Helpin vs Help Scout at a glance
Help Scout and Helpin both give small and growing teams a shared inbox with AI. Help Scout keeps support simple. Helpin connects support to projects, CRM, meetings and docs.
Help Scout is a well-loved, email-like inbox with a Docs knowledge base and a free plan for up to five users. It returned to per-user pricing after a period of contact-based billing, and charges $0.75 per AI resolution.
Helpin keeps support on one customer history with the work that follows, charges one price per workspace, and can run on your own servers.
This guide compares Helpin and Help Scout feature by feature, with list prices checked in September 2026, so you can decide which fits the way your team works.
- Help Scout is built around a calm inbox: fast, simple conversations with customers across email, chat and messaging.
- Helpin is built around what happens next: turning requests into tracked work, deals and follow-ups on the same history.
Here’s how the two compare across the capabilities teams ask about most. A check means included, a dash means partly or on some plans, and a cross means not available.
| Capability |  HelpinCloud or self-hosted | Help ScoutShared inbox |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Price model | Per workspace | Per user: Standard $25, Plus $45 a month billed annually |
| Free plan | Self-hosted Community edition | Up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month |
| AI agent | AI usage allowance included in every Cloud plan | AI Answers at $0.75 per resolution |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 15 days, no card |
| Open source and self-hosting | Free Community edition (AGPL-3.0, 0.1 beta) | |
| Support | ||
| Channels | Web chat and email | Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, SMS |
| AI answers with human handoff | ||
| Help center | Custom domain, AI answers, API reference | Docs sites; 2 on Standard, 3 on Plus |
| Widget SDKs | Web: JavaScript, React, Next.js, Vue | Web, iOS, Android |
| Support reporting | Knowledge-gap and project reports | Reports; history length depends on plan |
| SLA policies | Limited on Standard and Plus | |
| Beyond support | ||
| Project management | Roadmaps, sprints, objectives, epics | Through the Jira integration on Plus |
| CRM with deals | Contacts, companies, deals | Customer properties and company profiles |
| Meeting notes | Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex | |
| Coding agents | Opens GitHub PRs and GitLab MRs for review | |
| MCP server | Hosted and self-hosted (beta) | Hosted, read-only |
Comparison data verified September 2026.
Core feature comparison
Feature names can sound alike across tools. What matters is how each product handles the work, and what your team does next.
Inbox and channels
Help Scout’s inbox covers email, live chat through Beacon, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and SMS, with phone through integrations such as Aircall. Workflows, SLA policies and inbox limits scale with the plan: Standard includes two inboxes and Plus five.
HelpinHelpin handles web chat and email in one shared inbox, with team inboxes, tags, saved replies, internal notes, business hours and CSAT surveys. AI conversation routing and round-robin assignment are part of the Growth plan. It doesn’t offer phone, WhatsApp or social channels today.
The difference: Help Scout covers more messaging channels. Both keep everyday email and chat support simple.
AI answers and agents
Help Scout’s AI Answers resolves questions from your Docs at $0.75 per resolution, with spending caps and a discount for prepaying. AI Assist is included on paid plans, and AI Drafts and Summarize come with Plus and Pro.
HelpinHelpin’s AI agents answer from your docs and the customer’s history, and hand off to your team with what they found. They can also go further: plan the work, open a pull request for review and prepare the follow-up. You choose each agent’s tools and which actions need approval, and usage comes from an allowance included in every Cloud plan.
The difference: Help Scout’s AI focuses on answering. Helpin’s agents also plan the fix and follow up, with usage included in the price.
Help center and knowledge
Help Scout Docs publishes knowledge base sites: two on Standard and three on Plus, with more available as an add-on. AI Answers draws on them.
HelpinHelpin Knowledge publishes help articles, product guides and interactive API reference docs on a Helpin address, your own domain, or a path like /docs through a reverse proxy. Agents draft updates from unanswered questions and shipped changes, and nothing goes live until your team publishes it.
The difference: Both publish help centers that feed AI answers. Helpin can import your Help Scout Docs today.
From question to fix
Help Scout connects to Jira on the Plus plan and above, so engineering work lives in another tool.
HelpinHelpin includes projects with roadmaps, sprints, objectives and epics. A conversation can become a task with the customer’s history attached, a coding agent can open a GitHub pull request or GitLab merge request for review, and the team can follow up in the original conversation when the fix ships.
The difference: If your conversations often turn into product work, Helpin keeps the request and the fix together.
Customer records, CRM and meetings
Help Scout keeps customer properties, company profiles and, on higher plans, custom fields, and integrates with HubSpot and Salesforce on Plus. It doesn’t include a deals pipeline or meeting notes.
HelpinHelpin includes a CRM with contacts, companies, deals and pipelines, and a meeting notetaker for Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex. Decisions and action items from calls stay on the same customer record as the conversations and tasks.
The difference: If you need deals and meeting notes next to support, Helpin has them built in.
Developers and integrations
Help Scout offers Inbox, Docs and Chat APIs, webhooks, Beacon SDKs for iOS and Android, more than 100 integrations, and a read-only MCP server launched in July 2026.
HelpinHelpin offers web SDKs for JavaScript, React, Next.js and Vue, a Helpin MCP server (in beta, hosted or self-hosted), connections to external MCP servers for agents, and GitHub and GitLab integrations. It doesn’t have native mobile SDKs or a large app marketplace yet.
The difference: Help Scout has mobile SDKs and a wider integration list. Helpin’s MCP connections let agents act, not just read.
Why teams look beyond Help Scout
Four common reasons teams give for looking elsewhere, and how Helpin handles each one.
- Inbox
- Docs
- Integrations
Helpin- Inbox
- Projects
- CRM
- Meetings
The work after the reply lives elsewhere
Help Scout keeps its focus on conversations and docs, and connects to other tools for the rest. Helpin adds projects, CRM and meeting notes, so a request can become tracked work with the customer history attached.
- Per user
- + $0.75 per resolution
Helpin- Workspace price
- AI allowance included
AI resolutions are billed on top
Help Scout charges $0.75 for each AI resolution, on top of user fees. Helpin includes an AI usage allowance in each Cloud plan, and self-hosted installs use your own AI provider.
- Paid per user
Helpin- Unlimited teammates
Every new teammate is another seat
Help Scout charges per user. Helpin charges per workspace with unlimited teammates, so engineers and account managers can join without changing the price.
- Hosted by Help Scout
Helpin- Helpin Cloud
- or your servers
You can’t run it yourself
Help Scout is a hosted service. Helpin is open source under AGPL-3.0: use Helpin Cloud or run it on your own infrastructure.
Pricing and value
Help Scout charges per user: Standard is $25 and Plus $45 a month billed annually, with Pro from ten users. A free plan covers up to five users and 100 contacts a month, and AI Answers adds $0.75 per resolution.
HelpinHelpin charges one price per workspace, with unlimited teammates. Starter is $79 and Growth $239 a month billed annually ($99 and $299 billed monthly), and each includes an AI usage allowance. The self-hosted Community edition is free.
Estimate what your team would pay
Change the team size, plans and AI volume to match your team. The estimate uses list prices and says plainly when Help Scout costs less. See Helpin pricing.
Estimated at list prices · 8 teammates · 300 AI resolutions a month · billed annually
Helpin costs $4,152 less a year than Help Scout.
HelpinGrowth$239/moHelpinGrowth, billed annually
- Growth plan, one workspace
- $239
- 8 teammates
- Included
- AI usage allowance
- $239 included
- Per month
- $239
- Per year
- $2,868
Heavy AI use can go past the allowance; overage is metered.
Help ScoutPlus, billed annually
- 8 × Plus at $45
- $360
- 300 AI resolutions × $0.75
- $225
- Per month
- $585
- Per year
- $7,020
- Help Scout’s monthly-billing prices aren’t shown on its pricing page, so annual rates are used. Prepaying for AI resolutions can lower the rate.
- For one or two users, Help Scout’s free and Standard plans can cost less than Helpin.
- Helpin measures AI usage in tokens, not resolutions. Paid plans can turn on metered overage beyond the allowance.
Hosting and data
Help Scout is a hosted service, and there’s no way to run it on your own infrastructure.
HelpinHelpin is open source under AGPL-3.0. Use Helpin Cloud, or run the Community edition (0.1 beta) on your own infrastructure with Docker Compose and your own AI provider. Nothing leaves your servers unless you connect it.
Switching and onboarding
Help Scout offers a 15-day trial with no card and a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first payment. Its built-in importer brings conversations, customers and tags from more than 30 tools. Helpin imports Help Scout Docs today; conversation history isn’t imported yet.
HelpinHelpin’s trial runs for 14 days on the Growth plan, with no card. Our team will help you plan the move: what to set up first, how to run both tools side by side, and when to cut over.
Moving from Help Scout.
Bring your docs over today, and keep older conversations where they are.
Take from Help Scout
- Docs articles, imported directly into Helpin
- Your customer list
- Saved replies and tags you want to keep
Set up in Helpin
- Chat widget on your site or app
- Support address, forwarded to Helpin
- Help center on your own domain
- Team inboxes, tags and saved replies
- AI agent guidance and approval rules
- 01
Run Helpin alongside Help Scout
Available nowInstall the widget on a few pages and connect a support address. Move queues over when your team is ready, ideally before your next renewal.
- 02
Import your Help Scout Docs
Available nowBring your Help Scout Docs articles into Helpin Knowledge.
- 03
Move conversation history
Not yetConversation history isn’t imported yet. Keep Help Scout available for older threads while new ones arrive in Helpin.
Where Help Scout is stronger
Help Scout is a good product. These are the areas where it’s ahead of Helpin today.
Simplicity.
A calm, email-like inbox that reviewers consistently praise for ease of use.
Channels.
WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and SMS on paid plans. Helpin supports web chat and email.
Free plan and migration.
A free plan for up to five users, and a built-in importer for conversations from Zendesk, Intercom and more than 30 other tools.
Mobile.
Beacon SDKs for iOS and Android.
Which one fits your team?
Both are friendly for small teams. The difference is how far past the inbox you want to go.
Choose Help Scout if…
- You want an email-like inbox with a free plan for up to five users.
- You need WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger or SMS in the inbox.
- You want a built-in importer to bring over conversations from another help desk.
Choose Helpin if…
- Support questions turn into product work you want to track and ship.
- You want CRM, meeting notes and projects alongside support.
- You want AI usage included instead of paying per resolution.
- You want to self-host an open-source product.
Questions about Helpin vs Help Scout
Is Helpin a good Help Scout alternative?
It is if you want support connected to projects, CRM and meetings, AI usage included in the price, or the option to self-host. If you mainly need a simple inbox with social channels, Help Scout covers that well.
Does Help Scout charge per contact?
Help Scout moved to contact-based billing in 2024 and later returned to per-user pricing for new customers. Some existing accounts still use contact-based billing.
Can Helpin import from Help Scout?
Yes, for Help Scout Docs articles. Conversation history is not imported yet.
Is Helpin cheaper than Help Scout?
It depends on team size. Help Scout can cost less for one or two users, especially on its free plan. With more teammates or regular AI resolutions, Helpin’s single workspace price usually costs less. The calculator above shows both.
Can we run Helpin alongside Help Scout?
Yes. Add the Helpin widget to a few pages or forward one support address, and keep Help Scout for everything else while your team tries the workflow. Move the rest when you’re ready.
How is AI billed in Helpin?
Every Cloud plan includes a monthly AI usage allowance, measured in tokens at published rates. On an active paid plan you can turn on metered overage if you need more. Self-hosted installs use your own AI provider and pay it directly.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. The 14-day trial runs on the Growth plan, needs no card, and includes $140 of AI usage.
Can we self-host Helpin?
Yes. The Community edition is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, and runs with Docker Compose. It is a 0.1 beta, and coding agents arrive with the 0.2 release.
Will you help us switch?
Yes. Book a call and we’ll plan the move with you: what to set up first, how to run both tools side by side, and when to cut over.