Overview

Inbox brings email, SMS, social, chat, and voice into one workspace, while Docs supports searchable, branded help centers. Ticket automation, SLA management, a customer portal, and API access extend the product beyond email handling. A mobile app supports service away from a desk, and more than 100 integrations give teams ways to connect other tools.

Help Scout is HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II compliant, supports SSO, and offers permissions at company, team, or user level. Those controls make it a more credible fit for teams with security and access requirements than a bare shared mailbox. Help Scout was founded in 2011 and says it powers more than 12,000 customer-first brands.

Key features

Shared Inbox: Bringing five channels into one space helps teams keep customer conversations together. Inbox capacity ranges from one on Free to unlimited on Pro, so teams with multiple service queues should factor that ceiling into their choice.
Docs and self-service: Searchable, branded knowledge bases and a customer portal give customers options beyond contacting an agent. The Free plan's single Docs site and 10-article limit suit a small starter library, not a substantial help center.
Workflows and SLAs: Standard includes 150 basic workflows and one basic SLA policy; Plus raises that to 500 advanced workflows and two advanced policies, while Pro removes the stated SLA-policy cap. These higher allowances matter most to teams with more complex routing and service commitments.
Permissions and scale: Advanced permissions and SSO support access control, while light-user allocations on Plus and Pro can accommodate people who need limited access rather than full agent seats.
AI Answers: New accounts get three months of unlimited AI Answers resolutions; after that the add-on is billed at $0.75 per resolution monthly, with prepaid discounts available. Per-resolution pricing makes costs dependent on usage.

Pricing

Help Scout is freemium, with paid plans starting at $25 per user per month. Annual pricing is shown as 16% lower than monthly pricing. Standard and Plus offer 15-day trials without a credit card; the three-month AI Answers trial is separate.

Plan	Price and limits	Best fit
Free	$0.00 USD per free; 5 users, 1 Inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts per month, 10 saved replies, and 10 tags.	A small team testing a shared support workflow, provided 100 monthly contacts and one queue are enough.
Standard	$25.00 USD per month, billed $25 per user/mo; up to 25 users, 2 Inboxes, 2 Docs sites, 1 basic SLA policy, 150 basic workflows, and 30-day report history.	Growing teams that need more than the free tier but can work within two Inboxes and basic workflow controls.
Plus	$45.00 USD per month, billed $45 per user/mo; up to 50 users, 5 Inboxes, 3 Docs sites, 2 advanced SLA policies, 500 advanced workflows, and 2-year report history. Includes 25 light users.	Teams with several queues, deeper automation needs, or a longer reporting horizon.
Pro	$75.00 USD per month, billed $75 per user/mo; minimum 10 users, unlimited users, 10 Inboxes, 5 Docs sites, unlimited SLA policies, and all-time report history. Includes 50 light users.	Larger teams that need the highest stated scale and security tier; the 10-user minimum raises the entry cost for smaller groups.
AI Answers add-on	$0.75 USD per once, billed $0.75 per resolution monthly; prepaid discounts available.	Teams that want AI Answers after the free three-month period and can budget according to resolution volume.

The lower tiers trade capacity for a lower starting commitment: Free has only one Inbox and a 100-contact monthly cap, while Standard limits teams to two Inboxes and basic SLA coverage. Standard and Plus have published trial terms; Pro pricing carries a 10-user minimum. Support includes email, paid-plan priority support, onboarding, and customer success management.

Platforms

The listed platform is API. Help Scout also offers a mobile app for customer support on the go.

Who it's for

Help Scout is strongest for growing support teams that want to manage several customer channels and self-service content in one product, with workflow and SLA capacity that can expand by plan. Small teams can start free if their contact volume is modest. Teams needing several queues, extensive automation, or broad reporting should compare Plus and Pro carefully; a team with fewer than 10 users may find Pro's minimum hard to justify.

Pros and cons

Pros: Five customer channels share one Inbox, reducing the need to separate conversations by channel.
Pros: Docs, a customer portal, automation, and SLA tools cover both direct support and self-service work.
Pros: The free tier supports five users and includes an Inbox and Docs site, while Standard and Plus provide 15-day trials without a credit card.
Pros: HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II compliance, SSO, and granular permissions support teams with tighter security needs.
Cons: Free is capped at 100 contacts per month, one Inbox, one Docs site, and 10 articles, limiting its use for a busier support operation.
Cons: Standard's two-Inbox ceiling and basic SLA allowance can constrain teams with multiple queues or more demanding service policies.
Cons: Pro requires at least 10 users, and AI Answers becomes a per-resolution monthly cost after its free trial.

Alternatives

Choose Zoho TeamInbox if you want a freemium shared-inbox alternative with web, iOS, and Android platforms. Consider Cerb if unlimited workers and seats on its Community plan matter more than Help Scout's bundled support tools. Drag may suit teams looking for shared inboxes in Gmail with Kanban, list, and preview board views; it is paid and offers a free trial.

Hiver is another freemium option; its Growth plan has two shared inboxes, 10 users, and 10 automations per inbox. Loop Email is a paid alternative with a free trial and mobile, desktop, and web platforms. Coherence offers a free plan and web and Android platforms. Helpwise is a paid option with a free trial; its Standard plan has three shared inboxes and supports up to 10 users. Maxdesk is another freemium alternative.

For broader comparisons, browse Shared Inbox Software, Customer Self-Service Software, Help desk software, and Knowledge base software.

Verdict

Choose Help Scout if your team wants a shared, multichannel support workspace that also handles knowledge-base content, customer self-service, and increasingly sophisticated workflows. Its main advantage is that these functions can grow together across the plans. Look elsewhere if the free contact cap is too low, your queues exceed the plan's Inbox allowance, or Pro's 10-user minimum makes its higher capacity impractical.

	Help Scout	HESK
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	$25/mo	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api	Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	$25/user/mo	—
Shared inbox	Yes	—
SLA management	Yes	—
Help center	Yes	Yes
Ticket automation	Yes	Yes
Customer portal	Yes	Yes
API access	Yes	—
Included agent seats	5	10

Help Scout vs HESK

Help Scout

HESK