It is shown that for currently attainable experimental parameters, classical electrodynamics is perfectly adequate for the prediction of all features of harmonic generation in intense laser‐free electron scattering. While the customary semiclassical approach is characterized by lengthy calculations and unwieldy expressions, the classical framework arrives at the same results in only a few lines, is valid for arbitrary electron injection energies, and provides at the same time an intuitive understanding of the predicted features. This is confirmed by graphical comparisons of the various available cross sections, which also show some of the published results to be incorrect.