Help Scout vs Intercom
A detailed comparison of Help Scout and Intercom to help you choose the right tool for your needs.
💰 Pricing Comparison
| Plan | Help Scout | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | ✓ Up to 50 contacts/mo | ✗ No |
| Lowest Paid | $25/user/mo | $39/user/mo |
| Enterprise | $50/user/mo | Custom pricing |
⚡ Feature Comparison
| Feature | Help Scout | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Inbox | ✓ | — |
| Knowledge Base | ✓ | — |
| Live Chat (Beacon) | ✓ | — |
| Customer Profiles | ✓ | — |
| Saved Replies | ✓ | — |
| Workflows | ✓ | — |
| Live chat | — | ✓ |
| AI chatbot | — | ✓ |
| Help center | — | ✓ |
| Product tours | — | ✓ |
| Outbound messaging | — | ✓ |
| Inbox | — | ✓ |
| Tickets | — | ✓ |
| Reports | — | ✓ |
| Custom bots | — | ✓ |
| Integrations | — | ✓ |
| Open Source | ✗ | ✗ |
| Rating | ⭐ 4.4 | ⭐ 4.2 |
Pros & Cons
Help Scout
Pros
- ✓ Feels like email not tickets
- ✓ Simple and clean
- ✓ Great knowledge base
- ✓ Excellent customer support
Cons
- ✗ Limited reporting
- ✗ No phone/call center
- ✗ Fewer integrations
- ✗ Basic automation
Intercom
Pros
- ✓ Powerful platform
- ✓ AI features
- ✓ Good UX
- ✓ Comprehensive
Cons
- ✗ Very expensive
- ✗ Complex pricing
- ✗ Feature overload
- ✗ Slow support
🏆 The Verdict
Choose Help Scout if: You need small businesses wanting personal, human customer support. Help Scout excels with its feels like email not tickets and simple and clean.
Choose Intercom if: You need saas companies wanting full customer messaging. Intercom stands out with its powerful platform and ai features.
Best free option: Help Scout offers a free tier (Up to 50 contacts/mo).
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Is Help Scout better than Intercom?
It depends on your needs. Help Scout is better for small businesses wanting personal, human customer support, while Intercom is better for saas companies wanting full customer messaging. Both are excellent tools rated 4.4 and 4.2 respectively.
Which is cheaper, Help Scout or Intercom?
Help Scout starts at $25/user/mo while Intercom starts at $39/user/mo. Help Scout also has a free tier.
Can I switch from Help Scout to Intercom?
Most tools offer import/export features to help you migrate. We recommend trying Intercom's trial before fully committing to a switch.
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