Does Help Scout or Zendesk have a free plan?

Help Scout has a free plan. Zendesk does not, though it offers a free trial.

How long is the Help Scout and Zendesk free trial?

Help Scout offers a 15-day free trial, and Zendesk offers a 14-day free trial.

Which is easier to use, Help Scout or Zendesk?

In VERILO's editorial assessment Help Scout is the easier of the two, scoring 5 out of 5 against 3 for Zendesk. That is a judgement about how quickly a new team gets productive, not a measured benchmark.

Help Scout vs Zendesk

A side-by-side look at Help Scout and Zendesk: what each costs to start, whether there is a free plan, how easy they are to pick up, and which features and integrations they cover.

Which should you choose?

Choose Help Scout if

Small businesses and ecommerce brands with a handful of support staff
Teams that want a warm, email-like support experience
Companies that want many staff to have inbox access without paying per seat

Visit Help Scout

Choose Zendesk if

Support teams of 10 or more agents handling high ticket volumes
Companies that need multiple channels, SLAs and audit-ready reporting
Businesses with a large existing app stack that need marketplace integrations

Visit Zendesk

Cheapest to start

Not confirmed

Free plan

Help Scout

Highest editor rating

Zendesk · 4.5

Comparison of Help Scout and Zendesk
Compare	Help Scout Visit site	Zendesk Visit site
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	Yes	Yes
Starting price	From $50/mo	From $19/mo
Editor rating	4.3	4.5
Ease of use	Very easy (5/5)	Moderate (3/5)
Category	Customer Support	Customer Support
Pricing model	Pricing is based on contacts helped per month with unlimited users: a free plan covers up to 50 contacts, Standard starts at approximately $50 per month and Plus at approximately $75 per month (each including 100 contacts, with extra contact bundles priced on top), and Pro is custom for high-volume teams.	Support-only plans start at $19 per agent per month billed annually; the full Zendesk Suite runs from $55 (Team) to $115 (Professional) per agent per month annually, with Enterprise priced on request. AI agent resolutions and the copilot add-on are billed separately.
Plans	Free — Free Standard — $50/mo Plus — $75/mo Pro — Custom	Support Team — $19/user/mo Suite Team — $55/user/mo Suite Professional — $115/user/mo Suite Enterprise — Custom
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android, API	Web, iOS, Android, API
Integrations	Facebook & Instagram, HubSpot, Jira, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Shopify, Slack, Trello, WooCommerce, Zapier	Facebook & Instagram, HubSpot, Jira, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Shopify, Slack, Trello, WhatsApp, Zapier
Best for	Small businesses and ecommerce brands with a handful of support staff Teams that want a warm, email-like support experience Companies that want many staff to have inbox access without paying per seat	Support teams of 10 or more agents handling high ticket volumes Companies that need multiple channels, SLAs and audit-ready reporting Businesses with a large existing app stack that need marketplace integrations
Pros	Shared inbox that non-technical staff learn in minutes Unlimited users on every plan, including the free tier Docs knowledge base and Beacon chat widget included rather than sold separately AI summaries, drafts and AI Answers included on paid plans Customer-facing replies look like normal emails, not ticket notifications	Mature ticketing engine with triggers, automations, macros, SLAs and skills-based routing Covers email, chat, voice, WhatsApp and social messaging in one agent workspace Largest app marketplace in the category, plus a well-documented API Strong reporting and dashboards through Zendesk Explore Multi-brand help centers with localization
Cons	Contact-based pricing can cost more than per-seat plans for teams with many customers No formal SLA management or skills-based routing No native voice or phone channel Reporting is adequate but not as deep as Zendesk or Intercom	Per-agent pricing gets expensive, and useful features are gated behind Professional and Enterprise AI agents, copilot and advanced data retention are paid add-ons on top of seat fees Configuration of views, triggers and routing takes real setup time and often an admin Smaller teams pay for capabilities they will not use
AI agents	No	Yes
AI assistant	Yes	No
API access	Yes	Yes
Chatbot	Yes	Yes
Custom fields	Yes	No
Knowledge base / help centre	Yes	Yes
Live chat	Yes	Yes
Mobile app	Yes	No
Multichannel inbox (email, chat, social)	Yes	Yes
Reporting & dashboards	Yes	Yes
Shared inbox	Yes	No
SLA management	No	Yes
SSO / SAML	No	Yes
Ticketing	No	Yes
Webhooks	Yes	No
WhatsApp channel	No	Yes
Workflow automation	Yes	Yes

Common questions

Does Help Scout or Zendesk have a free plan?: Help Scout has a free plan. Zendesk does not, though it offers a free trial.
How long is the Help Scout and Zendesk free trial?: Help Scout offers a 15-day free trial, and Zendesk offers a 14-day free trial.
Which is easier to use, Help Scout or Zendesk?: In VERILO's editorial assessment Help Scout is the easier of the two, scoring 5 out of 5 against 3 for Zendesk. That is a judgement about how quickly a new team gets productive, not a measured benchmark.

Go deeper

Browse wider

Related comparisons

Zendesk vs Intercom