--- title: Help Scout canonical: https://saasranked.com/software/help-scout/ category: Help Desk Software points: 69 rank: 6 of 12 facts_checked: 2026-10-09 --- # Help Scout Shared-inbox help desk with a free plan for five users and paid plans from $25 per user a month. 69 points out of 100. #6 of 12 help desks. Vendor: Help Scout PBC. Website: https://www.helpscout.com/ - The free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site [1]. - Standard costs $25 per user a month; Plus is $45 and Pro is $75 [1]. - Standard includes 1 basic SLA policy; Plus allows 2 and Pro unlimited [1][3]. - Messenger and Instagram messages arrive as conversations on all paid plans [4][5]. - SAML single sign-on is available only on the Pro plan [6]. Verdict: Help Scout suits small teams that want email, chat and social messages in one inbox, with SLAs from the first paid plan [1][3][4]. Phone is only through integrations [1]. The catch: single sign-on needs Pro at $75 a user, and AI Answers is billed per resolution on top [1][6]. Best for: Small support teams that want a simple inbox with SLAs and a knowledge base. ## Points | Criterion | Line | Value | Points | Note | |---|---|---|---|---| | Channels and apps | Support channels | Email, Live chat, Social media | 6/8 | Chat from Standard; Messenger and Instagram create conversations on all paid plans. Phone is via integration only [1][4][5]. | | Channels and apps | Mobile apps | iOS, Android | 2/2 | Help Scout Docs says the mobile app installs from the App Store on iOS and from Google Play on Android [7]. | | Channels and apps | Built-in help centre | Yes | 4/4 | Docs knowledge base: 1 site on Free, with more sites on paid plans [1]. | | Workflow and SLAs | SLA policies | Yes | 8/8 | Standard has one basic SLA policy; Plus has two with conditions; Pro unlimited [3]. | | Workflow and SLAs | Ticket automation rules | Yes | 5/5 | Standard includes 150 basic workflows; Plus 500 advanced [1]. | | Workflow and SLAs | Automatic ticket assignment | Yes | 5/5 | Pricing page lists round robin on Plus and load-balanced routing on Pro [1]. | | Workflow and SLAs | Built-in satisfaction survey | Yes | 3/3 | Rating links are added to replies and feed the Happiness report [8]. | | Reports and connections | Custom reports | Yes | 5/5 | Pricing lists custom reports as views filtered by inbox, tag, folder or custom field; users with Manage Views permission create them [1][9]. | | Reports and connections | Public API | Yes | 3/3 | Developer site documents an Inbox API to read and write inbox data; pricing lists API call limits per plan [1][10]. | | Reports and connections | Named integrations | Slack, Jira, Shopify, Salesforce, HubSpot | 5/6 | App directory lists Slack, Jira, Salesforce and HubSpot; Shopify is featured on the page. Microsoft Teams not seen [11]. | | Reports and connections | AI assistant with public price | Yes | 4/4 | AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution on paid plans, with a 3-month free trial [1]. | | Security | SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 | Yes | 6/6 | Security page says Help Scout is SOC2 Type 2 certified for Security and Availability [2]. | | Security | Single sign-on | Yes | 6/6 | Help centre: SAML single sign-on is available on the Pro plan [6]. | | Price | Free plan | Yes | 5/5 | Free plan includes 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site [1]. | | Price | Cheapest paid plan | $25/mo | 2/10 | Standard, $25 per user a month, as shown with the pricing page Annual toggle selected [1]. | | Independent testing | G2 AI CX evaluation | Not tested | 0/20 | G2 did not include it in the October 2026 test [12]. | ## Plans | Plan | Price | Per month (USD) | |---|---|---| | Free | Free [1] | $0 | | Standard | $25/user/month [1] | $25 | | Plus | $45/user/month [1] | $45 | | Pro | $75/user/month [1][6] | $75 | The pricing page opens on its Annual toggle, which carries a 16% discount badge, and shows $25, $45 and $75 per user a month [1]. ## Strengths - Free plan includes 5 users, an inbox and a Docs knowledge base [1]. - SLA policies start on Standard, with one basic policy [3]. - Messenger and Instagram conversations appear in the inbox on all paid plans [4][5]. - Names a SOC 2 Type 2 certification for Security and Availability [2]. - Round-robin assignment is listed from Plus, with load balancing on Pro [1]. ## Limits - Phone is only through integrations; Help Scout does not host calls itself [1]. - SAML single sign-on requires the Pro plan [6]. - AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution on top of the plan [1]. - Free plan keeps only 30 days of report history and 10 Docs articles [1]. ## Sources 1. [Help Scout pricing](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/), Help Scout, accessed 2026-10-09 2. [Help Scout security](https://www.helpscout.com/security/), Help Scout, accessed 2026-10-09 3. [Create and manage service level agreements (SLAs)](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/1751-create-and-manage-service-level-agreements-slas), Help Scout Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 4. [Add the Messenger channel to Help Scout](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/1496-connect-help-scout-with-messenger-to-manage-facebook-conversations), Help Scout Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 5. [Add the Instagram channel to Help Scout](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/1538-add-the-instagram-channel-to-help-scout-to-manage-instagram-conversations), Help Scout Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 6. [Enable SSO in your account](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/877-enable-sso-in-your-account), Help Scout Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 7. [Get started with the Help Scout mobile app](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/1600-get-started-with-the-help-scout-mobile-app), Help Scout Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 8. [Gather feedback with satisfaction ratings](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/386-gather-feedback-with-satisfaction-ratings), Help Scout Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 9. [Reporting views](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/574-reporting-views), Help Scout Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 10. [Help Scout developer documentation](https://developer.helpscout.com/), Help Scout, accessed 2026-10-09 11. [Help Scout app directory](https://www.helpscout.com/apps/), Help Scout, accessed 2026-10-09 12. [AI CX Agent Evaluations, General CX leaderboard](https://www.g2.com/categories/ai-agents/agent-evaluations), G2, accessed 2026-10-08