# Freshdesk vs Help Scout

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Help Scout

| Attribute | Freshdesk | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 67.7 (41% (low)) | 81.7 (72% (medium)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Freshdesk is an AI-powered customer service platform that combines ready-to-use AI agents, people, and workflows with a guided path to AI adoption for faster issue resolution and improved agent productivity. | Help Scout is a customer service platform combining customer insights, team collaboration, and AI to connect support interactions. The platform provides ticketing, live chat, knowledge bases, and AI-powered agents across multiple channels. |
| features.capabilities | `{"ai_agent":true,"free_tier":true,"ticketing":true,"api_access":true,"automation_macros":true}` | `{"hosting":"cloud","ai_agent":true,"sso_scim":false,"free_tier":true,"live_chat":true,"ticketing":true,"api_access":false,"omnichannel":true,"sla_routing":false,"shared_inbox":true,"knowledge_base":true,"voice_telephony":false,"automation_macros":true,"reporting_dashboards":true}` |
| integrations.count | 1 | 1 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"MCP-connected AI tools and apps"}]` | `[{"name":"Shopify"}]` |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Growth","summary":"£15/agent/month billed annually","features":["Freddy AI Agent (first 500 sessions included)","Ticketing & shared inbox","Customer portal & knowledge base","Out-of-the-box analytics & reporting","Threads & tasks","Roles & permissions"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"agent","amount":15,"period":"month","currency":"GBP"}],"description":"Launch AI-powered service over email","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"ai_agent_sessions":"500"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"£39/agent/month billed annually","features":["Freddy AI Agent (first 500 sessions included)","Multilingual helpdesk","Custom dashboards & reporting","Intelligent routing","Multiple SLA policies","External collaborators"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"agent","amount":39,"period":"month","currency":"GBP"}],"description":"Scale AI-powered service across your business","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"ai_agent_sessions":"500"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"£67/agent/month billed annually","features":["Freddy AI Agent (first 500 sessions included)","Freddy AI Insights","Skill-based routing","Sandbox","Audit logs","Allowed domains & IP whitelisting"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"agent","amount":67,"period":"month","currency":"GBP"}],"description":"Deliver enterprise-grade, AI-powered service","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"ai_agent_sessions":"500"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Freddy AI Copilot","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"agent","amount":23,"period":"month","currency":"GBP"}]},{"name":"Additional AI Agent sessions","components":[{"per":{"qty":100,"unit":"sessions"},"kind":"metered","amount":36,"currency":"GBP"}]},{"name":"Day passes","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1.5,"currency":"GBP"}]},{"name":"Connector app tasks","components":[{"per":{"qty":5000,"unit":"tasks"},"kind":"metered","amount":65,"currency":"GBP"}]}],"summary":"From £15/agent/month billed annually. 14-day free trial.","currency":"GBP","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://freshdesk.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T11:47:05.273Z","freeTrialDays":14,"startingPrice":{"amount":15,"period":"month","currency":"GBP"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free","features":["1 Inbox","1 Docs site","10 saved replies","10 tags","Snooze","Send later","Customer profiles & history","Custom fields (up to 10)"],"minSeats":5,"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"5","inboxes":"1","contacts":"100/mo","docs_sites":"1"}},{"free":false,"name":"Standard","summary":"$25/user/mo","features":["Multiple Inboxes","Live chat, Instagram, & Messenger","Multiple knowledge bases","One basic SLA policy","Basic workflows","Unlimited tags and saved replies","AI Inbox assistant","WhatsApp messaging","Saved replies","Views","Snooze","Send later"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"user","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For growing teams looking to automate more tasks and move beyond email","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"25","inboxes":"2 (additional $10/mo)","contacts":"Unlimited"}},{"free":false,"name":"Plus","summary":"$45/user/mo","features":["Everything in Standard","Advanced workflows","Two advanced SLA policies","Unlimited AI Drafts","Round robin routing","Salesforce, Jira, and HubSpot integrations","Internal teams","Group conversations by company"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"user","amount":45,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For teams managing higher volume and complexity across multiple channels","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"50","inboxes":"5 (additional $10/mo)","light_users":"25"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$75/user/mo","features":["Everything in Plus","Unlimited workflows","Unlimited SLA policies","Multiple routing types","SSO/SAML","HIPAA compliance","Dedicated onboarding specialist","Strategic account manager","Preferred pricing on Aircall"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"user","amount":75,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For teams that need the highest level of scale and security","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"users":"Unlimited (minimum 10)","inboxes":"10 (additional $10/mo)","light_users":"50"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"AI Answers","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"resolution"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.75,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"From $25/user/mo (Standard). Free tier includes 5 users, 1 inbox. 3-month free trial for AI Answers add-on.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.helpscout.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T11:46:20.369Z","startingPrice":{"amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |

## Capabilities (Customer Support)

| Capability | Freshdesk | Help Scout |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 |
| **Enterprise** |  |  |
| SSO / SCIM | - | ✗ |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Public API | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Free tier | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:33:23.529Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*