Help Scout vs Zendesk Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Help Scout | Zendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $25/mo | $19/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 4 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | per-seat | per-seat |
Standard
- Multiple Inboxes
- Live chat and SMS
- WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger
- Multiple knowledge bases
- One basic SLA policy
- Basic workflows
- Unlimited tags and saved replies
- AI Inbox assistant
Plus
Popular- Advanced workflows
- Two advanced SLA policies
- Secure customer portal
- Unlimited AI Drafts
- Round robin routing
- Salesforce, Jira, and HubSpot
- Internal teams
- Group conversations by company
Pro
- Unlimited workflows
- Unlimited SLA policies
- Multiple routing types
- SSO/SAML
- HIPAA compliance
- Up to 50 light users
- Dedicated onboarding specialist
- Strategic account manager
- Preferred pricing on Aircall
Support Team
- Email and ticketing system
- Ticket routing
- Prebuilt analytics dashboards
- Pre-written responses
- Customer context
- Automations and triggers
Suite Team
- AI Agents
- Knowledge Base
- Action Builder
- Omnichannel routing
- Messaging and live chat
- Telephony
Suite Professional
Popular- Admin Copilot
- App Builder
- Writing Tools
- Quick Reports
- Skills-based routing
- IVR phone tree
Suite Enterprise + Copilot
- Intelligent Triage
- Auto Assist
- Generative AI for Voice
- Approval workflows
- Sandbox environment
- Custom agent roles
Help Scout vs Zendesk FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Zendesk is the cheaper option, starting at $19/mo vs $25/mo for Help Scout.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Help Scout has a free plan. Zendesk doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Both use a per-seat model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Help Scout: At $25-75/seat, Help Scout sits mid-market — pricier than bare-bones tools like Freshdesk's entry plans but cheaper than Zendesk or Intercom at scale. They're chasing small-to-mid teams who want a polished, human-feeling tool without enterprise complexity or enterprise pricing. Zendesk: Zendesk sits mid-to-premium in the helpdesk category — pricier than lean tools like Freshdesk or Help Scout at the entry level, but cheaper than going full Salesforce Service Cloud at the top. They're chasing mid-market and enterprise teams who've outgrown scrappy tools but aren't ready for a full CRM-grade service suite.
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