Help Scout vs Intercom
Help Scout and Intercom are both customer support tools. Help Scout is aimed at small businesses, while Intercom is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Help Scout costs less, from $25/mo versus $39/mo for Intercom. Only Help Scout has a free plan.
Email-centric helpdesk with a human touch
AI-first customer service platform
| Pricing | Freemium · $25 | Paid · $39 |
| Starting price | $25/mo | $39/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | 15 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Small businesses | Small businesses, Enterprise |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2011 | US · 2011 |
| Rating | — | — |
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.
Choose Intercom if
B2B and B2C SaaS companies with meaningful support volume and a good knowledge base.
- Fin is among the best AI support agents on the market
- Excellent in-app messenger and SaaS integrations
- Mature workflows and reporting
Look elsewhere if: Very small teams or budget-sensitive startups; Crisp, Chatwoot or Plain cover the basics for far less.
Help Scout vs Intercom pricing
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
Intercom
- Essential$39/seat/mo$29 billed annually; Fin AI $0.99/outcome
- Advanced$99/seat/mo$85 billed annually; workflows, 20 Lite seats
- Expert$139/seat/mo$132 billed annually; SSO, HIPAA, 50 Lite seats
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
Intercom · Key features
- Fin AI agent trained on your help center, docs and past conversations
- Omnichannel inbox: chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, social
- Help center with AI-assisted article suggestions
- Workflows: visual automation for routing, SLAs and bots
- Proactive support: product tours, banners, outbound messages
- Reporting on resolution rate, CSAT and team performance
Cons
- Pricing is complex: seats plus per-outcome AI fees
- Expensive for small teams compared with Crisp or Chatwoot
- Frequent packaging changes over the years
Help Scout vs Intercom: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Help Scout or Intercom?
Help Scout starts at $25/mo and Intercom at $39/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Help Scout and Intercom have a free plan?
Help Scout has a free plan. Intercom has no free plan, a 14-day free trial.