Comparison

Help Scout vs Zendesk

On the evidence we track, Help Scout leads this comparison with a composite score of 82/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Help Scout full profile →Zendesk full profile →

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.

★Help Scout82

Zendesk68

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Help ScoutLeader	Zendesk
vioscaleAI score	82 / 100medium · 70%	68 / 100medium · 69%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	freemium
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	low
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✗
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	1	1,800
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	✓
Fedrampsecurity.fedramp	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	-
Hipaasecurity.hipaa	✓	✓
Iso27001security.iso27001	-	✓
Pcisecurity.pci	✓	✓
Soc2security.soc2	✓	✓
Trust centersecurity.trust_center	https://www.helpscout.com/blog/trust-ai-and-customer-service/	-
Reliability
Sla pctreliability.sla_pct	99.99	-
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	✓
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide	-
Content
Faqcontent.faq	5 items	5 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

Help Scout82 / 100medium · 70%

Zendesk68 / 100medium · 69%

Pricing

Free tier

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Model

Help Scoutfreemium

Zendeskfreemium

Price level

Help Scoutlow

Zendesklow

Transparent

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✗

Integrations

Count

Help Scout1

Zendesk1,800

Security

Disclosure policy

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Fedramp

Help Scout–

Zendesk✓

Gdpr

Help Scout✓

Zendesk–

Hipaa

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Iso27001

Help Scout–

Zendesk✓

Pci

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Soc2

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Trust center

Help Scouthttps://www.helpscout.com/blog/trust-ai-and-customer-service/

Zendesk–

Reliability

Sla pct

Help Scout99.99

Zendesk–

Status page

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Market

Availability

Help ScoutAvailable worldwide

Zendesk–

Content

Faq

Help Scout5 items

Zendesk5 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for customer support. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Customer Support
Capability	Help Scout	Zendesk
Core
Ticket / case management	✓	✓
Channels
Live chat	✓	✓
Shared inbox	✓	-
Omnichannel (email+chat+social+voice)	✓	✓
Voice / telephony	✗	✓
Self-service
Self-service knowledge base	✓	✓
Automation
SLAs, triggers & routing	✗	-
Automation / macros	✓	✓
AI
AI agent / copilot	✓	✓
Insight
Reporting & dashboards	✓	✓
Deployment
Hosting	Cloud only	Cloud only
Enterprise
SSO / SCIM	✗	-
Extensibility
Public API	✗	-
Pricing
Free tier	✓	✓

Core

Ticket / case management

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Channels

Live chat

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Shared inbox

Help Scout✓

Zendesk-

Omnichannel (email+chat+social+voice)

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Voice / telephony

Help Scout✗

Zendesk✓

Self-service

Self-service knowledge base

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Automation

SLAs, triggers & routing

Help Scout✗

Zendesk-

Automation / macros

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

AI agent / copilot

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Insight

Reporting & dashboards

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Deployment

Hosting

Help ScoutCloud only

ZendeskCloud only

Enterprise

SSO / SCIM

Help Scout✗

Zendesk-

Extensibility

Public API

Help Scout✗

Zendesk-

Pricing

Free tier

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Help Scout

Leader

A customer support service that uses artificial intelligence to help businesses manage customer interactions through chat and communication features.

Independently observed

Zendesk

A cloud platform that deploys AI agents to handle customer and employee service requests. Agents improve with each interaction, manage high volumes autonomously, and operate across voice and digital channels without requiring technical configuration.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Help Scout

Leader

from $25/moSubscriptionFree tier

From $25/user/mo (Standard). Free tier includes 5 users, 1 inbox. 3-month free trial for AI Answers add-on.

FreeFree
- 1 Inbox
- 1 Docs site
- 10 saved replies
- 10 tags
- Snooze
- +3 more
Standard$25/user/mo
- Multiple Inboxes
- Live chat, Instagram, & Messenger
- Multiple knowledge bases
- One basic SLA policy
- Basic workflows
- +7 more
Plus$45/user/mo
- Everything in Standard
- Advanced workflows
- Two advanced SLA policies
- Unlimited AI Drafts
- Round robin routing
- +3 more
ProContact sales
- Everything in Plus
- Unlimited workflows
- Unlimited SLA policies
- Multiple routing types
- SSO/SAML
- +4 more

as of 2026-08-03verify ↗

Zendesk

Free tier

as of 2026-08-13verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Help Scout	Zendesk
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓

Platforms

Web

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Help Scout✓

Zendesk✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Help Scout

Leader

1 total

Shopify

Independently observed

Zendesk

Not documented yet.

Still deciding?

Help Scout or Zendesk: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.