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Help Scout pricing 2026. Plans, costs and hidden fees.

What Help Scout costs, plan by plan, and what you'll pay once add-ons and usage fees are counted. Every figure links to the page it came from.

Lowest paid plan
$25per user / mo billed yearly ($30 monthly), Standard
How it's billed
Per user, plus $0.75 per AI resolution
Free plan
Yes, 5 users, no live chat or AI
Prices checked
November 4, 2026on helpscout.com/pricing
Every Help Scout planWhat you'll actually payA cheaper option

Help Scout plans and prices

5 prices as Help Scout's own site lists them, with the billing basis. Plans we couldn't confirm are left out.

Help Scout plans with price, billing basis, source and date checked
PlanPriceBilling and what's includedSource
Free$0up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts / mohelpscout.com/pricingChecked November 4, 2026
Standard$25per user / mo billed yearly ($30 monthly). Adds live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messengerhelpscout.com/pricingChecked November 4, 2026
Plus$45per user / mo billed yearly ($54 monthly). Adds Salesforce, Jira and HubSpothelpscout.com/pricingChecked November 4, 2026
Pro$75per user / mo billed yearly ($90 monthly), minimum 10 users, book a demohelpscout.com/pricingChecked November 4, 2026
Envoy (AI Answers)$0.75per resolution, billed monthly, on paid planshelpscout.com/pricingChecked November 4, 2026

Free plan or trial

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.

As Help Scout's pricing page states it, checked November 4, 2026.

How Help Scout bills

Per user, plus $0.75 per AI resolution

What you'll actually pay

The headline price is rarely the bill. Here's what Help Scout adds on top, quoted from its pricing page, and a month priced out.

On top of the plan price

  • 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

Price your own volume with the chatbot cost calculator, or see how Help Scout fits among 25 tools in the AI chatbot pricing guide.

Is Help Scout worth it?

Help Scout is a live chat and help desk tool, so its price pays for a support team's toolkit. Whether that's worth it depends on how much of it you'd use.

What the money buys

  • 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

Worth it 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.

Harder to justify if

  • Only one or two people would use it, and you'd rather not pay for each seat.
  • You want one predictable bill, without the usage-based charges listed above.
  • You mainly need AI answers on your website, which ChatBento does from $14 a month.

A cheaper option: ChatBento

ChatBento is our product. It's an AI chatbot for your website: it learns from your pages and Q&As, answers visitors around the clock, captures leads and emails you when a person is needed. One flat monthly price, AI included, no seats. Its lowest paid plan is $14 a month; Help Scout's starts at $25.

  • Free

    $0/mo

    • 50 AI messages / month
    • Train on up to 50 pages
    • Free forever, no card

  • Hobby

    $14/mo

    • 2,000 AI messages / month
    • 1 chatbot
    • Train on up to 200 pages

  • Standard

    $30/mo

    • 10,000 AI messages / month
    • 3 chatbots
    • Train on up to 2,000 pages

  • Pro

    $100/mo

    • 40,000 AI messages / month
    • 10 chatbots
    • Train on up to 10,000 pages

To be clear about the trade-off: ChatBento doesn't have these, which Help Scout lists: live chat inbox for your team; WhatsApp, Messenger and other channels; native integrations; help desk ticketing.

See it on your own site first.

Enter your website and ChatBento reads it in about a minute. Free plan forever, no card.

ChatBento vs Help Scout, feature by featureChatBento pricing

Help Scout pricing. Questions, answered.

How much does Help Scout cost in 2026?

Help Scout lists Free: $0, up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts / mo; Standard: $25, per user / mo billed yearly ($30 monthly). Adds live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger; Plus: $45, per user / mo billed yearly ($54 monthly). Adds Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot; Pro: $75, per user / mo billed yearly ($90 monthly), minimum 10 users, book a demo; Envoy (AI Answers): $0.75, per resolution, billed monthly, on paid plans. Prices checked November 4, 2026 on Help Scout's own site.

Does Help Scout have a free plan or trial?

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. ChatBento has a free plan with 50 AI messages a month that doesn't expire, and needs no card.

Does Help Scout charge extra for AI or usage?

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. New accounts get 3 months of free, unlimited AI resolutions, starting the day the account is created. Help Scout's pricing page opens on annual billing, which it marks as 16% off; monthly prices are in brackets above.

Is Help Scout worth the price?

It can be, if your team answers email, chat and messaging in shared inboxes and wants a knowledge base in the same tool. It also earns its price if you want AI that hands off to agents inside the help desk, and $0.75 per resolution fits your volume. If you mainly want AI answers on your website, you'd be paying for more than you use.

What is a cheaper alternative to Help Scout?

ChatBento, 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 no seats or per-resolution fees. It doesn't yet cover everything Help Scout lists: live chat inbox for your team; WhatsApp, Messenger and other channels; native integrations; help desk ticketing.

Help Scout head to head

What similar tools cost

All comparisonsAll alternatives

Help Scout is a trademark of its owner; ChatBento is not affiliated with or endorsed by Help Scout. Prices are from Help Scout's own website and change often, so confirm on their pricing page before you buy.

Sources, checked November 4, 2026: helpscout.com/pricing, helpscout.com/agent

Help Scout starts at $25. ChatBento starts at $14.

Start freeSee pricing

Free plan forever. No card required.