How much does Help Scout cost?

Help Scout is freemium: a free tier covers the basics, and paid plans unlock more. Published pricing: Free; $25/user/mo.

What does Help Scout integrate with?

Help Scout integrates with Shopify, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, and Mailchimp.

What compliance standards does Help Scout meet?

Based on the vendor's own security and trust pages, Help Scout claims SOC 2 compliance.

Which support channels does Help Scout cover?

Help Scout handles customer conversations over chat and email.

What languages does Help Scout support?

Help Scout supports 50+ languages (AI Answers).

Does Help Scout have a free trial?

Yes: Free plan; 15-day free trial on Standard and Plus.

Can I buy Help Scout without talking to sales?

Yes. You can sign up and start on your own. Minimum commitment: 10 users minimum (Pro).

When was Help Scout founded?

Help Scout was founded in 2011.

What are the best Help Scout alternatives?

Popular alternatives include Capacity, Chatsy, and Helpin.

Help Scout

Help Desk & Ticketing Knowledge Base & Self-Service

Customer support platform known for simplicity, with AI drafts, summaries, and an answers assistant.

Best for

Small and mid-size teams that want a simple shared inbox, Docs knowledge base and chat widget with AI Answers, drafts and summaries, starting on a free plan and moving to $25 per user with a 15-day trial, from a profitable, remote-first vendor.

Look elsewhere if

You need voice, hosting outside the US, or an AI agent that takes actions in other systems: Help Scout's verified channels are chat and email, residency is US, and its AI answers rather than acts.

Pricing: Freemium from Free; $25/user/mo
Founded: 2011
Free trial: Free plan; 15-day free trial on Standard and Plus
How you buy: Self-serve signup
Minimum commitment: 10 users minimum (Pro)
Channels: Chat, Email
Languages: 50+ languages (AI Answers)
Data residency: US
Compliance: SOC 2
Integrations: Shopify Slack Salesforce HubSpot Jira Mailchimp

Help Scout is a shared inbox, knowledge base, and chat platform built on a simple idea: great support software should be nearly invisible to the customer. It is genuinely easy to use, and its AI features lean into that human-first philosophy. AI Answers powers a customer-facing chatbot in the Beacon widget that resolves questions from your docs, AI Drafts suggests on-brand replies pulled from your past conversations, AI Assist adjusts tone, length, and translation across a dozen-plus languages, and AI Summarize condenses sprawling threads into a couple of lines so agents can catch up fast.

The company has real conviction behind it. Founded in 2011 by Nick Francis and his co-founders, Help Scout has been remote-first since long before that was fashionable and profitable since roughly its second year, which is almost unheard of in venture-backed software. That independence lets it optimize for craft and customer experience rather than growth at any cost, and beloved brands like Basecamp, Trello, and Grubhub have rewarded it with their loyalty.

Help Scout is also refreshingly honest about getting things wrong. In late 2024 it overhauled its pricing toward a per-interaction model, heard the loud unhappiness from customers, and publicly walked much of it back in 2025, a candor you rarely see in this industry. Today it charges per user across its tiers, and its AI Answers agent is billed separately per resolution, with a free trial period so you can see the value before paying for it.

The sweet spot is small and mid-size teams that want real AI leverage without enterprise complexity or a steep learning curve to climb first. If you would rather your support tool quietly make your team faster than dazzle you with a hundred settings you will never once touch, Help Scout is a thoughtful, refreshingly human choice.

Key features

Shared inbox help desk
AI Answers resolution agent
Docs knowledge base
Beacon live chat widget
Workflows and automation

Published customer results

Outcomes named customers have reported, as published by the vendor or the customer.

Mabel's Labels: Email volume down 58% while keeping CSAT above 90 Source, December 2025
EmailOctopus: AI Answers handles 50% of support volume Source

Visit Help Scout →

See the best Help Scout alternatives →

What does Help Scout cost? →

Frequently asked questions

Who is Help Scout best for?: Small and mid-size teams that want a simple shared inbox, Docs knowledge base and chat widget with AI Answers, drafts and summaries, starting on a free plan and moving to $25 per user with a 15-day trial, from a profitable, remote-first vendor. Look elsewhere if you need voice, hosting outside the US, or an AI agent that takes actions in other systems: Help Scout's verified channels are chat and email, residency is US, and its AI answers rather than acts.
How much does Help Scout cost?: Help Scout is freemium: a free tier covers the basics, and paid plans unlock more. Published pricing: Free; $25/user/mo. Compare pricing across all listed tools →
What does Help Scout integrate with?: Help Scout integrates with Shopify, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, and Mailchimp.
What compliance standards does Help Scout meet?: Based on the vendor's own security and trust pages, Help Scout claims SOC 2 compliance. See how that compares across vendors →
Which support channels does Help Scout cover?: Help Scout handles customer conversations over chat and email.
What languages does Help Scout support?: Help Scout supports 50+ languages (AI Answers).
Does Help Scout have a free trial?: Yes: Free plan; 15-day free trial on Standard and Plus.
Can I buy Help Scout without talking to sales?: Yes. You can sign up and start on your own. Minimum commitment: 10 users minimum (Pro).
When was Help Scout founded?: Help Scout was founded in 2011.
What are the best Help Scout alternatives?: Popular alternatives include Capacity, Chatsy, and Helpin. See all Help Scout alternatives →

Sources for the facts on this page

Pricing page: helpscout.com 5 users, 1 Inbox, and 1 Docs site. checked September 2026
Languages: helpscout.com AI Answers can handle conversations in over 50 languages, including Spanish, French, and many others. checked September 2026
Free trial: helpscout.com 15 days to take all of the plan's features for a test drive checked September 2026
How you buy: helpscout.com 15 days to take all of the plan's features for a test drive checked September 2026
Data residency: docs.helpscout.com Help Scout is hosted on AWS servers in the United States. We have customers all over the world. checked September 2026
Minimum commitment: helpscout.com Unlimited (minimum 10) checked October 2026

Updated October 2026

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Know when Help Scout changes

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