Skip to content

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

Both are help desks priced per user, with AI agents billed by resolution. Help Scout has a free plan for a small team, without live chat or AI; Zendesk has no free plan and a 14-day trial.

Every price and feature here comes from Help Scout's and Zendesk'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

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service suite with ticketing, messaging and live chat, a help center and voice, with AI agents built in, priced per agent seat.

Starts at
$19per agent / mo, billed yearly. Live chat from $55
Billing
Per agent seat, plus per automated resolution
Free option
No (14-day trial)

Help Scout vs Zendesk, side by side

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

Help Scout, Zendesk and ChatBento compared on price and features
FeatureHelp ScoutZendeskChatBentoOur product
Free planYes, 5 users, no live chat or AINo (14-day trial)No, from $14/mo
Lowest paid plan$25/user/mo billed yearly$19/agent/mo billed yearly; live chat from $55$14/mo (2,000 AI messages)
How the AI is billedPer user, plus $0.75 per AI resolutionPer agent seat, plus per automated resolutionFlat monthly price, no seats
AI answers trained on your websiteYesYesYes
Install with one script tagYesYesYes
Hand-off to a humanYes, to your team in the inboxYes, to agents in ZendeskYes, by email
Live chat inbox for your teamYesYesNo
WhatsApp, Messenger and other channelsStandard and upYesNot yet
Native integrations (CRM, Slack and others)100+ apps1,800+ appsNot yet
Help desk ticketingShared inbox with SLAsYesNo

Help Scout details checked November 4, 2026; Zendesk 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 Zendesk'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

Zendesk's strengths

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

  • A complete help desk

    Ticketing, messaging and live chat, a help center and telephony in one suite, with prebuilt analytics dashboards. ChatBento is only the website chatbot.

    zendesk.com/pricing

  • Every channel in one place

    Zendesk connects Facebook, Instagram and X, and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Slack, WeChat and LINE. ChatBento runs on your website only.

    zendesk.com/pricing

  • AI agents beyond chat

    Zendesk AI agents work across messaging, email and voice, support 80+ languages, and can learn from your help center plus sources like Google Drive and PDFs.

    zendesk.com/service/ai/ai-agents

  • A large app marketplace

    Zendesk lists 1,800+ apps and integrations, 90+ telephony providers, and agent mobile apps for iOS and Android.

    zendesk.com/pricing

Help Scout and Zendesk 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

Zendesk pricing

  • Support Teamper agent / mo, billed yearly ($25 monthly). Email and ticketing, no live chat$19
  • Suite Teamper agent / mo, billed yearly ($69 monthly). Adds messaging and live chat$55
  • Suite Professionalper agent / mo, billed yearly ($149 monthly)$115
  • Suite Enterprisetalk to salesCustom

No free plan; a 14-day free trial of Suite Professional. Checked October 23, 2026 on zendesk.com/pricing.

  • Zendesk AI agents are billed by automated resolution. Plans include 5 per agent a month (10 on Suite Professional); more cost US$2.00 each pay-as-you-go, or a lower committed rate (shown only in pounds on its US page, checked October 30, 2026). Source

Zendesk 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 Zendesk if

  • Your team works tickets across email, chat, phone and social, and needs one help desk for all of it.
  • Several agents answer chats live, so a shared inbox and per-seat pricing make sense for you.
  • You want AI agents on email and voice too, not only on your website.
  • You rely on integrations from a large marketplace, or on telephony.

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, starting at $14 for 2,000 AI messages.
  • 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. Flat plans from $14 a month, cancel anytime.

ChatBento vs Help ScoutChatBento vs Zendesk

Help Scout vs Zendesk. Questions, answered.

Which is cheaper, Help Scout or Zendesk?

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. Zendesk starts at $19 (per agent / mo, billed yearly. Live chat from $55), billed as: per agent seat, plus per automated resolution. Price your own monthly volume on both before you decide.

Do Help Scout and Zendesk 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. Zendesk: No free plan; a 14-day free trial of Suite Professional.

What is the main difference between Help Scout and Zendesk?

Both are help desks priced per user, with AI agents billed by resolution. Help Scout has a free plan for a small team, without live chat or AI; Zendesk has no free plan and a 14-day trial.

Which should I choose, Help Scout or Zendesk?

Choose Help Scout if your team answers email, chat and messaging in shared inboxes and wants a knowledge base in the same tool. Choose Zendesk if your team works tickets across email, chat, phone and social, and needs one help desk for all of it.

Do I need a live chat inbox at all?

Only if someone on your team will answer chats in real time. Help Scout and Zendesk 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 Zendesk?

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 costs a flat $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 comparisonsAI chatbot pricing guide

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

Sources: helpscout.com/pricing, helpscout.com/agent, zendesk.com/pricing, zendesk.com/service/ai/ai-agents

Put AI answers on your site. From $14 a month.

Get startedSee pricing

No setup fees. Cancel anytime.