Help Scout
Help Scout
Modern help desk software featuring a shared email-like inbox, live chat, knowledge base, and AI-assisted workflows to delight customers and teams.
Key Features
- Shared Inbox
- Live Chat (Beacon)
- Knowledge Base (Docs)
- Custom Workflows & Automations
- Collision Detection & Private Notes
- Saved Replies & Email Templates
- SLA & Escalation Rules
- Reporting & Dashboards
- AI-Powered Drafting & Conversation Insights
What is Help Scout?
Help Scout is a cloud-based customer support platform that feels like a shared inbox rather than a traditional ticketing system. It unifies email, chat, and self-service across Docs and Beacon, enabling teams to manage conversations naturally while maintaining powerful help desk features under the hood.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Intuitive, email-style interface minimizes training time.
- Unified conversations across email, chat, and web widgets.
- Collision detection prevents duplicate replies.
- AI assistance crafts drafts and summarizes threads.
- Robust reporting and customer satisfaction tracking.
Cons
- Contact-based pricing can be unpredictable for high volumes.
- Some advanced features (multi-brand, deep analytics) require higher tiers.
- Limited on-premise or offline functionality.
- Occasional email indexing issues reported.
Who It’s For
Small to medium support teams seeking an email-centric help desk, product teams wanting lightweight chat integration, and companies valuing a humanized support experience without sacrificing automation and analytics.
Shared Inbox
Convert all customer emails into a single, searchable inbox. Assign or reply from individual mailboxes, add private notes, and avoid duplicate work with collision alerts.
Live Chat (Beacon)
Embed Beacon to offer proactive, in-app chat and self-service. Customize the widget UI, answer in real time, or hand off to email when needed.
Knowledge Base (Docs)
Build and publish searchable help articles on a public or private Docs site. Track popular content and embed articles within Beacon.
Custom Workflows & Automations
Use no-code rules to auto-assign conversations, tag threads, send follow-ups, and escalate based on custom fields or SLA breaches.
Reporting & Dashboards
Monitor response times, resolution rates, workload per user, and customer satisfaction scores in real time. Export data or integrate with BI tools via API.
AI-Powered Drafting & Insights
Leverage AI to draft replies, improve tone, and summarize lengthy conversations. Conversation Insights surface key themes and sentiment trends.
Pricing
Help Scout charges by “contacts helped” per month with unlimited users and no seat fees. Annual billing discounts apply.
- Free: 50 contacts/month, email support, Docs, Beacon, unlimited users
- Standard ($50/mo): 100 contacts, workflow rules, reporting, basic integrations
- Plus ($75/mo): 500 contacts, multi-mailbox, custom roles, CSAT surveys, advanced reporting
- Company ($65 user/mo): Unlimited contacts, unlimited mailboxes/docs, private instance, SSO, HIPAA compliance
Contact-based pricing may increase costs for high-volume support teams; review expected monthly contacts carefully.
Verdict
Help Scout excels for teams wanting the familiarity of email without losing help desk power. Its blend of human-focused conversation tools, knowledge base, and AI-driven workflows makes it ideal for fast-growing tech companies, SaaS support, and businesses valuing personalized customer care. High-volume or enterprise teams should evaluate contact-based pricing and advanced feature tiers to ensure alignment with their scale and compliance needs.
Frequently Asked Questions about Help Scout
What is Help Scout?
Help Scout is a cloud-based customer support platform that feels like a shared inbox rather than a traditional ticketing system. It unifies email, chat, and self-service across Docs and Beacon, enabling teams to manage conversations naturally while maintaining powerful help desk features under the hood.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Intuitive, email-style interface minimizes training time.
- Unified conversations across email, chat, and web widgets.
- Collision detection prevents duplicate replies.
- AI assistance crafts drafts and summarizes threads.
- Robust reporting and customer satisfaction tracking.
Cons
- Contact-based pricing can be unpredictable for high volumes.
- Some advanced features (multi-brand, deep analytics) require higher tiers.
- Limited on-premise or offline functionality.
- Occasional email indexing issues reported.
Who It’s For
Small to medium support teams seeking an email-centric help desk, product teams wanting lightweight chat integration, and companies valuing a humanized support experience without sacrificing automation and analytics.
Shared Inbox
Convert all customer emails into a single, searchable inbox. Assign or reply from individual mailboxes, add private notes, and avoid duplicate work with collision alerts.
Live Chat (Beacon)
Embed Beacon to offer proactive, in-app chat and self-service. Customize the widget UI, answer in real time, or hand off to email when needed.
Knowledge Base (Docs)
Build and publish searchable help articles on a public or private Docs site. Track popular content and embed articles within Beacon.
Custom Workflows & Automations
Use no-code rules to auto-assign conversations, tag threads, send follow-ups, and escalate based on custom fields or SLA breaches.
Reporting & Dashboards
Monitor response times, resolution rates, workload per user, and customer satisfaction scores in real time. Export data or integrate with BI tools via API.
AI-Powered Drafting & Insights
Leverage AI to draft replies, improve tone, and summarize lengthy conversations. Conversation Insights surface key themes and sentiment trends.
Pricing
Help Scout charges by “contacts helped” per month with unlimited users and no seat fees. Annual billing discounts apply.
- Free: 50 contacts/month, email support, Docs, Beacon, unlimited users
- Standard ($50/mo): 100 contacts, workflow rules, reporting, basic integrations
- Plus ($75/mo): 500 contacts, multi-mailbox, custom roles, CSAT surveys, advanced reporting
- Company ($65 user/mo): Unlimited contacts, unlimited mailboxes/docs, private instance, SSO, HIPAA compliance
Contact-based pricing may increase costs for high-volume support teams; review expected monthly contacts carefully.
Verdict
Help Scout excels for teams wanting the familiarity of email without losing help desk power. Its blend of human-focused conversation tools, knowledge base, and AI-driven workflows makes it ideal for fast-growing tech companies, SaaS support, and businesses valuing personalized customer care. High-volume or enterprise teams should evaluate contact-based pricing and advanced feature tiers to ensure alignment with their scale and compliance needs.