Scale your support.
Not your monthly bill.
HelpSpot gives you the organization features Help Scout locks behind upgrades—like custom fields, native SLAs, and unlimited inboxes—without the extra fees.
Why teams switch from Help Scout
The same frustrations we hear from every Help Scout switcher
The "Plus" Plan Trap
Essential features like Custom Fields, Teams, and API reporting are locked behind the expensive Plus plan ($40/user), doubling your cost just to organize your data.
All Features Included
We don't hold features hostage. Custom fields, teams, and full reporting access are included for every customer from day one.
The "Inbox Tax"
Help Scout charges extra for almost everything: $10/mo for each extra inbox (after the first 2) and $20/mo for extra knowledge base sites.
Unlimited Inboxes
Unlimited shared inboxes and unlimited knowledge bases are standard. No calculators required to figure out your bill.
No Native SLA
Help Scout lacks native Service Level Agreement (SLA) management. You must pay for and manage a 3rd party integration just to track response deadlines.
Built-in SLAs
Powerful SLA management is built-in. Set complex rules, business hours, and escalation paths without buying extra software.
Help Scout vs HelpSpot
See how the two platforms compare on what matters most
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Capped at 25 Users
The Standard plan has a hard cap of 25 users. Growing to user 26 requires upgrading everyone to the expensive Plus plan.
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Pay-Per-Resolution AI
Their 'AI Answers' chatbot charges $0.75 per resolution. Success is penalized with a variable bill that grows with your volume.
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Restricted Reporting
On the Standard plan, your data history is capped at 2 years, and API access to reporting is completely disabled.
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No True Portal
Help Scout offers 'Beacon' (a widget), but no secure customer portal where users can log in to view their full ticket history.
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Unlimited Growth
Add unlimited users, mailboxes, and brands without penalty. Our flat-rate pricing structure is designed to help you scale.
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AI Included Free
We don't punish you for efficiency. AI summarization, triage, and drafting are included for every user without per-ticket fees.
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Data Forever
We never delete your reporting data. Plus, you get full API access and direct SQL database access (on self-hosted) to build any report.
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Complete Customer Portal
Give customers a fully branded, secure portal where they can log in, view all historical tickets, check status, and upload files.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Comparing Help Scout Standard ($20/user/mo) vs HelpSpot
HelpSpot
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Help Scout
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Feature | All Inclusive | Standard $20/user/mo |
|
Core Ticketing
|
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| Familiar email-inspired workflow | ||
| Email-to-ticket conversion | ||
| Collision detection | ||
| Custom fields | $40+ Plus Plan | |
| Conditional field logic | ||
| Rich customer replies (images, files, emoji) | ||
| Unlimited mailboxes | 2 included (+$10/mo each) | |
|
Portal & Knowledge Base
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| Customer portal (Login & History) | ||
| Contact form | ||
| Portal theme customization | Basic CSS | |
| Multi-brand portals | 1 included (+$20/mo each) | |
| Knowledge base | ||
| Knowledge base WYSIWYG | ||
|
Automation & Workflow
|
||
| Trigger rules | ||
| Time based automation rules | ||
| Round-robin assignment | $40+ Plus Plan | |
| SLA management | Requires 3rd party app | |
|
AI Features
|
||
| AI writing assistance | Included | $40+ Plus Plan |
| AI ticket summarization | Included | $40+ Plus Plan |
| AI translation | Included | $40+ Plus Plan |
| Intelligent triage | Included | $0.75/resolution |
|
Reporting & Analytics
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||
| Built-in reports | Limited to 2 years | |
| Custom report builder | $40+ Plus Plan | |
| Real-time dashboards | ||
| Reporting API access | $40+ Plus Plan | |
| Export to Excel/CSV | ||
| Direct SQL database access | Self-hosted | Impossible |
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Pricing Model
|
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| Feature tiers | 1 tier | 3 tiers |
| Add-on costs | None | Many |
| Unlimited tickets | ||
| Cancel anytime | ||
| Refund policy | 30 days | |
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Support & Deployment
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| Phone support | All plans | |
| Self-hosted option | ||
| EU data residency | Included | |
| Access logs and redaction | Basic | |
| Implementation help | Free | Paid (Pro Plan) |
| API access | Unlimited | Rate Limited (200/min) |
Ready to simplify your support?
Simple to start. Expensive to scale.
Help Scout's Standard plan looks affordable until you need custom fields, reporting API access, or more than 2 mailboxes. Here's what a real team actually pays.
Help Scout
Plus plan required to match Custom Fields & Reporting features
+ Extra inboxes and knowledge bases not included
HelpSpot
Simple pricing, everything included
Save over $3,000 in year one
Migration made easy
We'll help you every step of the way
Export Your Data
Use Help Scout's API to export your conversation history and customer profiles.
Import to HelpSpot
Our team handles the heavy lifting, mapping your Help Scout tags and mailboxes to HelpSpot categories.
Go Live
Redirect your email channels to HelpSpot. Your team enjoys a similar email-like workflow, but with more power.
Deploy Your Way
Same price, same features. Choose the deployment that works for you.
Same powerful features and pricing across all hosting options.
US Cloud
CloudUS-East Region
Dedicated AWS infrastructure with 99.9% uptime. Managed updates and automated backups.
EU Cloud
CloudFrankfurt Region
GDPR-compliant hosting. Full data sovereignty with all information isolated within the EU.
Self-Hosted
EnterpriseOn-Premise Infrastructure
Complete control on your own hardware. Ideal for air-gapped networks or strict compliance.
Maximum Control & Data ResidencyWhat we believe
We've been building help desk software since 2005. Along the way, we've developed strong opinions about how support should work.
Single Assignment
Every ticket has one owner. Clear accountability means faster resolution and better outcomes.
Read moreHuman-First Support
Support is human-to-human communication. Technology should enhance it, not replace it.
Read moreSimple Pricing
One price. All features. No add-ons, no surprises. Budget with confidence.
Read moreBeyond Shared Mailbox
Email chaos ends here. Get collision detection, automation, and the visibility you need.
Read moreCompare other platforms
See how HelpSpot stacks up against other help desk solutions.
"Of the number of helpdesk systems we looked into, ranging from the off-the-shelf expensive systems to completely 'free', your product was the best looking, simplest for both the customer and the staff, the quickest to set-up and configure and reasonably priced."
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about switching from Help Scout
Yes! HelpSpot is designed with the same 'email-first' philosophy. If your team likes the shared inbox feel of Help Scout, they will feel right at home in HelpSpot—but with much more power under the hood.
Yes. Help Scout does not have native Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in their platform. To track response times against targets, you must pay for and integrate a 3rd party tool. In HelpSpot, this is a core feature included for free.
Absolutely. Unlike Help Scout which is US-cloud only, HelpSpot offers a dedicated EU Cloud option hosted in Germany, fully compliant with strict data residency requirements.
No. HelpSpot includes unlimited shared mailboxes in your single annual price. You don't pay $10/month extra every time you want to set up a new 'hr@' or 'sales@' address.
HelpSpot is the best Help Scout alternative for teams that need unlimited mailboxes and full features without upgrading. Help Scout charges extra for each mailbox and locks custom fields behind the Plus plan. HelpSpot includes unlimited mailboxes, custom fields, SLA management, AI, and reporting in one plan, with cloud and self-hosted options at the same price.
Help Scout's Standard plan costs $250/month ($3,000/year) for 10 users, but limits you to 2 mailboxes and lacks custom fields. The Plus plan with those features jumps to $500/month ($6,000/year). HelpSpot costs $1,699/year for 10 agents with unlimited mailboxes and all features included.
No. Help Scout locks custom fields behind the Plus plan ($50/user/month). On Standard ($25/user/month), you can't add structured data fields to conversations, limiting categorization and reporting. HelpSpot includes unlimited custom fields in every plan.
Trusted by teams who made the switch
Trusted by industry leaders
Ready to switch?
We'll help you move.
Start your free trial and our team will help migrate your data, train your agents, and get you up and running. No risk, no commitment.
