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Help Scout

Shared inbox and help centre.

What it is

Help Scout is a shared inbox that keeps customer conversations looking like plain email rather than ticket threads. Customers never see a ticket number, which keeps support feeling like a conversation rather than a queue. That deliberate simplicity is also its ceiling once you need complex routing and reporting.

Help Scout pricing

Help Scout does not publish a plan ladder we could verify. Pricing not verified.

Prices read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-09. Vendors change plans without notice — check the source before you budget.

Key features

  • Shared inbox

    Handles customer mail as normal email threads across a team.

  • Saved replies and workflows

    Automates common answers and assignment rules.

  • Docs knowledge base

    Publishes help articles and suggests them in chat.

Strengths and trade-offs

What works well

  • Customers never see ticket numbers
  • Clean, quick interface for agents
  • Knowledge base included

Where it falls short

  • Fewer automation options than heavier helpdesks
  • Per-user pricing only
  • Limited for complex routing

Who it is for

Small teams that want support to feel personal.

Pick it or skip it

Pick Help Scout if

  • Very small support teams: the free tier covers up to 5 users with 1 shared inbox and 100 contacts a month
  • Teams that outgrow one inbox — Standard allows up to 25 users and 2 inboxes with unlimited contacts, and Plus raises it to 50 users, 5 inboxes and 25 light users
  • Companies that want collaborators without paying for seats: light users can view conversations and collaborate without taking a full user seat, 15 included on Pro

Skip it if

  • You need many shared inboxes — they are capped per plan (1 on Free, 20 on Standard, 50 on Plus, unlimited on Pro) and extra inboxes are $10/month each
  • Your contact volume is high and you wanted to stay free: the free tier caps contacts at 100 per month
  • You want Pro for a small team — Pro is unlimited users but carries a minimum of 10

Our verdict

Excellent for human-feeling support. If you need queues, SLAs and routing rules, look heavier.

Frequently asked questions

How many users and inboxes does each Help Scout plan allow?
The free tier covers up to 5 users with 1 inbox and 100 contacts per month. Standard allows up to 25 users, 2 included inboxes (maximum 20) and unlimited contacts. Plus allows up to 50 users, 5 included inboxes (maximum 50) and 25 light users. Pro is unlimited users with a minimum of 10, 10 included inboxes and unlimited inboxes overall, plus 15 light users included. Additional inboxes cost $10/month on every paid tier. Light users can view conversations and collaborate without consuming a full seat.
Who is Help Scout best for?
Small teams that want support to feel personal.
What are the main drawbacks of Help Scout?
The trade-offs we noted: Fewer automation options than heavier helpdesks; Per-user pricing only; Limited for complex routing.
When should you not use Help Scout?
Skip Help Scout if: You need many shared inboxes — they are capped per plan (1 on Free, 20 on Standard, 50 on Plus, unlimited on Pro) and extra inboxes are $10/month each; Your contact volume is high and you wanted to stay free: the free tier caps contacts at 100 per month; You want Pro for a small team — Pro is unlimited users but carries a minimum of 10.

What we checked

  • Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
  • Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.No
  • Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
  • SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.Yes

“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.

Evidence and freshness

Status: Official sources reviewedReviewed: 2026-09-09

  • Help Scout — Pricing ↗

    Checked 2026-09-09 · Supports: User limits by plan: up to 5, up to 25, up to 50, unlimited (minimum 10), Inboxes: 1 on Free, 2 included on the next tier, 5, then 10; maximums by plan Free 1, Standard 20, Plus 50, Pro unlimited; additional inboxes $10/mo, Contacts: 100/mo on the free tier, unlimited on paid tiers; multiple conversations with the same person count as one contact, Light users let teammates view conversations and collaborate without taking a full user seat; maximums Plus 25, Pro 50; 5 and 15 included on the respective tiers, Saved replies limited to 10 on the entry tier, Advanced permissions and Teams (assign conversations and report by group) listed on higher tiers, AI Answers is a paid add-on with its own cost line in the vendor's ROI calculator

Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed by an editor on this date; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark. Prices and limits change. No per-seat price is quoted: the plan price cards render client-side and only the feature comparison table was present in the page text. Figures in the vendor's ROI calculator are marketing projections, not prices, and are not recorded here.

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