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Comparison

Help Scout vs Zendesk: which is right for a small business?

Help Scout suits small teams that want a simple shared inbox with live chat and a knowledge base: free for up to 5 users, Standard at $25 a user billed yearly. Zendesk suits teams that have outgrown a shared inbox and need ticketing, routing and phone: Support Team is $19 an agent billed yearly, and Suite Team $55.

Updated . Every fact is linked to Help Scout's or Zendesk's own site, with the date we checked it

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How do Help Scout and Zendesk compare, side by side?

Help Scout: Customer support platform built on a shared inbox: email, live chat, SMS and social channels, knowledge base (Docs), with AI drafts and an AI chatbot (Envoy). Zendesk: Customer service software: a ticketing system with email, messaging, live chat and phone support, plus AI agents that answer customers.

What mattersHelp ScoutZendesk
Free planYes: Free plan with up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts per month, 10 saved replies, 10 tags.1No free plan listed on the pricing page.2
Free trial15 days on Standard or Plus, all features, no credit card required; Pro trial via sales. Separately, 3 months of free unlimited AI Answers (Envoy) resolutions from account creation.314 days, on the Suite Professional plan by default (a specific plan can be trialled by contacting Zendesk)4
Entry plan$25 per user per month, billed annually (page default toggle 'Annual', 16% off vs monthly); $30 billed monthly5$19 per agent per month, billed annually; $25 billed monthly6
What the entry plan includesUp to 25 users; Multiple inboxes (2 included, extra $10/mo each); Live chat and SMS; WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger; Multiple knowledge bases; One basic SLA policy; Basic workflows; AI Inbox assistant7Email and ticketing system with ticket routing, automations and triggers on the lowest plan8
Next plan up$45 per user per month, billed annually (page default toggle 'Annual', 16% off vs monthly); $54 billed monthly9$115 per agent per month, billed annually; $149 billed monthly10
What that plan addsUp to 50 users; Everything in Standard, plus advanced workflows; Two advanced SLA policies; Secure customer portal; Unlimited AI Drafts; Round robin routing; Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot integrations; Internal teams11Suite Team features, plus Admin Copilot, App Builder, Writing Tools, Quick Reports; Skills-based routing; IVR phone tree; 10 automated AI-agent resolutions per agent per month included12
AI that answers customers$0.75 per resolution, paid per resolution monthly; 3-month free trial; pre-paid discounts available13AI agents (messaging, email, voice) are included in every Suite and Support plan; billed per automated resolution, meaning a request resolved with no escalation to a human. Included resolutions: 5 per agent per month (Support Team, Suite Team), 10 (Suite Professional); extra at $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go.14
AI for your teamAI Drafts: drafts replies from past conversations and help content; unlimited on Plus and Pro15Admin Copilot suggests setup and workflow improvements; App Builder creates apps from conversational prompts (Suite Professional)16
Who it's forStandard is 'for growing teams looking to automate more tasks and move beyond email'; Plus 'for teams managing higher volume and complexity across multiple channels'; Pro 'for teams that need the highest level of scale and security'. A Free plan covers up to 5 users.17Support Team is described as 'for teams that have outgrown a shared inbox'; Suite plans for teams unifying support channels with AI agents; Enterprise for teams needing advanced security and governance. Startups programme: 6-month trial of Suite for up to 50 agents.18
AI assistants and MCPHelp Scout MCP: read-only official access to conversations, customer details, mailbox data and Docs content for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and custom AI tools; on Standard, Plus and Pro; report tools need Plus or Pro; each user connects with their own credentials19Early access program (30 Apr 2026): ChatGPT as a customer support channel, answering from the business's Help Center articles, built on OpenAI's Apps SDK and MCP20

Prices are in US dollars a month, before tax, as each company lists them.

Which should you choose, Help Scout or Zendesk?

Choose Help Scout if

  • You're a small team that answers mostly by email and chat, and wants a free plan for up to five people.
  • You want live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger on the first paid plan.
  • You want an AI chatbot that you pay for only when it resolves a question, at $0.75 each.
  • You want AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to read your inbox, but never change it.

Choose Zendesk if

  • You need phone support, IVR and skills-based routing in the same product.
  • You have the volume for SLAs, routing and workforce tools across many agents.
  • You want the lowest entry price for email ticketing alone, at $19 an agent billed yearly.
  • You want AI agents that answer across messaging, email and voice, with resolutions included each month.

How do Help Scout and Zendesk differ in approach?

Help Scout is built on a shared inbox, and Zendesk on a ticketing system. In Help Scout, support looks like email: conversations in shared inboxes, with saved replies, tags, snooze, send later and a customer profile beside each one, plus live chat, SMS, social channels and Docs knowledge bases.

Zendesk describes its entry plan as "for teams that have outgrown a shared inbox". It turns every request into a ticket with routing, automations, triggers and dashboards, and its Suite plans add messaging, live chat, telephony, AI agents and Action Builder. It's the stronger choice once support has many agents, channels and rules.

How much do Help Scout and Zendesk cost?

Zendesk starts lower for email alone, and Help Scout gives more channels for its first price. Help Scout Standard is $25 a user a month billed yearly, for up to 25 users, with two inboxes (more at $10 a month each), live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. Plus is $45 and Pro $75, with a minimum of 10 users on Pro. Help Scout's Free plan covers up to five users.

Zendesk Support Team is $19 an agent billed yearly or $25 monthly, for email and ticketing. Messaging, live chat and telephony come with Suite Team at $55, and Suite Professional is $115. Zendesk lists no free plan, and its 14-day trial runs on Suite Professional by default.

How does the AI compare?

Help Scout charges for its chatbot only when it resolves a question; Zendesk includes a monthly allowance per agent. Help Scout's Envoy answers customers from your knowledge base and other sources for $0.75 per resolution, and Help Scout states a 73% average resolution rate; AI Drafts writes replies from past conversations and help content, unlimited on Plus and Pro, and AI Summarize turns long threads into bullet points.

Zendesk's AI agents answer across messaging, email and voice, with 5 automated resolutions per agent a month on its Team plans and 10 on Suite Professional. Suite Professional also adds Admin Copilot, which suggests setup and workflow improvements, and Zendesk's Copilot for agents is a $50 add-on on Professional and above.

How do they work with AI assistants?

Help Scout gives outside AI safe, read-only access; Zendesk brings AI into its own flows. Help Scout's MCP lets Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and custom tools read conversations, customer details, mailbox data and Docs, with each user signing in with their own credentials, and it can't create, send, edit or delete anything. Zendesk's MCP client connects outside MCP servers to its action flows and AI agents, and an early access program runs ChatGPT as a support channel.

Where does Mojobase fit?

Mojobase is a third option for small teams that want support in the same place as the rest of the business, built for 1 to 25 people, and it works well for teams up to 100. Its support Inbox in Customers works from your own support address, shows each customer's email, meetings and invoices beside the conversation, and drafts answers from the Handbook, which also publishes as your help center. It has no phone or SMS channel, and a team that only needs a support inbox gets more for free from Help Scout. It costs $39 a month for the first person and $25 for each after, with every app and the AI included.

Questions people ask

Is Help Scout or Zendesk cheaper?

For email ticketing alone, Zendesk's Support Team is cheaper at $19 an agent billed yearly, against $25 for Help Scout Standard. But Help Scout Standard includes live chat, SMS and social channels, which Zendesk adds with Suite Team at $55. Help Scout also has a free plan for up to five users; Zendesk lists none.

What does Help Scout's free plan include?

Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs knowledge base site, 100 contacts a month, 10 saved replies and 10 tags. Paid plans start with Standard at $25 a user billed yearly, with a 15-day trial of Standard or Plus that needs no credit card.

How much do Help Scout's and Zendesk's AI agents cost?

Help Scout's Envoy chatbot costs $0.75 per resolution, with three months of free unlimited resolutions from account creation. Zendesk includes 5 automated resolutions per agent a month on its Team plans and 10 on Suite Professional, then $1.50 each committed or $2.00 pay as you go.

Can Claude or ChatGPT read my Help Scout or Zendesk tickets?

Help Scout's official MCP gives Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and custom tools read-only access to conversations, customers, mailbox data and Docs on Standard, Plus and Pro; it can't send, edit or delete. Zendesk runs an early access program that makes ChatGPT a support channel answering from your Help Center.

Which is better for a team of three?

Help Scout, for most. Its free plan covers up to five users, and Standard adds live chat, multiple knowledge bases and an AI inbox assistant. Zendesk fits a team of three that expects to add phone support or grow fast, since telephony and routing are in its Suite plans.

Sources

  1. Help Scout: Free plan. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  2. Zendesk: Free plan. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  3. Help Scout: Free trial. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  4. Zendesk: Free trial. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  5. Help Scout: Standard. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  6. Zendesk: Support Team. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  7. Help Scout: Standard includes. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  8. Zendesk: Feature. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  9. Help Scout: Plus. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  10. Zendesk: Suite Professional. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  11. Help Scout: Plus includes. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  12. Zendesk: Suite Professional includes. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  13. Help Scout: Envoy (AI chatbot / 'AI Answers') add-on. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  14. Zendesk: AI. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  15. Help Scout: AI. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  16. Zendesk: AI. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  17. Help Scout: Who it’s for. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  18. Zendesk: Who it’s for. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  19. Help Scout: Agents and MCP. docs.helpscout.com/article/1779-connect-your-ai-agent-with-help-scout-to-search-conversations-and-pull-reports, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  20. Zendesk: Agents and MCP. support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10622210192154-Announcement-Allowing-businesses-to-provide-customer-support-over-OpenAI-s-ChatGPT-EAP, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  21. Help Scout: Pro. helpscout.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  22. Zendesk: Suite Team. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
  23. Zendesk: Copilot add-on. zendesk.com/pricing/, checked 7 Nov 2026.

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