Help Scout

Recommended

A simple, email-like shared inbox that keeps customer support personal, even as your team grows.

“The easiest help desk to hand a new agent on day one, with genuinely helpful support behind it, but teams that need deep automation or advanced reporting will outgrow it faster than they'd outgrow Freshdesk or Intercom.”

Try Help Scout→

4.4/ 5

BettrList score

Pricing: From $0/mo
Free plan: Yes

Help Scout

Recommended

A simple, email-like shared inbox that keeps customer support personal, even as your team grows.

4.4/ 5

BettrList score

Pricing: From $0/mo
Free plan: Yes

Try Help Scout→

Starting price

$21/user/mo, billed annually

Free trial

15 days, no card needed

Free plan

Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 help center

Best for

Small teams that value simplicity

How we rated it

BettrList score

4.4/ 5

Based on practical use and value.

What we measured

Features4.1

Ease of use4.6

Value for money4.3

Support4.5

Compliance4.5

BettrList score

4.4/ 5

Based on practical use and value.

What we measured

Features4.1

Ease of use4.6

Value for money4.3

Support4.5

Compliance4.5

The verdict

Pricing breakdown

Verify current pricing

Free

A genuinely free plan for very small teams just getting started with a shared inbox.

Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, and 1 Docs help center site
100 contacts per month
10 saved replies and 10 tags
Access to 1 integration

Standard

$21/mo

For growing teams ready to move past a plain inbox. Price shown is per user, billed annually; monthly billing is $25/user.

Up to 25 users and 2 shared inboxes
Live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger channels
Unlimited contacts, saved replies, and tags
One basic SLA policy and basic workflows
AI Inbox Assistant included

Recommended

Plus

$38/mo

Help Scout's most popular plan, for teams handling more volume across channels. Price shown is per user, billed annually; monthly billing is $45/user.

Everything in Standard, for up to 50 users and 5 inboxes
Advanced workflows and two advanced SLA policies
Unlimited AI Drafts, plus round robin routing
Secure customer portal and company-level conversation grouping
Salesforce, Jira, and HubSpot integrations

Pro

$63/mo

For larger teams that need top-tier security and dedicated support. Price shown is per user, billed annually; monthly billing is $75/user. Requires talking to sales rather than a self-serve signup.

Everything in Plus, for unlimited users (10 minimum) and 10 inboxes
Unlimited SLA policies and multiple routing types
SSO/SAML sign-in and HIPAA compliance included
Dedicated onboarding specialist and strategic account manager

Swipe for more plans

All features

A shared inbox styled like a normal email client, so new agents can learn it in minutes

Live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger all flow into the same inbox as email

AI Drafts and AI Summarize suggest replies and shorten long back-and-forth threads for agents

AI Answers, a chatbot add-on that resolves customer questions on its own using your help content, billed per resolution

Docs, a searchable and brandable knowledge base you can link to from your site or support widget

Beacon, an embeddable widget that puts a contact form, live chat, and help articles right on your website or in your app

Workflows that automatically tag, assign, or reply to conversations based on rules you set

Free native mobile apps for iOS and Android so agents can reply and triage tickets from their phone

More like this

Freshdesk

A budget-friendly help desk that gets your team up and running fast, with AI ticket handling built in.

Zendesk

A large, battle-tested help desk that brings ticketing, live chat, and AI agents together for teams that have outgrown simpler tools.

Tidio

An affordable live chat widget with a built-in AI agent, aimed at small online stores and small business sites.

Independent

No paid placements, ever.

Hands-on tested

Real use, not vendor demos.

Reviewed

Not yet verified

Verdict refreshed

We revisit as tools evolve.