Help Scout
A friendly help desk that feels like email, with a knowledge base, chat and AI answers.
- Verified facts
- 4 of 4
- Alternatives ranked
- 6
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Help Scout
Help Scout is a help desk designed to keep support personal. Conversations look and behave like email rather than numbered tickets, and customers never see portals or ticket IDs unless you want them to. It includes shared inboxes, saved replies, workflows, a Docs knowledge base, a Beacon widget for chat and self-service, customer profiles and reporting. AI features draft and summarise replies, and an AI assistant can resolve questions for a per-resolution fee. Help Scout is widely liked for its clean interface and quick onboarding, and it connects to tools like Salesforce, HubSpot and Jira. It is lighter than Zendesk for complex routing, phone support or very large teams. There is a free plan for small teams, and paid plans are priced per user per month. It runs in the browser with iOS and Android apps. It suits small and mid-sized companies that value a human, email-like support experience.
Best for: Small and mid-sized teams that want email-style support that feels personal.
Pros and cons
What works
- Clean, email-like interface that's quick to learn
- Free plan for up to five users
- Knowledge base and chat widget built in
Why people leave
- No native phone channel
- Less routing and reporting depth than Zendesk
- Free plan limited to one inbox and one Docs site
Top Help Scout alternatives
See all 6- 1
Front66.5Shared inbox with more channels and automation for larger teams.
- 2
FreeScout62.6Open-source clone of the Help Scout model that you can self-host for free.
- 3
Helply (formerly Groove)59.6Similar email-first help desk with no per-user fees.
- 4
Zendesk57.2More routing, phone and enterprise features as the team grows.
- 5
Hiver55.3Runs support from inside Gmail if your team lives there.
Why people left Help Scout
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Reviews
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Help Scout: common questions
Is Help Scout free?
Help Scout has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site (checked on Help Scout's own site).
Is Help Scout open source?
No, Help Scout is not open source. Open-source alternatives include FreeScout.
What platforms does Help Scout run on?
Help Scout is available for Web, iOS and Android.
What are the best alternatives to Help Scout?
The highest-ranked Help Scout alternatives right now are Front, FreeScout and Helply (formerly Groove). See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.