Help Scout vs Intercom. Pricing, AI and which to pick.

Both are help desks priced per seat, with an AI agent billed for each resolution or outcome. Help Scout has a free plan without live chat or AI; Intercom has a 14-day trial.

Every price and feature here comes from Help Scout's and Intercom's own websites, with links. ChatBento, our product, appears as a third column so you can see where a simpler website chatbot fits.

Live chat and help desks

Help Scout

Help Scout is a help desk with shared inboxes, a knowledge base, a website widget called Beacon with live chat, and Envoy, an AI agent billed per resolution. Plans are priced per user.

Starts at: $25per user / mo billed yearly ($30 monthly), Standard
Billing: Per user, plus $0.75 per AI resolution
Free option: Yes, 5 users, no live chat or AI

Live chat and help desks

Intercom

Intercom is an AI-first customer service help desk with a shared inbox, ticketing, a help center and Messenger live chat, priced per seat, with its Fin AI Agent charged per outcome.

Starts at: $19per seat / mo billed yearly, new-customer price; plus $0.99 per Fin outcome
Billing: Per seat, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome
Free option: No (14-day trial)

Help Scout vs Intercom, side by side

"Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it on that company's site, not that it's missing.

Help Scout, Intercom and ChatBento compared on price and features
Feature	Help Scout	Intercom	ChatBentoOur product
Free plan	Yes, 5 users, no live chat or AI	No (14-day trial)	Yes, 50 AI messages/mo
Lowest paid plan	$25/user/mo billed yearly	$19/seat/mo billed yearly, plus Fin	$14/mo (2,000 AI messages)
How the AI is billed	Per user, plus $0.75 per AI resolution	Per seat, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome	Flat monthly price, no seats
AI answers trained on your website	Yes	Yes	Yes
Install with one script tag	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hand-off to a human	Yes, to your team in the inbox	Yes, to agents in the inbox	Yes, by email
Live chat inbox for your team	Yes	Yes	No
WhatsApp, Messenger and other channels	Standard and up	Yes	Not yet
Native integrations (CRM, Slack and others)	100+ apps	Hundreds, incl. Slack, Jira, Salesforce	Not yet
Help desk ticketing	Shared inbox with SLAs	Yes	No

Help Scout details checked November 4, 2026; Intercom details checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so check each company's pricing page before you decide.

Where each one is stronger

Help Scout's strengths

From Help Scout's own site. Check Intercom's column in the table above for the same rows.

A full help desk
Shared inboxes, a knowledge base, workflows, SLA policies and reports in one tool. ChatBento is only the website chatbot.
helpscout.com/pricing
AI with context for your team
Scout, the AI agent in Envoy, learns from public and private help centers, websites and Google Docs, works in over 50 languages, and passes the full context to your team when it escalates.
helpscout.com/agent
Messaging channels
From Standard, live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger land in the same inbox as email, with SMS and phone through integrations.
helpscout.com/pricing
CRM and issue tracker integrations
Plus connects Salesforce, HubSpot and Jira, and paid plans can use 100+ apps and the API.
helpscout.com/pricing

Intercom's strengths

From Intercom's own site. Check Help Scout's column in the table above for the same rows.

A full help desk
Shared inbox, ticketing system, public help center, reports and automation, with workflow builders and SLAs on higher plans.
intercom.com/pricing
Fin works everywhere
Fin answers across channels including email, live chat, phone, WhatsApp and SMS, transfers to agents in the inbox, and can run on top of Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshdesk.
fin.ai
Hundreds of integrations
Intercom says Fin connects to hundreds of integrations out of the box, including Slack, Jira, Linear, Salesforce and HubSpot, with Shopify and Stripe data in the inbox.
intercom.com/pricing
Mobile apps for your team
Intercom Conversations for iOS and Android lets teammates reply, add notes, and tag and assign conversations.
intercom.com/help/en/articles/447-respond-to-users-and-visitors-on-the-go-with-the-intercom-conversations-app

Help Scout and Intercom pricing

Each plan as the company lists it, with the fees that come on top.

Help Scout pricing

Freeup to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts / mo$0
Standardper user / mo billed yearly ($30 monthly). Adds live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger$25
Plusper user / mo billed yearly ($54 monthly). Adds Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot$45
Proper user / mo billed yearly ($90 monthly), minimum 10 users, book a demo$75
Envoy (AI Answers)per resolution, billed monthly, on paid plans$0.75

Free plan for up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month, without live chat or the AI agent; 15-day trial of Standard and Plus, no card required. Checked November 4, 2026 on helpscout.com/pricing.

Help Scout counts an AI resolution when the customer gets an AI answer and doesn't escalate, search the knowledge base, ask more questions or say they need more help. You can set a monthly spending cap; at the cap, AI Answers turns off for the rest of the month. Source
New accounts get 3 months of free, unlimited AI resolutions, starting the day the account is created. Source
Help Scout's pricing page opens on annual billing, which it marks as 16% off; monthly prices are in brackets above. Source

Help Scout pricing, worked out

Intercom pricing

Essentialper seat / mo billed yearly, new-customer price (list $29)$19
Advancedper seat / mo billed yearly$85
Expertper seat / mo billed yearly$132
Fin AI Agentper outcome, on any plan$0.99

No free plan; a 14-day free trial, no card required. Checked October 23, 2026 on intercom.com/pricing.

Intercom counts a Fin outcome when a customer confirms their issue is resolved or doesn't ask for more help after Fin responds. Fin can also run on another help desk at $0.99 per outcome with a minimum monthly commitment. Source

Intercom pricing, worked out

Which to choose

It comes down to who answers your chats and how you'd rather be billed.

Choose Help Scout if

Your team answers email, chat and messaging in shared inboxes and wants a knowledge base in the same tool.
You want AI that hands off to agents inside the help desk, and $0.75 per resolution fits your volume.
You need Salesforce, HubSpot or Jira connected, or SSO and HIPAA on Pro.
Teammates reply from Help Scout's iOS and Android apps.

Choose Intercom if

You run a support team that needs a shared inbox, ticketing and a help center in one place.
You want one AI agent across chat, email, phone and WhatsApp.
Paying per seat plus $0.99 per resolved outcome fits your volume.
You need SSO, HIPAA support or SLAs (Expert plan).

Choose ChatBento if

Our product

You want an AI chatbot on your website that answers from your own pages, Q&As and text, not a full support suite.
You'd rather pay a flat $14, $30 or $100 a month than per seat or per resolution, or start on the free plan with 50 AI messages a month.
An email hand-off is enough when a visitor needs a person.

Only need AI answers on your website?

ChatBento reads your site in about a minute and answers visitors from it. Free plan forever, paid plans from $14 a month.

ChatBento vs Help Scout ChatBento vs Intercom

Help Scout vs Intercom. Questions, answered.

Which is cheaper, Help Scout or Intercom?

It depends on how you'd use them, because they bill differently. Help Scout starts at $25 (per user / mo billed yearly ($30 monthly), Standard), billed as: per user, plus $0.75 per AI resolution. Intercom starts at $19 (per seat / mo billed yearly, new-customer price; plus $0.99 per Fin outcome), billed as: per seat, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome. Price your own monthly volume on both before you decide.

Do Help Scout and Intercom have free plans?

Help Scout: Free plan for up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month, without live chat or the AI agent; 15-day trial of Standard and Plus, no card required. Intercom: No free plan; a 14-day free trial, no card required.

What is the main difference between Help Scout and Intercom?

Both are help desks priced per seat, with an AI agent billed for each resolution or outcome. Help Scout has a free plan without live chat or AI; Intercom has a 14-day trial.

Which should I choose, Help Scout or Intercom?

Choose Help Scout if your team answers email, chat and messaging in shared inboxes and wants a knowledge base in the same tool. Choose Intercom if you run a support team that needs a shared inbox, ticketing and a help center in one place.

Do I need a live chat inbox at all?

Only if someone on your team will answer chats in real time. Help Scout and Intercom both include one. If you mostly want visitors' questions answered from your website, an AI chatbot with an email hand-off does that without a seat for each person.

Is there a simpler, flat-priced alternative to Help Scout and Intercom?

ChatBento is an AI chatbot for your website that learns from your pages and Q&As, captures leads and hands off to you by email. It has a free plan with 50 AI messages a month, then $14, $30 or $100 a month, with AI answers included and no seats. It has no live chat inbox, ticketing or messaging channels, so it fits when the website chatbot is the job.

Keep comparing

All comparisons AI chatbot pricing guide

Help Scout and Intercom are trademarks of their owners; ChatBento is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.

Sources: helpscout.com/pricing, helpscout.com/agent, intercom.com/pricing, fin.ai, intercom.com/help/en/articles/447-respond-to-users-and-visitors-on-the-go-with-the-intercom-conversations-app

Put AI answers on your site. Free to start, then $14 a month.

Start free See pricing

Free plan forever. No card required.