Helply (formerly Groove) vs HelpDesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, HelpDesk grades higher than Helply (formerly Groove): 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Helply (formerly Groove) grades higher on features. HelpDesk grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Helply (formerly Groove)
Help desk with AI support agents, now sold as Helply
HelpDesk
Ticketing with an AI agent for email, chat, Messenger and SMS
Which one is for you
Pick Helply (formerly Groove) if
- Fits if you run a small B2B or SaaS support team that wants AI agents included
- Makes sense if you are a Groove customer, as the page says your current price is locked
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are alone or a pair: Starter is $99 a month for up to 2 agents
- Watch out: AI credits are capped per plan, with top-ups at $40 per 1,000 on Starter, Plus and Team
- Skip it if you want WhatsApp, SMS, Discord or SLAs, which need Team at $499
- Watch out: Pro and Growth are bought through a demo, and Salesforce and SSO need Growth
Pick HelpDesk if
- Fits if you answer customers by email, chat, Messenger and SMS from one inbox
- Works for a small team that wants tickets and an AI agent from $19 a user
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you lean on the AI: 10 resolutions a month on Essential, 200 on Growth, and extra 50-packs cost $49.50
- Pricey if you outgrow Essential, as Growth is $79 a user billed yearly ($99 monthly)
- Skip it if you want a free plan or phone apps, since it has neither
- Watch out: multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and HIPAA are on the custom-priced Enterprise plan
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAHelply (formerly Groove)Fair | 2.4GPAHelpDeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$99 a month billed annually for up to 2 agents, and $199 for 5, in the dearest tenth by floor. | B$19 per user a month billed yearly is at the edge of the cheapest quarter ($19). Growth is $79 a user, and that is where the 20 custom fields and 10 teams are. |
| Free plan and trial | DA 14-day trial, but the page doesn't say whether a card is needed. No free plan. | CA 14-day trial with no credit card. There is no free plan. |
| Features | BShared inbox, ticketing, chat, help centre and AI agents for support and the inbox. Nothing in the listing is missing. | CEmail, chat, Messenger and SMS in one inbox, with an AI Agent and Copilot. Essential has 3 ticketing rules and 10 AI resolutions a month, which is the gap. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. AI agents, rules and a help centre to set up. | CNo store rating on record, and rules, teams and the AI Agent need setting up before they help. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Slack, Stripe, Zapier, HubSpot, Jira, Linear and GitHub. | BWeb only, with 8 listed integrations. The chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app, but there are no phone or desktop apps. |
| Best for | a small-team help desk with AI agents bundled in | a ticket inbox with AI replies built in |
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: Helply (formerly Groove) and HelpDesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
Helply (formerly Groove) starts at $99 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. HelpDesk starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Helply (formerly Groove) scores higher, and starts $80 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 4 score higher than Helply (formerly Groove) for less, and 7 score higher than HelpDesk for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Helply (formerly Groove) also covers help center.
- HelpDesk also covers sMS marketing.
At a glance
| Helply (formerly Groove) | HelpDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $99 per month for up to 2 human agents, billed annually | $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Helply | Text, Inc. |
| Price read from | helply.com | helpdesk.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Helply (formerly Groove)
- Groove has been renamed Helply; the product and its old Groove pricing have been replaced by the plans above.
- AI credits are pooled and capped per plan. Starter, Plus and Team can top up at $40 per 1,000 credits; Pro and Growth use a hard cap or an agreed overage rate.
- WhatsApp, SMS, Discord, SLAs and round robin routing need the Team plan at $499 a month; Salesforce and SSO / SAML need Growth.
- Pro and Growth are bought through a demo, and the page shows no self-serve sign-up for them.
HelpDesk
- AI resolutions are capped: 10 a month on Essential and 200 on Growth. Extra packs of 50 resolutions cost $49.50.
- There is no free plan; the 14-day trial is the only free access.
- Per-user pricing means Growth costs $79 per user / month when billed yearly, $99 billed monthly.
- The pages describe a browser-based product and list no desktop or phone apps; the chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app.
Key features
Helply (formerly Groove)
- Support agent
- An AI agent that works with customers directly to resolve issues end to end. It is included on every plan and uses AI credits when it acts.
- Assist agent in the inbox
- A second agent that works alongside human agents inside each ticket. It is also included on every plan.
- Background agents
- Agents that watch customer accounts instead of single conversations. Churn, Knowledge, Revenue, Feature request and Insights agents are listed, with the number available rising by plan.
- Shared inbox and ticketing
- Views, tags, macros, notes, snooze and collision detection on every plan, with SLAs, escalations and agent teams starting on Team.
- Chat and help center
- Live chat and a knowledge base on your own domain, with AI article writing and AI answers on every plan.
- Skills, MCP and custom actions
- From the Team plan, agents can be given written skills, memory, MCP connectors and custom API actions, with AI QA and backtesting.
HelpDesk
- One inbox for four channels
- Email, website chat, Messenger and SMS land in the same inbox as tickets, with statuses, priorities and automated assignment.
- AI Agent
- An AI Agent runs conversations using the knowledge, tone and skills you give it. One resolution is counted when it directly solves a customer question.
- AI Copilot for agents
- Reply suggestions and AI text edits for human agents, plus ticket summaries, tag suggestions and similar-ticket suggestions on higher plans.
- Selling through Shopify
- Every plan lists selling through Shopify, and the pricing page describes an AI sales skill with a live Shopify catalog and cart recovery campaigns.
- Rules and routing
- Ticketing rules and automated assignment sort incoming tickets, with 3 rules on Essential and 10 on Growth.
- Teams and reports
- Growth adds up to 10 teams, chat supervision and takeover, agent activity and performance reports.
Plans
Helply (formerly Groove)
Starter$99
per month for up to 2 human agents, billed annually
2,500 AI credits a month, shared inbox, email and live chat, and a help center with AI article writing. One inbox and 5 rules.
Plus$199
per month for up to 5 human agents, billed annually
5,000 AI credits a month, chat flows, ticket forms, Facebook and Instagram, CSAT surveys, 3 inboxes and 10 rules.
Team$499
per month for 10 human agents, billed annually
15,000 AI credits a month, WhatsApp, SMS, Discord and Slack Connect, SLAs and round robin routing, HubSpot, Jira, Linear and GitHub integrations. Extra agents are $49 a month each.
Pro$999
per month for 25 human agents, billed annually
50,000 AI credits a month, all Background agents, AI reports, up to 3 brands, a customer portal, custom roles and an audit log. Sold through a demo.
Growth$1,999
per month for 50 human agents, billed annually
100,000 AI credits a month, unlimited brands, skills-based routing, account intelligence, SSO / SAML and Salesforce. Sold through a demo.
HelpDesk
Essential$19
per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly)
Inbox and tickets, 3 ticketing rules, 1 AI Agent with 10 AI resolutions a month, and AI Copilot with 5 reply suggestions per user a month.
Growth$79
per user / month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)
20 custom fields, 10 ticketing rules, up to 10 teams, 10 AI Agents with 200 AI resolutions a month, ticket summaries, chat supervision and 30 proactive campaigns.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom AI Agents, multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and audit logs, HIPAA compliance and a dedicated account manager. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Helply (formerly Groove)
- Annual discount
15% off with annual billing
Every plan can be billed monthly or annually; the pricing page says paying annually saves 15%. The prices listed are the annual ones.
HelpDesk
- Annual discount
Save up to 24% by billing yearly
The pricing page shows yearly billing at $19 and $79 per user against $25 and $99 billed monthly, and says paying yearly saves up to 24%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Helply (formerly Groove) or HelpDesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Helply (formerly Groove) starts at $99 per month for up to 2 human agents, billed annually, and HelpDesk starts at $19 per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Helply (formerly Groove) or HelpDesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Helply (formerly Groove) nor HelpDesk has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.