Chatbase vs Help Scout
Chatbase and Help Scout are both customer support tools aimed at small businesses. Help Scout costs less, from $25/mo versus $40/mo for Chatbase. Only Help Scout has a free plan.
Custom ChatGPT for your website in minutes
Email-centric helpdesk with a human touch
| Pricing | Paid · $40 | Freemium · $25 |
| Starting price | $40/mo | $25/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 7 days | 15 days |
| Built for | Small businesses | Small businesses |
| Platforms | web | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2023 | US · 2011 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Chatbase if
SMBs wanting an AI support bot from their content quickly.
- Very fast setup
- Good for small businesses
- Actions extend beyond Q&A
Look elsewhere if: Teams needing complex, tested flows (Voiceflow, Botpress).
Choose Help Scout if
Small and mid-size companies that want personal email-based support with a knowledge base.
- Free plan for up to 5 users
- Simple, email-like experience agents like
- Fast to set up; good docs product
Look elsewhere if: Call centers or enterprises needing WFM, QA and voice.
Chatbase vs Help Scout pricing
Chatbase
- Hobby$40/mo$32/mo billed annually; 700 message credits, 1 agent, 2 members
- Standard$150/mo$120/mo billed annually; 4,000 credits, 3 members
- Pro$500/mo$400/mo billed annually; 15,000 credits, 5 members
- EnterpriseCustomCustom usage
Help Scout
- Free$05 users, 1 inbox, 100 contacts/mo
- Standard$25/user/mo25 users, 2 inboxes, unlimited contacts; 16% off annually
- Plus$45/user/mo50 users, 5 inboxes, Salesforce/Jira/HubSpot
- Pro$75/user/moMin 10 users; 10 inboxes, SSO/SAML, HIPAA
Chatbase · Key features
- Train agents on websites, files and docs
- Embeddable chat widget
- Actions: booking, lookups, ticket creation
- Human handoff and lead capture
- Multi-channel deployment
- Analytics and conversation review
Cons
- Credit-based pricing
- Less control than Voiceflow
- Answer quality depends on source content
Help Scout · Key features
- Shared inboxes with assignments, tags and workflows
- Docs knowledge base with multiple sites
- Beacon widget for chat, contact forms and article suggestions
- AI drafts, summaries and AI Answers for customers
- Customer profiles with app data via integrations
- Reports on volume, happiness and productivity
Cons
- No phone support channel
- Routing and automation less deep than Zendesk
- Per-user pricing adds up as the team grows
Chatbase vs Help Scout: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Chatbase or Help Scout?
Help Scout starts at $25/mo and Chatbase at $40/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Chatbase and Help Scout have a free plan?
Chatbase has no free plan, a 7-day free trial. Help Scout has a free plan.