Chatwoot vs Help Scout
Chatwoot and Help Scout are both customer support tools. Chatwoot is aimed at developers and small businesses, while Help Scout is aimed at small businesses. Chatwoot costs less, from $19/mo versus $25/mo for Help Scout. Both have a free plan.
Open-source customer engagement suite
Email-centric helpdesk with a human touch
| Pricing | Open source · $19 | Freemium · $25 |
| Starting price | $19/mo | $25/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 15 days | 15 days |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses | Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web, ios, android |
| Country | IN · 2019 | US · 2011 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Chatwoot if
Companies that want open source, WhatsApp-first support or a low-cost Intercom alternative.
- Open source with permissive license
- Excellent WhatsApp and social channel coverage
- Affordable cloud pricing
Look elsewhere if: Enterprises needing deep analytics, WFM and voice.
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.
Chatwoot vs Help Scout pricing
Chatwoot
- Community (self-hosted)$0Free forever, self-hosted
- Hacker (Cloud)$02 agents, 500 conversations/mo, live chat only
- Startups$19/agent/moAll channels, 300 Captain AI credits/mo
- Business$39/agent/moVoice, automation, 500 Captain AI credits/mo
- Enterprise$99/agent/moSSO/SAML, audit logs, 800 Captain AI credits/mo
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
Chatwoot · Key features
- Omnichannel inbox with WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, SMS
- Website live chat widget and help center
- Automation rules, macros, canned responses and labels
- Captain AI agent and copilot
- Campaigns (ongoing and one-off) and CSAT surveys
- Self-hosted (Docker, Heroku, Kubernetes) or cloud
Cons
- Reporting is basic
- Self-hosting needs ops attention
- Fewer integrations than Zendesk
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
Chatwoot vs Help Scout: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Chatwoot or Help Scout?
Chatwoot starts at $19/mo and Help Scout at $25/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Chatwoot and Help Scout have a free plan?
Yes, both Chatwoot and Help Scout have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.