Help Scout review
by Help Scout PBCHelp desk and customer support
A per-user shared inbox help desk with email, live chat, social messaging and a Docs knowledge base from Standard at $25 per user billed annually, plus a free plan.
- Free plan
- No card needed
- Self-serve
- Per seat
- Public prices
What you're paying for
- Worth the price (main value)
- Built-in reach
Email, live chat, social messaging and a Docs knowledge base on one $25 seat, with SLA policies and CSAT surveys already included.
On Standard, at $25 per user a month on annual terms ($30 month to month), one seat covers email, live chat in the Beacon widget, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, 2 Inboxes and 2 Docs sites, one SLA policy, CSAT and NPS surveys, the Inbox API and webhooks. For 5 agents that is $125 a month with no add-on (computed). The AI agent, AI Answers, is billed at $0.75 per resolution with a monthly spending limit, and a free plan for up to 5 users covers email and a small knowledge base.
- Email, chat and social channels on the entry paid planThe plan table lists email, live chat, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, 2 Inboxes and 2 Docs sites on Standard. Extra Inboxes are $10 a month and extra Docs sites $20 a month on annual terms.Evidence: Pricing page comparison table and FAQ (2026-10-15)
- AI agent paid per resolution, with a capAI Answers is $0.75 per resolution, charged once per session and billed monthly in arrears. A monthly spending limit turns it off until the next cycle, and new accounts get a 3-month free trial.Evidence: Pricing page and AI resolutions pricing article (2026-10-15)
- A free plan for up to 5 usersThe Free plan has 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site with up to 10 articles, a Beacon with a contact form and help articles, and 100 contacts per monthly cycle. It has no live chat or API access.Evidence: Pricing page and free plan help article (2026-10-15)
- Documented APIs and 100+ appsStandard includes the Inbox API 2.0 with OAuth 2 (200 calls a minute, no reporting endpoints), plus the Docs API, Chat API, webhooks for conversations, customers, ratings and Beacon chats, and access to 100+ apps.Evidence: Developer docs, API help article and pricing table (2026-10-15)
- Best for
- Small and mid-size support teams (up to 25 users on Standard) that want email, chat, social messaging and a knowledge base at a low per-user price.
- Good to know
- Phone works only through integrations, data is hosted in the US only, and SSO and HIPAA are on Pro, sold through a demo with a 10-user minimum.
How Help Scout compares
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Help desk and customer support: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Help Scout | Freshdesk | Intercom | Front |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceEmail, live chat, social messaging and a Docs knowledge base on one $25 seat, with SLA policies and CSAT surveys already included. | Worth the priceEmail, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram in one inbox, with a knowledge base and SAML SSO, from $29 per agent on annual terms. | Saves engineering timeA help desk and an AI agent in one workspace: Fin answers first, your team takes over in the same inbox, and Fin is billed per outcome. | Easy to adoptOne shared inbox where the whole team works email, chat, SMS and social messages together, with tickets, SLAs and CSAT on top. |
| Overall score | 6.2 | 6.7Best | 6.6 | 6.3 |
| Free option | Free plan | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $25/user/mo | $19/agent/mo | $29/seat/mo | $25/seat/mo |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Per seat | Seat + usage | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per user per month; AI Answers and Messages above 2,000 viewers billed by usage | Per agent per month; AI agent sessions, WhatsApp messages and phone billed separately | Per seat per month; Fin outcomes, phone, SMS and bulk messages billed by usage | Per seat per month; Autopilot AI agent billed per conversation |
| Free option | Free plan for 5 users (1 Inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts/mo, no live chat); 15-day trial, no card | No free plan on the pricing page; 14-day trial, no card; 6-month Free Program for 2 agents in the help center | No free plan; 14-day trial, no card | No free plan; 14-day trial of Professional, no card |
| Reference scenario (5 agents, annual) | $125/mo on Standard ($25 × 5), computed | $145/mo on Freshdesk Omni Growth ($29 × 5), computed | $145/mo on Essential ($29 × 5), computed | $325/mo on Professional ($65 × 5), computed; Starter allows one channel type |
| Month-to-month price | $30 per user on Standard ($30 / $54 / $90 for the three paid plans) | $35 per agent on Omni Growth ($35 / $95 / $143 Omni; $23 / $66 / $107 Freshdesk) | $39 per seat on Essential ($39 / $99 / $139 for the three plans) | $85 per seat on Professional ($35 on Starter; Enterprise is annual only) |
| AI agent pricing | $0.75 per resolution (AI Answers) with a monthly spending limit; 3-month free trial for new accounts | First 500 sessions included once per account; then $49 per 100 sessions | Fin $0.99 per outcome on every plan; qualifications $9.99 | Autopilot per conversation: Triage $0.05, Handoff $0.39, Resolution $0.89 |
| Phone | Through integrations only, such as Aircall (add-on, price not listed) | Through Freshcaller, a separately billed Freshworks product; own carrier on Omni Pro and up | Built in on every plan; numbers and minutes billed by usage | Through partner integrations such as Aircall and Dialpad, Professional and up |
| SLA policies and CSAT | Standard: one basic SLA policy and CSAT surveys; conditional SLAs from Plus | Default SLA policies on Growth; multiple SLAs and CSAT surveys from Pro ($79 Omni) | Conversation ratings on every plan; SLAs on Expert ($132) | Professional ($65), the scenario plan |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II (report by email request); ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type 2 (report on request); ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (Trust Center, on request) | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (report and certificate on request) |
| HIPAA BAA | Pro only per the help article (demo, 10-user minimum); plan table shows an unpriced Plus add-on | Mutually executed with Freshworks; the HIPAA guide lists Freshdesk Enterprise ($89), not the current Omni plans | Expert plan only, requested through support | When the annual contract price meets a threshold Front does not state |
| EU data hosting | No EU option described; hosted on AWS servers in the United States | EEA data center chosen at sign-up, every plan | New workspaces on a contract (Advanced or Expert), through sales | US or EEA, chosen by contacting support; no plan limit stated |
| SSO | SAML on Pro per the help article; plan table shows an unpriced add-on on Standard and Plus | SAML on every plan of both editions | SAML on Expert only | SAML SSO and SCIM from Professional; Google and Office 365 sign-in on every plan |
| Data export | Inbox API only; report CSV/XLSX exports leave out conversation threads | Whole-account export (XML in the app, JSON through the API) | All conversations to Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage; REST API | Full export by request to Front Support; Core API on every plan |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Help Scout is the lowest-priced of these five for email, chat, social messaging and a knowledge base for 5 agents, with SLAs, CSAT and a free plan. Phone, EU hosting and a file export of conversations are outside it, and SSO and HIPAA sit on Pro. | From its public pages, Freshdesk Omni offers chat, social messaging, a knowledge base, SAML SSO and EU hosting from $29 per agent, with every plan priced in public. CSAT, multiple SLAs and custom roles start on Pro, and a few pages disagree on payment and plan details. | From its public pages, Intercom is a full help desk with an AI agent built in, priced per seat plus $0.99 per Fin outcome. SSO, SLAs and the HIPAA BAA need Expert, and a few prices differ between its pages. | From its public pages, Front is a team shared inbox with ticketing, SLAs, CSAT and SAML SSO on Professional and an audit log on every plan. Email plus chat starts at $65 per seat, phone runs through partners, and the HIPAA BAA depends on contract size. |
Evidence: Help Scout: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Freshdesk: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Intercom: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Front: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Score
- Pricing clarity
- 7.0 / 10, Good
- scenario plan priced; can be bought online; month-to-month price published; AI agent price published; SSO/SAML is listed as an add-on on Standard and Plus with no price, while the SSO help article says Pro only; HIPAA is listed as a Plus add-on with no price, while the HIPAA help article says Pro only; Free plan channels differ: the free plan help article lists Instagram and Messenger on Free, while the plan table and the channels article put them on paid plans only
- Free plan and trial
- 8.5 / 10, Excellent
- free plan, 5 agents, no live chat, knowledge base, 15-day trial, no card needed
- Price for 5 agents
- 6.9 / 10, Good
- $125/mo: Standard at $25 × 5 agents, annual terms; no add-on needed: Standard includes email, live chat in Beacon and 2 Docs sites; up to 25 users
- Channels and service levels
- 7.5 / 10, Good
- phone not listed; social messaging on the scenario plan; SLA policies on the scenario plan; CSAT surveys on the scenario plan; several brands or knowledge bases on the scenario plan
- Compliance and data residency
- 3.8 / 10, Fair
- SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA BAA enterprise or through sales only, EU data storage not listed
- Admin, API and data export
- 3.6 / 10, Fair
- SAML SSO enterprise or through sales only; custom roles on a higher self-serve plan; audit log not listed; REST API; no ticket export described
Review
Review from public pages
Written from Help Scout's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 15, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
What the public pages show
We read Help Scout's pricing page with its plan comparison table and FAQ, the AI agent page, the startup program page, the security page, the terms of service, DPA and sub-processor list, help center articles on billing, annual payments, the free plan, AI resolution pricing, Messages pricing, SSO, HIPAA, roles, SLAs, satisfaction ratings, channels, voicemail, data export and cancellation, and the developer docs for the Inbox API, Docs API and webhooks on Oct 15, 2026; we did not sign up for the free plan or a trial, or call the API, for this review. All pages loaded in English with prices in US dollars.
The pricing page is clear on the main lines: a Free plan for 5 users, then Standard $25, Plus $45 and Pro $75 per user a month on annual terms. The page shows annual prices by default; its Monthly toggle, read from the page's own data file, gives $30, $54 and $90. AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution with a monthly spending limit, and the help center explains that one session is charged once.
A few points need a question to Help Scout. The plan table shows SSO as an add-on on Standard and Plus and HIPAA as an add-on on Plus, with no price, while the SSO and HIPAA help articles say Pro only. The free plan article lists Messenger and Instagram on Free, while the plan table and the channels article put them on paid plans. And the terms, the help center and the DPA give three different periods for data kept after cancellation.
Strengths
- Lowest 5-agent price for the three core channels
Standard covers email, live chat and a public knowledge base at $25 per user, so 5 agents cost $125 a month on annual terms with no add-on (computed).
vs Freshdesk: Intercom Essential and Freshdesk Omni Growth come to $145 a month for 5 agents, Zendesk Suite Team to $275 and Front Professional to $325.
- A permanent free plan
The Free plan allows 5 users with 1 Inbox and 1 Docs site, so a small team can start on email and a knowledge base before paying.
vs Freshdesk: Zendesk, Intercom and Front have no permanent free plan; Freshdesk’s Free Program lasts 6 months for up to 2 agents.
- SLAs, CSAT and several inboxes on the entry plan
Standard includes one basic SLA policy, CSAT and NPS surveys, 2 Inboxes and 2 Docs sites.
vs Freshdesk: Zendesk puts SLA policies and CSAT on Suite Professional ($115); Freshdesk puts CSAT surveys on Pro.
- AI agent price published, with a spending limit
AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution, charged once per session, and a monthly spending limit stops it until the next cycle.
vs Front: Intercom’s Fin is $0.99 per outcome; Front’s Autopilot resolution tier is $0.89 per conversation.
Things to know
- Phone only through integrations
The plan table lists phone and voice as "Via integration" on every paid plan, and the help center turns provider voicemail emails into phone notes. Help Scout has no built-in calling.
Workaround: Aircall is listed as an add-on on Standard and Plus and with preferred pricing on Pro; other providers connect through apps.
- SSO and HIPAA sit on Pro
The SSO and HIPAA help articles place both on Pro, which is sold through a demo and needs at least 10 users (10 × $75 = $750 a month on annual terms, computed).
Workaround: The plan table shows them as add-ons on lower plans with no price; ask Help Scout whether they can be bought there.
- US hosting, no ISO 27001 or audit log stated
The help center says data is hosted on AWS servers in the United States, with no EU option described. ISO 27001 and an admin audit log are not stated on the pages we read.
Workaround: The SOC 2 Type II report is sent on request by email, and the DPA includes EU SCCs and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
- Conversations leave only through the API
The data export article says exporting through the API is currently the only way to get data out; report exports in CSV or XLSX leave out conversation threads.
Workaround: Plan an Inbox API script for conversations and use the Docs API for articles before you leave.
Pricing reality
Help Scout bills every user who handles conversations, including the Account Owner, per month; the page shows annual terms 16% below month to month. For our scenario, 5 agents on Standard cost 5 × $25 = $125 a month on annual terms, or $150 month to month (computed), before tax. That covers email, live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, 2 Inboxes, 2 Docs sites, one SLA policy and CSAT surveys. Costs rise with Plus ($45) for conditional SLAs, routing and AI drafts, or above 25 users; with Pro for SSO and HIPAA, at 10 users minimum ($750 a month annual, computed); and with usage: AI Answers at $0.75 per resolution, Messages above 2,000 unique viewers a month from $20, extra Inboxes at $10 and Docs sites at $20 a month on annual terms. Phone is paid to a separate provider.
Exit path
The Account Owner cancels from Your Plan and access ends at once; the first payment has a 30-day money-back guarantee, and other prepaid fees are not refunded. Conversations, customers and users come out only through the Inbox API, and Docs articles through the Docs API; report exports leave out thread contents. Data after cancellation is stated three ways: restorable on request for 14 days (terms), deleted after 60 days (help center), normally within 90 days (DPA).
Compared with
- Pick Help Scout when
- You want SLAs, CSAT and two knowledge bases at $25 per user (Standard, annual), or a permanent free plan.
- Pick Zendesk when
- You need native phone, ISO 27001, or a HIPAA BAA and EU data hosting on a plan bought online.
- Pick Help Scout when
- You want CSAT surveys and several knowledge bases on the entry paid plan, or a free plan for up to 5 users.
- Pick Freshdesk when
- You want SAML SSO on every plan, EU hosting chosen at sign-up and a full account export, from $29 per agent (Omni Growth, annual).
- Pick Help Scout when
- You want email plus live chat for 5 agents at $125 a month rather than $325, or a free plan to start.
- Pick Front when
- You want SAML SSO, ISO 27001, EEA hosting and an admin audit log, at $65 per seat (Professional, annual).
Choose it if
- You want email, live chat, social messaging and a knowledge base for a small team at $25 per user on annual terms.
- You want to start on a free plan for up to 5 users before paying.
- You want SLA policies and CSAT surveys without moving to a higher plan.
- You want a published per-resolution AI agent price with a spending limit.
Look elsewhere if
- You need phone calls handled inside the help desk itself.
- You need EU data hosting, ISO 27001 or an admin audit log.
- You need SSO or a HIPAA BAA and do not want the Pro plan with its 10-user minimum.
Bottom line
From its public pages, Help Scout is the lowest-priced of these five for email, chat, social messaging and a knowledge base for 5 agents, with SLAs, CSAT and a free plan. Phone, EU hosting and a file export of conversations are outside it, and SSO and HIPAA sit on Pro.
Plan limits at a glance
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per user per month; AI Answers and Messages above 2,000 viewers billed by usage |
| Free option | Free plan for 5 users (1 Inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts/mo, no live chat); 15-day trial, no card |
| Reference scenario (5 agents, annual) | $125/mo on Standard ($25 × 5), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $30 per user on Standard ($30 / $54 / $90 for the three paid plans) |
| AI agent pricing | $0.75 per resolution (AI Answers) with a monthly spending limit; 3-month free trial for new accounts |
| Phone | Through integrations only, such as Aircall (add-on, price not listed) |
| SLA policies and CSAT | Standard: one basic SLA policy and CSAT surveys; conditional SLAs from Plus |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II (report by email request); ISO 27001 not stated |
| HIPAA BAA | Pro only per the help article (demo, 10-user minimum); plan table shows an unpriced Plus add-on |
| EU data hosting | No EU option described; hosted on AWS servers in the United States |
| SSO | SAML on Pro per the help article; plan table shows an unpriced add-on on Standard and Plus |
| Data export | Inbox API only; report CSV/XLSX exports leave out conversation threads |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 15, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Help Scout yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 15, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Help Scout yet.
Help Scout lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Standard (billed annually), costs $25/user/mo.
- Help ScoutFreeFree$0/moUp to 5 users, 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts a month
- Email with 10 saved replies and 10 tags
- Docs site with up to 10 articles
- One Beacon with contact form and help articles
- 30-day report history; no live chat or API
- Help ScoutStandard$25/user/moBilled annually; $30 month to month; up to 25 users
- Live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
- 2 Inboxes and 2 Docs sites
- One basic SLA policy; CSAT and NPS surveys
- API (200 calls a minute) and webhooks
- Help ScoutPlus$45/user/moBilled annually; $54 month to month; up to 50 users, 5 light users included
- 5 Inboxes and 3 Docs sites
- Two SLA policies with conditions, round robin routing
- Advanced permissions, teams and custom fields
- AI Drafts and AI Summarize; Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira and Linear
- Help ScoutPro$75/user/moBilled annually; $90 month to month; minimum 10 users; sold through a demo
- 10 Inboxes and 5 Docs sites
- Unlimited SLA policies and advanced workflows
- SSO/SAML, HIPAA and IP restrictions
- API (800 calls a minute) and an onboarding specialist
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-15.
Source: helpscout.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.