Freshdesk vs Help Scout
We give Freshdesk a 2.4 GPA and Help Scout a 2.2, out of 4.0. Freshdesk grades higher on value for money and ease of use. Help Scout grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Freshdesk
Email ticketing help desk with a knowledge base and AI agents
Help Scout
Shared inbox and help desk with a knowledge base and AI answers
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAFreshdeskFair | 2.2GPAHelp ScoutFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGrowth is $19 an agent a month billed yearly, a little under this category's middle of $24, and paying monthly loses the 20% yearly discount. A portal and knowledge base are included, but chat means Freshdesk Omni from $29. | DStandard is $25 a user a month billed annually, $30 monthly, which is where the dearest tenth of this category starts and about three times its $8 middle. Plus is $45 and Pro $75 with a 10-user minimum. Extra Inboxes are $10 each and AI Answers $0.75 a resolution. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan with no card needed, so you see everything. There's no free plan, and the 500 free AI agent sessions come once per account, not every month. | CFree for up to 5 users, but the caps are ones you'll hit in a week: 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site with 10 articles, 100 contacts a month, 10 saved replies and no AI tools. The 15-day trial of Standard or Plus needs no card. |
| Features | CEmail ticketing, a shared inbox, a portal and knowledge base, routing, SLAs, reports and an email AI agent. The gap is named in the listing: chat and messaging channels aren't in Freshdesk at all, they're sold as Freshdesk Omni. | BEmail, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger in one workspace with assignment, tags and internal notes, plus a hosted help centre, the Beacon widget, workflows, routing and reports. The support-inbox job is covered, though phone and voice only work through an integration. |
| Ease of use | B4.5 from 2,996 App Store ratings for the agent app. Emails turning into tickets is a simple idea to pick up, and occasional helpers can come in on day passes instead of full seats. | C4.2 from about 320 App Store ratings, which is on the low side for this category. That's the iPhone and iPad app rather than the whole service, and there are inboxes, Docs sites, workflows and routing rules to lay out first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, Jira, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Stripe. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B. | BWeb with iPhone and Android apps but no desktop app, and a long connections list: Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Linear, Shopify, Slack, Aircall and Zapier, with a public API. Phone and voice only arrive through one of those integrations. |
| Best for | email support with a help center from day one | support teams leaving a shared Gmail mailbox |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Freshdesk and Help Scout. How we grade
Where they differ
- Freshdesk starts at $19 per agent / month, billed annually. Help Scout starts at $25 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly).
- Help Scout has a free plan. Freshdesk does not, though it has a free trial.
- Freshdesk also covers help desk, help center and AI support agent.
- Help Scout also covers workflow automation and AI agents.
At a glance
| Freshdesk | Help Scout | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per agent / month, billed annually | $25 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Up to 5 users, 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site with 10 articles, 100 contacts per month, 10 saved replies and 30 days of report history. No AI tools are included. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Enterprise plan, no credit card needed | 15-day free trial of Standard or Plus, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Freshworks Inc. | Help Scout |
| Price read from | freshworks.com | helpscout.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Freshdesk
- Support teams that work mainly from email
- Teams wanting a help center and ticket portal on the entry plan
- Companies that bring in occasional helpers on cheap day passes
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
Worth knowing
Freshdesk
- Freshdesk plans are built around email; chat and messaging channels come with Freshdesk Omni, from $29 per agent / month billed annually.
- Only 500 AI agent sessions are free, once per account; after that sessions cost $49 per 100.
- Freddy AI Copilot costs $29 per agent / month billed annually ($35 monthly) and is not offered on Growth.
- The pricing page shows annual prices only; monthly billing costs more, as the page offers 20% off for paying annually.
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.
Key features
Freshdesk
- Ticketing and shared inbox
- Incoming emails become tickets that can be prioritized, assigned and tracked, with internal threads and linked tasks for teammates.
- Freddy AI Agent for email
- An email AI agent replies to customers and works through back-and-forth threads. Each account gets 500 sessions once; more cost $49 per 100.
- Customer portal and knowledge base
- Customers submit tickets and read help articles in a portal. Pro adds portal branding, community forums and article versioning.
- Routing and SLAs
- Business rules dispatch tickets on every plan. Pro adds round-robin and load-balanced assignment and multiple SLA policies; Enterprise adds skill-based routing.
- Freddy AI Copilot
- A paid add-on from Pro up that drafts replies, summarizes long threads, translates in 60+ languages and suggests similar tickets.
- Reports and dashboards
- Standard reports and real-time dashboards on all plans, with custom dashboards on Pro and conversational AI insights on Enterprise.
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.
Plans
Freshdesk
Growth$19
per agent / month, billed annually
Email ticketing and a shared inbox, a customer portal and knowledge base, standard reports, threads and tasks, and roles.
Pro$55
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds a multilingual help desk, custom dashboards, round-robin routing, multiple SLA policies, community forums and 5,000 outside collaborators.
Enterprise$89
per agent / month, billed annually
Adds Freddy AI Insights, skill-based routing, a sandbox, audit logs, IP allowlisting and an approval step for knowledge base articles.
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.
Ways to pay less
Freshdesk
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Freshdesk's pricing page offers 20% off when plans are paid annually rather than monthly.
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.
