Help Scout
Email-style shared inbox, knowledge base and chat widget for support teams, priced by contacts helped.
Overview
Help Scout is a customer support platform designed to feel like a shared email inbox rather than a ticketing system. Teams get a shared inbox with assignments, notes and collision detection, a Docs knowledge base, and the Beacon widget for live chat and self-service on a website. It is widely used by small businesses, ecommerce brands and SaaS teams that want a friendly customer-facing tone and a tool support staff can pick up in minutes.
In 2025 Help Scout moved from per-user pricing to pricing based on the number of contacts helped each month, with unlimited users on every plan. A free plan covers up to 50 contacts per month; Standard starts at approximately $50 per month and Plus at approximately $75 per month, each including 100 contacts with additional contact bundles priced on top, and Pro is custom for high volumes. AI features (summaries, drafts and AI Answers in Beacon) are included on paid tiers.
It is less suited to teams needing formal SLAs, complex routing or voice support, and busy inboxes should model contact volumes carefully, since the contact-based model can cost more than the old per-seat plans for teams with a large customer base.
Key features
AI
- AI assistant
Automation
- Workflow automation
- API access
- Webhooks
Data
- Custom fields
- Reporting & dashboards
Platforms
- Mobile app
Support
- Shared inbox
- Live chat
- Chatbot
- Knowledge base / help centre
- Multichannel inbox (email, chat, social)
- Integrations
- Facebook & Instagram, HubSpot, Jira, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Shopify, Slack, Trello, WooCommerce, Zapier
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android, API
Pros & cons
Strengths
- 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
Limitations
- 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
Pricing
Freemium. 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.
Free
Free
Shared inbox, Docs and Beacon for up to 50 contacts helped per month.
- Up to 50 contacts per month
- Unlimited users
- Shared inbox, Docs and Beacon
Standard
$50/mo
Core inbox, knowledge base and chat features with 100 contacts included.
- 100 contacts per month included
- Unlimited users
- Workflows and saved replies
- AI summaries and drafts
Plus
Popular$75/mo
Adds advanced permissions, custom fields, more integrations and AI Answers.
- 100 contacts per month included
- Custom fields and advanced permissions
- AI Answers in Beacon
- Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot apps
Pro
Custom
Custom pricing for high-volume teams with dedicated onboarding.
- High contact volumes
- Dedicated account management
- Enhanced security controls
Prices are listed in USD and can change. Confirm current pricing on the vendor’s pricing page.
Best for
A good fit if you are
- 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
Not ideal if you
- Enterprises needing SLAs, complex routing and audit-grade reporting
- High-volume support desks with tens of thousands of monthly contacts
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Help Scout
From $50/mo · Free plan