Help Scout

Help Scout is help desk software built for small and mid-sized support teams that want customer service to feel personal rather than ticket-driven. Conversations from email, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger land in shared inboxes, and customers see replies that read like a normal email rather than a numbered ticket.

The company was founded in 2011, has worked fully remotely from the start and says its products power more than 12,000 customer-facing teams. Alongside the inbox it offers Docs for knowledge bases, Beacon for website chat and self-service, and a set of AI features that range from drafting replies to resolving questions on their own.

Key features

• Shared inboxes. Multiple inboxes with unlimited tags and saved replies, round robin routing from Plus and grouping of conversations by company.
• Docs. Public knowledge base sites; the number of sites included rises with the plan, and extra sites are sold separately.
• Beacon and Messages. An embeddable widget for live chat, article suggestions and a customer portal, plus in-app messages.
• AI tools. An AI inbox assistant on every paid plan, unlimited AI drafts from Plus, and AI Answers, an add-on that resolves customer questions automatically.
• Workflows and SLAs. Basic workflows and one SLA policy on Standard, advanced workflows on Plus, and unlimited workflows and SLA policies on Pro.
• Integrations and APIs. More than 100 apps, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Shopify and Linear, and APIs for inboxes, chat and Docs.

Who it is for

Help Scout suits small businesses, online shops and software companies whose support still runs mostly through email and chat, and which want a tool their team can learn quickly. The Pro plan adds single sign-on, HIPAA compliance and an account manager for larger or regulated teams.

Pricing at a glance

• Free: $0 for 5 users, one inbox and one Docs site; no payment method required.
• Standard: listed at $25 per user per month, with multiple inboxes, live chat, SMS and social channels.
• Plus: listed at $45 per user per month, adding advanced workflows, a secure customer portal and Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot integrations.
• Pro: listed at $75 per user per month, sold through a demo, with SSO and HIPAA compliance.
• AI Answers: $0.75 per resolution, billed monthly, with a 3-month free trial.

The pricing page shows a 16% discount for annual billing. Prices as checked on 10 October 2026 in US dollars; confirm on the vendor's pricing page.

Things to consider

• The Free plan is limited to one inbox and one Docs site, and its comparison table caps contacts at 100 per month.
• The Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot integrations need the Plus plan or higher.
• AI Answers adds a usage-based cost on top of per-user fees once its trial ends.
• Pro has no self-serve trial; it is arranged through a demo.

Getting started

1. Sign up for the Free plan or a 15-day trial of Standard or Plus; no credit card is needed.
2. Connect your support email address to a shared inbox.
3. Publish a few help articles in Docs.
4. Add the Beacon widget to your website for chat and self-service.
5. Compare plans on the pricing page before inviting more users.