Help Scout — A shared-inbox helpdesk for small and mid-size support teams, free for up to 5 users on 1 inbox, with paid plans starting at $25/user/month for live chat and multichannel support.
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Best for: small support teams under 10 agents who want a shared inbox that reads like email
Pricing: Free for 5 users and 1 inbox; paid plans from $25/user/month for live chat and social channels, up to $75/user/month for SSO and HIPAA compliance.
- Help Scout's Free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox, and 100 monthly contacts at no cost.
- The Standard plan costs $25/user/month and adds live chat, SMS, and social channels.
- Plus costs $45/user/month; Pro costs $75/user/month with SSO/SAML and HIPAA compliance.
- A separate AI Answers add-on bills at $0.75 per resolved query, with a 3-month free trial.
- Help Scout holds a 4.6/5 rating from 226 reviews on Capterra.
Limitations: The free plan caps out at 5 users and 100 monthly contacts.; Live chat and social channels require upgrading to the $25/user/month Standard plan.; SSO/SAML and HIPAA compliance are limited to the $75/user/month Pro tier.; The AI Answers add-on bills per resolution separately from the per-seat subscription price.
Top alternatives: Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, Front — full list
What is Help Scout?
Help Scout is a customer support helpdesk built around a shared email inbox: incoming messages land in a queue that looks and behaves like an email client, with internal notes, saved replies, and assignment layered on top rather than a traditional numbered-ticket interface. The free tier supports 5 users and 1 inbox, enough for a small team's first support channel. Paid tiers add live chat, SMS, and social channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger) starting on the Standard plan, then layer in workflow automation, a secure customer portal, and CRM integrations (Salesforce, Jira, HubSpot) on Plus, and SSO/SAML plus HIPAA compliance on Pro for teams with security or compliance requirements. An AI Inbox assistant is included starting on Standard, while a separate AI Answers add-on (self-service AI responses to customer questions) is billed per resolution rather than bundled into any tier.
Help Scout is a customer support platform built around a shared email inbox rather than a ticket-number system, aimed at small and mid-size teams that want a helpdesk that still feels like email. The Free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox, and 100 monthly contacts at no cost; paid plans start at Standard for $25/user/month (live chat, SMS, WhatsApp/Instagram/Messenger channels, AI Inbox assistant), Plus at $45/user/month (advanced workflows, secure customer portal, Salesforce/Jira/HubSpot integrations), and Pro at $75/user/month (unlimited workflows and SLA policies, SSO/SAML, HIPAA compliance), all billed monthly with a 16% discount available on annual billing. An AI Answers add-on bills separately at $0.75 per resolved query, with a 3-month free trial. Help Scout competes with Zendesk and Freshdesk on simplicity for teams that find ticket-queue software overly complex for their size.
Standout feature: The core interface is a shared email inbox rather than a ticket-number system, so agents work in a format that feels like a normal inbox instead of learning a dedicated ticketing UI.
Biggest weakness: The free plan caps out at 5 users and 100 monthly contacts, and jumping to live chat and multichannel support on Standard means every agent seat costs $25/month with no lower-priced middle option; the separate $0.75-per-resolution AI Answers add-on can also become unpredictable at high support volume.
Pros
- Free plan supports 5 real users with no time limit, not just a trial.
- Shared-inbox interface is close to email, so new agents ramp up quickly.
- AI Inbox assistant is bundled starting on the Standard plan rather than sold as a separate add-on.
- Native iOS and Android apps let agents respond to conversations away from a desktop.
Cons
- Live chat and social channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger) require the $25/user/month Standard plan; the free tier is email-only.
- SSO/SAML and HIPAA compliance are locked to the $75/user/month Pro plan, the highest tier.
- AI Answers is billed separately at $0.75 per resolution, which adds unpredictable cost on top of the per-seat price.
- Per-user pricing on Standard and above can get expensive quickly for larger support teams compared to flat-rate helpdesks.
Help Scout pricing
Free tier · paid from $25/mo · verified from the vendor's pricing page
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 10 saved replies, 10 tags, 100 monthly contacts. |
| Standard | $25/mo | Per user; 16% discount on annual billing. Adds multiple inboxes, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp/Instagram/Messenger, multiple knowledge bases, basic SLA policy, and AI Inbox assistant. |
| Plus | $45/mo | Per user; 16% discount on annual billing. Adds advanced workflows, two advanced SLA policies, secure customer portal, unlimited AI Drafts, round robin routing, and Salesforce/Jira/HubSpot integrations. |
| Pro | $75/mo | Per user; 16% discount on annual billing. Adds unlimited workflows and SLA policies, SSO/SAML, HIPAA compliance, up to 50 light users, and dedicated onboarding. |
What reviewers say
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