Automate Basics

Help Scout vs Zendesk vs Freshdesk vs Intercom

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.

Written head to head: Intercom vs Zendesk · Freshdesk vs Zendesk, with when to choose each side.

Compared on
Help Scout

Free plan

Zendesk

Free trial · from $19/agent/mo

Freshdesk

Free trial · from $19/agent/mo

Intercom

Free trial · from $19/seat/mo

What it isShared inbox and help desk for customer support teams, with an AI chatbot billed per resolutionCustomer service software with ticketing, messaging, voice and AI agentsFreshworks help desk with ticketing, a knowledge base and Freddy AICustomer service helpdesk with a built-in AI agent, Fin
Free planUp to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts a month; 10 saved replies, tags and articles eachNoNoNo
Cheapest paid planNot publishedHelp Scout pricing$19/agent/mo billed annually (Support Team)Zendesk pricing$19/agent/mo billed annually (Growth)Freshdesk pricing$19/seat/mo billed annually (Essential)Intercom pricing
What it coversNot statedCheapest self-serve plan; email-based support. AI agent usage is billed per automated resolution.Cheapest plan; includes the Freddy AI Agent with 500 free sessions once per account.Fin AI Agent is charged separately at $0.99 per outcome; minimum of 1 full seat.
Free trial15-day free trial of Standard and Plus, no credit card needed; Pro is not offered as a trial14-day free trial of Suite Professional (Copilot included in the trial)14-day free trial with access to the Enterprise plan, no credit card required14-day free trial, no credit card required; includes all features, Fin and add-ons
PlatformsWebWebWebWeb
Integrations (vendor's figure)100+ tools1,800+ apps, partners, and integrationsNot statedNot stated
Open sourceNoNoNoNo
Good for
  • 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
  • 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
  • Managing customer emails as tickets in a shared inbox
  • Publishing a self-service knowledge base and customer portal
  • Trying an AI agent on common questions using the included sessions
  • Answering routine customer questions automatically before they reach support staff
  • Running a shared support inbox and help centre for a small support team
  • Adding an AI agent to an existing helpdesk such as Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshdesk
Watch out for
  • 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
  • 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
  • No free plan on the pricing page; after the 14-day trial you buy a plan or, on Freshdesk only, move to a 6-month Free Program for up to two agents
  • Freddy AI Copilot is not offered on Growth and costs $29 per agent a month billed annually ($35 monthly)
  • The 500 free AI Agent sessions come once per account; more cost $49 per 100
  • No free plan; a 14-day free trial is offered
  • Fin is billed per outcome on top of seat fees, and using Fin with another helpdesk carries a minimum monthly commitment (the page's example is 50 outcomes)
  • Multiple team inboxes and workflow automation start on Advanced; SSO and HIPAA support need Expert
Made byHelp ScoutZendeskFreshworks Inc.Fin (the company formerly named Intercom)

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.