Help Scout: pricing, features and alternatives
Shared inbox and help desk for customer support teams, with an AI chatbot billed per resolution
What is Help Scout?
Help Scout is a help desk built around a shared inbox that brings email, chat, SMS and social messages into one place. It has a free plan for up to five users and three paid plans priced per user. AI drafting and summarising tools are listed as unlimited on paid plans, while its Envoy chatbot is an add-on charged per resolution.
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
Key features
- Shared inbox for email, chat, SMS and social channels
- Docs knowledge base sites
- Workflows, SLA policies and routing on higher plans
- AI Assist, Drafts and Summarize listed as unlimited on paid plans
- Envoy AI chatbot as an add-on at $0.75 per resolution
Limitations to know about
- 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
Help Scout pricing
Help Scout has a free plan. Its plans are Free, Standard, Plus and Pro.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts a month |
| Standard | $25 per user/month as listed (billing period not stated on the page) | Up to 25 users, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, basic workflows, AI Inbox assistant |
| Plus | $45 per user/month as listed (billing period not stated on the page) | Up to 50 users, advanced workflows, advanced SLA policies, customer portal, round-robin routing, Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot integrations |
| Pro | $75 per user/month as listed (billing period not stated on the page) | Unlimited users with a 10-user minimum, unlimited workflows and SLA policies, SSO/SAML, HIPAA, dedicated onboarding |
Free plan limits: Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts a month; 10 saved replies, tags and articles each
Help Scout alternatives
Zendesk
Customer service software with ticketing, messaging, voice and AI agents
Freshdesk
Freshworks help desk with ticketing, a knowledge base and Freddy AI
Intercom
Customer service helpdesk with a built-in AI agent, Fin
Front
Shared inbox and ticketing platform for customer-facing teams, with AI as paid add-ons
Tidio
Live chat, ticketing and an AI agent (Lyro) for customer service
Chatbase
Builds AI support agents trained on a company's own content
Frequently asked questions
Is Help Scout free?
Help Scout has a free plan. Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts a month; 10 saved replies, tags and articles each.
How much does Help Scout cost?
Help Scout does not publish a starting price we could verify, so check its own pricing page for current rates.
What is Help Scout used for?
Help Scout is a help desk built around a shared inbox that brings email, chat, SMS and social messages into one place. People use it for small and mid-sized teams that want a shared inbox rather than a heavy ticketing system and teams that want a free starting plan for up to five people.
What are the alternatives to Help Scout?
Tools that do a similar job include Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, Front and Tidio. Each has its own page here with its plans, limits and prices.
Who makes Help Scout?
Help Scout is made by Help Scout, based in Boston, Massachusetts, US (remote company). The company was founded in 2011.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from the pages below, read on the dates shown: Help Scout's own pages first, and a named public reference where they are silent.
- helpscout.com/pricing/ (pricing: plan prices, users, free plan, trial, Envoy and add-on charges) read 7 November 2026
- helpscout.com/ (product description, channels and integrations claim) read 7 November 2026
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_Scout (company founded year and headquarters) read 7 November 2026
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