Help Scout vs Zoho TeamInbox
We give Help Scout a 3.0 GPA and Zoho TeamInbox a 3.2, out of 4.0. Help Scout grades higher on the free plan and features. Zoho TeamInbox grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on 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
Zoho TeamInbox
Shared inboxes for group email, WhatsApp and social messages
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAHelp ScoutVery good | 3.2GPAZoho TeamInboxVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStandard is $25 a user a month billed annually, or $30 monthly, nearly three times what email tools here typically start at. It's the dear end for shared inboxes too: Front and Hiver also start at $25, Missive at $14. Plus is $45, and AI Answers adds $0.75 per resolution. | AStarter is $5 a user a month billed annually, or $6 monthly, under the $9 that's typical for email tools here. Front and Hiver start at $25 for a shared inbox. Professional, with analytics and unlimited rules, is only $7.50. There are even phone-only plans, from $0.99 a month for 1 user. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree for up to 5 users, with 1 Inbox and 1 Docs site. But it's capped at 100 contacts a month, 10 articles and 10 saved replies, and there are no AI tools. There's also a 15-day trial of Standard or Plus with no credit card required. | CNo free plan. The trial is 14 days of the Professional plan for up to 5 users, with no payment information required. After that a paid plan is needed, and local taxes are added to the listed prices. |
| Features | AEmail, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger in one shared workspace, where conversations get assigned, tagged and discussed in internal notes. Add a hosted help centre, the Beacon widget, workflows and reports. AI Answers replies to routine questions from your own articles. | BEmail, WhatsApp Business, Telegram, Facebook and Instagram in shared inboxes, with assignments, snooze, comments beside a thread, drafts edited together in real time, rules and templates. Solid. But channels are rationed: 3 shared incoming ones on Starter and 5 on Professional, with extras at $4 a month each. |
| Ease of use | C4.2 from about 320 App Store ratings, which is on the low side. That's the iPhone and iPad app, mind. The service itself runs in a browser, and the 15-day trial lets you see how your team takes to it. | BNo rating on record, so a B is our ceiling. Email is added by forwarding or over POP/IMAP, so there's a little wiring at the start. After that it's assign, comment, reply. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, iPhone and Android, and it connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Linear, Shopify, Slack and Zapier, with an API as well. Phone and voice only work through an integration. | AWeb, Mac, iPhone and Android. eWidgets bring Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, Asana and Trello into the thread view, and integrations cover Zapier, Make, n8n and Microsoft Power Automate. It's also part of Zoho One. |
| Best for | support teams leaving a shared Gmail mailbox | a shared inbox on a small budget |
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 Zoho TeamInbox. How we grade
Where they differ
- Help Scout starts at $25 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly). Zoho TeamInbox starts at $0.99 per month (mobile-only Solo); Starter is $5 per user / month, billed annually.
- Help Scout has a free plan. Zoho TeamInbox does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Zoho TeamInbox lists a macOS app.
- Help Scout also covers AI agents.
- Zoho TeamInbox also covers templates.
At a glance
| Help Scout | Zoho TeamInbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $25 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly) | $0.99 per month (mobile-only Solo); Starter is $5 per user / month, billed annually |
| 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 of the Professional plan for up to 5 users, with no payment information required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Help Scout | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | helpscout.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 9, 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
Zoho TeamInbox
- Small teams sharing group addresses such as support or sales
- Businesses that also answer customers on WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook
- Organizations already using Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk or Zoho One
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.
Zoho TeamInbox
- There is no free plan: a paid plan is needed after the 14-day trial, and local taxes are added to the listed prices.
- Starter is limited to 3 shared incoming channels and 25 rules; analytics and personal inboxes need Professional.
- Channels beyond a plan's allowance are an add-on at $4 a month each, or $3.17 billed annually.
- The Solo, Team and Team Plus plans work on phones only and cap the number of users and new conversations.
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.
Zoho TeamInbox
- Multichannel shared inboxes
- Group email addresses, WhatsApp Business numbers, Telegram, a Facebook Page and an Instagram professional account can all feed one shared inbox. Email is added by forwarding or over POP/IMAP.
- Assign, follow, snooze and archive
- Threads can be assigned to an owner, followed for notifications, snoozed until later and archived when finished, with views for what is assigned to or shared with you.
- Internal discussions and shared drafts
- Teammates comment and @mention each other beside a thread instead of forwarding it, and can co-author a reply by sharing the draft and editing it in real time.
- Rules, templates and signatures
- Rules carry out actions when a condition is met, such as assigning incoming mail by subject or content. Response templates and team signatures keep replies consistent.
- Personal inboxes
- On Professional each user can add a personal incoming channel next to the shared inboxes. It stays private, and single emails can be shared by @mentioning a teammate.
- Extensions and integrations
- eWidgets bring Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, Asana and Trello into the thread view, and integrations cover Zapier, Make, n8n and Microsoft Power Automate.
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.
Zoho TeamInbox
Solo (mobile-only)$0.99
per month
Phone-only plan for 1 user: 1 channel each for email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM, up to 500 new conversations and 5 GB of storage.
Team (mobile-only)$4.99
per month
Phone-only plan for up to 3 users with the same four channels, up to 1,000 new conversations, comments and tags.
Starter$5
per user / month, billed annually; $6 billed monthly
3 shared incoming channels, 10 shared outgoing email channels, 25 rules, assignments, internal discussions, draft sharing, templates and extensions.
Professional$7.50
per user / month, billed annually; $9 billed monthly
5 shared incoming channels, 1 personal incoming channel per user, unlimited rules, 25 shared outgoing email channels and analytics.
Team Plus (mobile-only)$7.99
per month
Phone-only plan for up to 5 users with the same four channels and up to 2,000 new conversations.
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.
Zoho TeamInbox
- Annual discount
About 17% off with annual billing
Billed annually, Starter is $5 per user a month instead of $6 and Professional is $7.50 instead of $9, a saving of about 17% on each plan.
- Other savings
Included with Zoho One
The pricing FAQ says Zoho TeamInbox is part of Zoho One, so organizations that subscribe to that suite can use it from their Zoho One account.
