Management uses AI called Atlassian Intelligence. Here are some of the things you can do with it: 

To sum up, JSM gives you more info for data-driven decisions. However, Freshservice’s Freddy provides a more rounded AI experience with its chatbot. 

How Freshservice and Jira Service Management perform in real-world scenarios? To answer this, check reviews from platforms like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. They reflect the experiences of professionals who used these ticketing systems. 

Freshservice earns praise for its:

On the other hand, users mention that Freshservice’s reporting could be more advanced. Here’s what users say on G2:

Jira Service Management’s strengths, as confirmed by users, include:

However, users also point out that Jira Service Management can seem to be complex at first: 

Jira Service Management and Freshservice can adapt to the needs of small, medium, and large enterprises. However, their features make them more fitting for certain business sizes and industries.

Freshservice is a better fit for SMBs due to its user-friendly interface. The platform offers a range of features that match smaller teams’ needs.

The functionalities are available in their lower-tier plans. It makes it accessible for businesses with limited budgets. Additionally, Freshservice’s intuitive look and feel reduces the learning curve. This allows you to quickly get used to the platform.

Jira Service Management, on the other hand, is a better choice for large enterprises. It supports complex IT environments and workflows. Its wide feature set makes it a perfect choice for companies that need:

JSM’s flexibility allows enterprises to get exactly what they need out of the platform. 

You can use Jira Service Management and Freshservice in various industries. Nevertheless, one tool may be better for a specific use case than the other.

Companies in the IT industry often lean towards Jira Service Management. It results from its native integration with Jira Software. This allows for better collaboration between ITSM and software development teams. Improved communication speeds up issue tracking and resolution.

What’s more, plugins on the Atlassian Marketplace make JSM a good fit for tech-savvy teams. They get industry-specific extensions and integrations.

Freshservice is popular in the education and healthcare sectors. All thanks to its simplicity. These two industries often have a wide user base. However, employees don’t always have technical knowledge. 

Moreover, Freshservice has built-in asset management in a basic plan. This feature is particularly useful for education and healthcare. It lets them manage a wide asset choice, from IT equipment to medical devices.

Below, you will find the customer portfolios of JSM and Freshservice. It will give you more insight into their real-world applications.

You can find the case studies linked above. They are the perfect examples of JSM usage. Some companies have more complex requirements, for instance, when it comes to keeping the data safe. Thanks to Marketplace apps like Queues for Jira Service Management, ISS Group, and other customers can control permissions across their service desks. It strengthens data security and prevents the risk of losing important information. 

On the Atlassian website, you can read more about customer success stories with Jira Service Management. 

Picking the right ITSM tool can be tricky. It’s worth a while to think it through. Both Freshservice and Jira Service Management are powerful options. The thing is that by default they can match different needs.

Freshservice is a great choice if you’re new to ITSM or have a small team. It’s easy to set up and use, even for non-technical folks. Plus, their AI assistant, Freddy, helps with self-service.

On the other hand, Jira Service Management is a good fit for companies already using Atlassian products like Jira Software. It offers tons of customization options for complex requirements. This makes it a strong choice for larger organizations.