Automate Basics

Front vs Zendesk vs Help Scout

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 7 November 2026.

Compared on
Front

Free trial · from $25/seat/mo

Zendesk

Free trial · from $19/agent/mo

Help Scout

Free plan

What it isShared inbox and ticketing platform for customer-facing teams, with AI as paid add-onsCustomer service software with ticketing, messaging, voice and AI agentsShared inbox and help desk for customer support teams, with an AI chatbot billed per resolution
Free planNoNoUp to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts a month; 10 saved replies, tags and articles each
Cheapest paid plan$25/seat/mo billed annually (Starter)Front pricing$19/agent/mo billed annually (Support Team)Zendesk pricingNot publishedHelp Scout pricing
What it coversShown with annual billing selected; the page lists no monthly-billing prices. Single channel type only; up to 10 seats.Cheapest self-serve plan; email-based support. AI agent usage is billed per automated resolution.Not stated
Free trial14-day free trial with Professional features, no credit card needed14-day free trial of Suite Professional (Copilot included in the trial)15-day free trial of Standard and Plus, no credit card needed; Pro is not offered as a trial
PlatformsWebWebWeb
Integrations (vendor's figure)130+ integrations1,800+ apps, partners, and integrations100+ tools
Open sourceNoNoNo
Good for
  • B2B teams that run support and account work from shared email inboxes
  • Teams that want to keep an email-style workflow with ticket tracking
  • Handling customer emails as tracked tickets in a small support team
  • Combining chat, messaging and phone support in one queue
  • Resolving common questions with an AI agent that is billed only for requests it resolves without a human
  • Small and mid-sized teams that want a shared inbox rather than a heavy ticketing system
  • Teams that want a free starting plan for up to five people
Watch out for
  • Starter supports only one channel type; omnichannel needs Professional
  • AI is extra: Autopilot per conversation, Copilot $20 per seat except on Enterprise
  • Monthly-billing prices are not shown on the pricing page
  • No free plan; the 14-day trial runs on Suite Professional
  • Support Team is email-focused; messaging, live chat and telephony need a Suite plan
  • Copilot costs extra ($50/agent/month paid yearly) except on Suite Enterprise + Copilot
  • Envoy chatbot resolutions are billed on top of the plan at $0.75 each
  • Additional inboxes cost extra ($10 a month paid annually, $12 monthly)
  • Plan limits on inboxes and users are stated differently in different parts of the pricing page
Made byFrontZendeskHelp Scout

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

Every tool in AI customer support tools is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.