charles vs Freshchat: Shopify Performance Comparison
Freshchat wins with Grade B vs Grade C — a one-grade performance difference that compounds on mobile devices.
Both apps provide live chat and customer support functionality for Shopify stores. This page presents StackConflict’s independent lab results for both — measured in a clean-room environment with no other apps installed.
Head-to-Head Metrics
| Metric | charles | Freshchat | Faster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C | B | Freshchat |
| JS Payload | 241.69 KB | 68.26 KB | Freshchat |
| CPU Desktop | 48 ms | 6 ms | Freshchat |
| CPU Mobile | 67 ms | 16 ms | Freshchat |
| Layout Shift | 0.0 | 0.0 | charles |
Mobile CPU measured with 4× CDP throttle (mid-range Android). Tested 2026-05-30.
Freshchat — The Faster Option (Grade B)
Freshchat scores Grade B with a JS payload of 68.26 KB and 6 ms desktop CPU execution. Mobile CPU: 16 ms. It passes every StackConflict threshold for payload, CPU, and layout stability — making it safe to install on any storefront including mobile-first stores where Time-to-Interactive directly impacts conversion.
View full Freshchat speed report →
charles — The Heavier Option (Grade C)
charles scores Grade C with a JS payload of 241.69 KB and 48 ms desktop CPU execution. Mobile CPU: 67 ms. This places it in the heavier half of StackConflict’s benchmark dataset — merchants running mobile-first stores should evaluate whether the feature value justifies the performance tradeoff.
View full charles speed report →
When to Choose charles
- Its unique feature set has no lighter equivalent in StackConflict’s database
- Your store traffic is predominantly desktop
- You have already removed or lightened other heavy scripts to compensate
When to Choose Freshchat
- You need its specific features and can monitor its mobile impact
- Your other apps are lightweight (Grade A) so there is headroom
- You are on desktop-skewed traffic where CPU cost matters less
Performance Verdict
Winner: Freshchat — Freshchat wins with Grade B vs Grade C — a one-grade performance difference that compounds on mobile devices.
About This Test
StackConflict measures each Shopify app in an isolated clean-room environment — a single development store, no other scripts, Playwright-controlled browser. V8 CPU cost is the ScriptDuration delta before and after injection. CLS is captured from the same browser session. Results represent the median of three independent runs with outliers removed.
Data from the StackConflict Lab. Last updated 2026-05-30.