AFCI protect the dwelling from potential fires caused by a faulty connection resulting in arcs. A GFCI protects the individual from a device fault. The things, today, are not prone to 'false' tripping. There is almost always a valid reason.
A nearby electrical storm, a high current motor, and probably lots of other things can cause electrical noise on the power lines in your home. I'm a big advocate of installing a whole-home surge/spike/noise filter at the panel. AFCI were not required when my home was built, so I have none. But, I do have some GFCI, and replaced all of the receptacles in my mother's house with GFCI (and their downstream receptacles) to allow 3-prong plugs to be used (okay, and approved, if you mark each receptacle in the chain that there's no real ground), and except for a cable that had a nail or staple in it, and once when it should have tripped, in over 30-years, I've never had one trip. If it does, and it saved your house from burning down, or saved you from being electrocuted (or at least from getting a shock that could injure you), is it worth the price of maybe losing what's in the fridge or freezer? I think so, and the code agencies believe so as well, which is why they are required. A properly working system does NOT trip for no reason. Using a whole-home surge/spike/noise suppression unit can eliminate many transients that might confuse the safety devices. They are not expensive, but usually require a 240vac breaker to properly wire the thing up (some give alternative methods) so you can protect both legs of your power.
People often put their 'old' frig or freezer down in the basement, and it doesn't get accessed that often. Those often tend to be an energy hog because they've gotten MUCH more efficient as the years passed, and because they are old, they can have some issues that could trip the safety devices...it's not that the devices are bad, it's that the old frig or freezer really should have been retired rather than reused. Off my soapbox, but consider, the codes agree with me, and no product delivered today that has passed UL testing should trip a safety device if it is working properly. The surge/spike/noise filter at the power panel takes care of the power line transients that could confuse an AFCI for the most part.
