Help Scout vs SupportBee
We give Help Scout a 2.2 GPA and SupportBee a 2.4, out of 4.0. Help Scout grades higher on features. SupportBee grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Help Scout
Shared inbox and help desk with a knowledge base and AI answers
SupportBee
Email ticketing and shared inbox with a knowledge base and portal
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAHelp ScoutFair | 2.4GPASupportBeeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | BStartup is $17 a seat a month billed annually ($20 monthly), right on the edge of the cheaper quarter of help desks. That already covers the shared inbox, a knowledge base, the API and satisfaction ratings. The customer portal and business hours need Enterprise at $21, still under the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Two weeks is long enough to run your real support email through it and decide. |
| Features | 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. | CEmail ticketing done properly: assignment to teams then people, private comments, shared drafts, labels, a knowledge base on your own domain, a customer portal, reports and an audit trail. The gap its listing names: no live chat, chatbot or messaging-app inboxes. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo App Store rating on record. Customers just see email, which keeps their side simple, but you'll route your support address into it and set up teams, labels and snippets first. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb only, with Slack, Linear, Notion, Pipedrive, Asana, Trello, GitHub Issues and QuickBooks, plus webhooks and a public API on both plans. No desktop or phone app on record. |
| Best for | support teams leaving a shared Gmail mailbox | email support that still looks like email |
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: Help Scout and SupportBee. How we grade
Where they differ
- Help Scout starts at $25 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly). SupportBee starts at $17 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- Help Scout has a free plan. SupportBee does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Help Scout lists iOS and Android apps.
- Help Scout also covers workflow automation and AI agents.
- SupportBee also covers help desk and help center.
At a glance
| Help Scout | SupportBee | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $25 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly) | $17 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 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. | None |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial of Standard or Plus, no credit card required | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Help Scout | SupportBee Inc. |
| Price read from | helpscout.com | supportbee.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
SupportBee
- Small teams outgrowing a shared Gmail or Outlook login for support
- Teams that want ticketing to look like plain email to customers
- Support run mainly over email rather than chat or social channels
Worth knowing
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.
SupportBee
- Email is the channel it is built for; the site lists no live chat, chatbot or messaging-app inboxes.
- The customer portal and business hours need the Enterprise plan; Startup includes 1 knowledge base and 1 team.
- The site lists no native desktop or mobile apps; the team works in a browser and through email notifications.
- There is no free plan after the 14-day trial.
Key features
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.
SupportBee
- Team inbox
- Emails become tickets that can be assigned to a team and then a person, with private comments, shared draft replies, labels and Gmail-style keyboard shortcuts.
- Knowledge base
- A public or private help site with categories, inline images, file uploads, search, your own branding and domain, and an embeddable widget called Hive.
- Customer portal
- Customers open, track and reply to their requests through a private link with no password. Included on the Enterprise plan.
- Teams for departments
- Separate inbox views for groups such as Sales or Billing, which can be made private to their members and admins.
- Reports and audit trail
- Performance reports by agent, team and label, customer satisfaction ratings, and a log of every action taken on a ticket.
- Integrations and API
- Links to project tools such as Linear, Asana and GitHub Issues, CRMs such as Pipedrive, Slack notifications, webhooks and a public API on both plans.
Plans
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.
SupportBee
Startup$17
per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Shared inbox, snippets, 1 knowledge base and 1 team, filters, basic integrations, API access, unlimited email inboxes, satisfaction ratings and audit trails.
Enterprise$21
per seat / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly)
Everything in Startup plus enterprise integrations, business hours, the customer portal, audit log and data history, and portal access for customer groups.
Ways to pay less
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.
SupportBee
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
SupportBee's pricing page lists a 20% saving on annual billing: Startup is $17 a seat a month billed annually against $20 monthly, and Enterprise $21 against $25.
