Comparison
Zendesk vs Help Scout
Overview
Zendesk is a customer service and engagement platform with ticketing, AI agents, help center, workforce management, and QA tools for scaling support operations.
Help Scout is a shared inbox and customer support platform for teams that want to provide email, chat, and self-service support with a personal, human touch.
Which should you choose?
Zendesk is the heavier, more complete platform (ticketing, AI agent, voice, workforce management) starting at $55/month for SMB/enterprise. Help Scout is a simpler, human-focused shared inbox and help center for startups/SMBs, starting at $20/month, with collision detection and customer profiles rather than an enterprise feature set. Choose Zendesk if you need voice support and enterprise-scale workforce tools; choose Help Scout if you want a lighter, more affordable inbox that still feels personal.
TLDR
- —If you need voice support and enterprise-scale workforce management, choose Zendesk.
- —If you're a smaller team that wants a simpler, more affordable shared inbox, choose Help Scout.
Features
- —Ticketing system
- —AI agent (Zendesk AI)
- —Help center and knowledge base
- —Live chat and messaging
- —Voice support
- —Workforce management
- —QA and coaching
- —Advanced reporting
- —Shared inbox
- —Live chat (Beacon)
- —Help center (Docs)
- —Workflow automation
- —Collision detection
- —Customer profiles
- —AI Summarize and Drafts
- —Reporting
Pricing
Zendesk
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Suite Team | $55/mo | Per agent/month billed annually. |
| Suite Growth | $89/mo | Per agent/month billed annually. |
| Suite Professional | $115/mo | Per agent/month billed annually. |
| Suite Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom pricing for enterprise support operations. |
Help Scout
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $20/mo | Per user/month. |
| Plus | $40/mo | Per user/month. |
| Pro | $65/mo | Per user/month. |
Company Fit
Zendesk
Help Scout