Drag vs Help Scout

Drag

• Gmail and Google Workspace teams sharing support@ or sales@ addresses
• Teams that like to see email as cards moving across a kanban board
• Growing teams, since no plan has a seat minimum or user cap

Help Scout

• Support teams moving off a shared Gmail or Outlook mailbox
• Small teams: the Free plan covers up to 5 users
• Companies that want a help center and live chat alongside email
• Non-profits and early-stage startups that qualify for its discounts

Drag

• It is built on Gmail and Google Workspace: shared inboxes are Gmail addresses or Google Groups, and sign-in runs through Google.
• There is no free plan; the 7-day trial is followed by a paid plan.
• AI is metered in credits. Starter includes none, Plus 1,000 per seat a month and Pro 2,000, and extra credits are sold from $10.
• WhatsApp, Varley Agents, the API and MCP server, SLA rules and round-robin assignment need Pro at $24 per user / month, billed yearly.

Help Scout

• The Free plan is limited to 5 users, 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts a month, and includes no AI tools.
• AI Answers is billed separately at $0.75 per resolution once its 3-month free trial ends.
• Pro has a 10-user minimum, and trying Pro means talking to the sales team.
• Extra Inboxes cost $10 a month each on annual billing ($12 monthly) and extra Docs sites $20 ($24 monthly). Phone and voice work only through an integration.

Drag

Shared inbox boards

A shared address becomes a board with kanban, list and preview views, where each email is a card with an owner, a status, tags and a due date. The emails themselves stay in Gmail.

Assignments, notes and shared drafts

Teammates assign emails, chat with @mentions on a thread, write shared drafts and reply as collaborators. Collision detection is included on every plan.

Varley AI

Copilot answers questions about the inbox and proposes actions to approve, Assists draft, summarize and classify mail, and on Pro, Agents resolve conversations or hand them to a person.

Automations

Rules route, tag and assign incoming mail. Starter allows 10 rules and the higher plans are unlimited; round-robin assignment, business hours and SLA rules are on Pro.

Help center, live chat and WhatsApp

A public help center and live chat, which is in early access, are on every plan. Pro adds WhatsApp conversations that sit beside email on the same boards.

API and MCP server

Pro includes a REST API and an MCP server with 47 tools, so assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot or Cursor can work in the inbox.

Help Scout

Shared Inbox

Email, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger conversations arrive in one shared workspace, where they can be assigned, tagged, snoozed and discussed in internal notes.

Docs knowledge base

Docs sites publish a searchable, branded help center. The Free plan includes 1 site with 10 articles, and paid plans allow unlimited articles.

Beacon help widget

An embeddable widget that offers suggested help articles, a contact form and live chat on any website page or inside an app.

Workflows and routing

Workflows organize, assign or reply to conversations automatically: 150 basic on Standard, 500 advanced on Plus and unlimited on Pro. Round robin routing starts on Plus.

AI Answers and AI Drafts

AI Answers replies to customers from knowledge base content at $0.75 per resolution. AI Drafts suggests replies based on past conversations on Plus and Pro.

Reports

Pre-built reports cover volume, responses and customer happiness for each channel, with 30 days of history on Free, 2 years on Standard and all-time history on Plus and Pro.

Drag

• Starter$12

  per user / month, billed yearly ($16 billed monthly)

  Shared inboxes in Gmail, boards, assignments, templates, notes, a help center and live chat. 10 automation rules, 3-month reporting, no AI credits included.

• Plus$18

  per user / month, billed yearly ($22 billed monthly)

  Adds Varley's Copilot, Intelligence and six AI assists with 1,000 AI credits per seat a month, unlimited automation rules, email sequences and custom views.

• Pro$24

  per user / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly)

  Adds the WhatsApp channel, Varley Agents, API and MCP access, SLA rules, round-robin assignment, custom fields and roles, and 2,000 AI credits per seat.

Help Scout

• Free$0

  Up to 5 users, 1 shared email Inbox, 1 Docs site and 100 contacts per month, with limited saved replies and no AI tools.

• Standard$25

  per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)

  Up to 25 users and 2 Inboxes, with live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, 1 basic SLA policy, 150 basic workflows and AI Assist.

• Plus$45

  per user / month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly)

  Up to 50 users and 5 Inboxes, with 500 advanced workflows, unlimited AI Drafts, round robin routing, a customer portal, and Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot.

• Pro$75

  per user / month, billed annually ($90 billed monthly)

  Unlimited users with a 10-user minimum and 10 Inboxes, plus unlimited workflows and SLA policies, SSO/SAML, HIPAA compliance and an account manager.

Drag

• Annual discount

  Save up to 25% with yearly billing

  The pricing page shows Starter at $12 a user a month billed yearly against $16 monthly, Plus at $18 against $22, and Pro at $24 against $30.

• Nonprofit

  Program for non-profits and NGOs

  The pricing FAQ says Drag runs a dedicated program for non-profits and NGOs, arranged by contacting its team. The size of the discount is not published.

• Education

  Program for educational institutions

  The same program covers educational institutions, again on request by email and without a published discount.

Help Scout

• Annual discount

  16% off with annual billing

  The pricing page shows a 16% discount for annual billing: Standard is $25 per user a month against $30 billed monthly, Plus $45 against $54 and Pro $75 against $90.

• Nonprofit

  10% lifetime discount for non-profits and B Corps

  Help Scout for Good gives non-profits and B Corporations a 10% lifetime discount on application, and up to 100% off for groups working on human rights, sustainability or representation in tech.

• Startups

  6 months free for early-stage startups

  New customers that are incorporated tech startups less than two years old with under $1 million in annual recurring revenue can apply for six months of the Plus plan and AI Answers at no charge.