Help ScoutFrontHelp Scout vs Front

Help Scout vs Front: $125 or $325 for five people

A shared inbox and help desk against a team inbox: Help Scout is $200 a month cheaper for five people. Where Help Scout and Front split, and a third option for small teams.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Help Scout if email is your main channel and you want the calmest inbox your agents will ever use. Pick Front if email is the channel and you want shared drafts, comments and sequences on every thread. For five people, Help Scout is $200 a month cheaper than Front ($125 a month on Help Scout against $325 on Front), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $80 below Help Scout. Help Scout and Front both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Help Scout has WhatsApp. Neither Help Scout nor Front includes Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Help Scout against Front, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceHelp ScoutHelp ScoutFrontFront
Built aroundA calm email inbox · Beacon adds chatShared email · comments and drafts on every thread
Entry plan$25/user/mo · Standard: 2 inboxes$25/seat/mo · Starter: one channel type
Chat in the price$25/user/mo · Beacon on every plan$65/seat/mo · Professional: omnichannel
AI agent$0.75 per resolution · AI AnswersFrom $0.05 per conversation · Autopilot
Copilot for agentsIncluded · AI inbox assistant$20/seat/mo
Free planYes · 5 users, 100 contacts a monthNone · 14-day trial

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

    As a conversation in a shared inbox, assigned and tagged; it is email first, with Beacon chat beside it. Front has no ticket queue either.

    FrontFront

    As a thread in a shared inbox that teammates comment on and draft together; it is email first. Help Scout has no ticket queue either.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

    $25 buys two inboxes on Standard. More inboxes are $10 a month each; Pro has a ten-user minimum. $125 for five people, against $325 on Front.

    FrontFront

    $25 buys one channel type and up to ten seats. Omnichannel and fifty seats start at Professional, $65. $325 for five people, against $125 on Help Scout.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

    AI Answers, the chatbot, is $0.75 per resolution. The AI inbox assistant is included. Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats as well.

    FrontFront

    Autopilot, the AI agent, from $0.05 a conversation; Copilot is $20 per seat and Smart QA $20 per seat. Help Scout meters AI ($0.75 per resolution) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

    Email, Beacon chat, Messenger and SMS; no WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. WhatsApp is here and not on Front.

    FrontFront

    Email on Starter; chat, SMS, WhatsApp and voice on Professional and up. Help Scout adds WhatsApp, which Front lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

    Docs, the knowledge base, and customer profiles with properties; no contact center or campaigns. Front is a team inbox instead.

    FrontFront

    Sequences, calendar, account views and analytics for logistics, finance and account teams. Help Scout is a shared inbox and help desk instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

    An afternoon: forward the support address, add Beacon, invite the team. Front is a day.

    FrontFront

    A day: connect the mailboxes, set rules and assignments, then add the chat widget. Help Scout is an afternoon.

Sources: Help Scout pricing · Front pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Help Scout inbox: a conversation list, the email thread and the customer sidebar
Help ScoutHelp Scout. The Help Scout inbox: a conversation list, the email thread and the customer sidebar
The Front inbox: the thread with internal comments beside it and the assignment bar on top
FrontFront. The Front inbox: the thread with internal comments beside it and the assignment bar on top

What your team would pay

Move the sliders. Yearly-billing rates from each vendor’s pricing page, next to Sellio’s plan for the same number of seats.

5 people who answer customers

50

300 AI Answers resolutions on Help Scout, Autopilot conversations on Front

3000+
Help ScoutHelp Scout

$350/mo

Two inboxes, Beacon chat, Docs.

5 × $25 seats
$125
300 AI Answers resolutions × $0.75
$225

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. $0.75 per resolution by AI Answers, as printed. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

FrontFront

$340/mo

Omnichannel, up to fifty seats.

5 × $65 seats
$325
300 Autopilot conversations × $0.05
$15
Copilot, 5 × $20
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. From $0.05 per conversation handled by Autopilot, as printed. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

Sellio · Mini

$55/mo

One price for the workspace: 3 channels, 2 AI agents, $5 AI credit a month.

Workspace, 5 of 5 seats
$45
AI past 100 included conversations
$10
Copilot for agents
Included

About $0.05 per AI conversation past the credit, with a daily and monthly cap you set. Yearly billing takes 20% off. See every plan.

Pricing references: Help Scout pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Front pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06). Calculator uses yearly-billing rates. Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

5 people, website chat plus 2 more channels, 2 AI agents: $45 a month. Start free, no card.

Start freeSee every plan

Help Scout, Front and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureHelp ScoutHelp ScoutFrontFrontSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per user; extra inboxes $10; AI per resolution.
Per seat; channels tiered; AI add-ons per seat.
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
5 users, 1 inbox, 100 contacts a month.
14-day trial.
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Beacon.
Chat channel; Starter allows one channel type.
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
The core of the product.
The core of the product.
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Included on paid plans.
Professional and up, via add-on.
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Included on paid plans.
Professional and up.
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not a channel.
Not a channel.
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications.
Slack and Teams integrations.
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI Answers, trained on Docs.
Autopilot.
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
$0.75 per resolution.
From $0.05 per conversation; Copilot $20 per seat.
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to the inbox.
Routes to teammates.
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Conversations with status; no separate ticket object.
Conversations with tags and status.
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Workflows; rule lists with counts per plan.
Rules engine; visual on higher plans.
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and Happiness ratings.
Analytics on Professional and up.
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile apps.
Mac and Windows apps.
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Help Scout if

  • Email is your main channel and you want the calmest inbox your agents will ever use.
  • You want a mature knowledge base in the same product.
  • Five people cost $200 a month less than on Front ($125 against $325), before AI.
  • You need WhatsApp in the price, which Front does not include outright.

Pick Front if

  • Email is the channel and you want shared drafts, comments and sequences on every thread.
  • You run logistics, finance or account management where a thread is a piece of work.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Help Scout does not ship.
  • Time to the first reply is a day here and an afternoon on Help Scout.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $125 a month on Help Scout against $325 on Front for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Help Scout meters AI ($0.75 per resolution) above the seats, Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and tickets raised from a chat, which neither Help Scout nor Front includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Help Scout on Standard: $50, $125 and $250 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Front on Professional: $130, $325 and $650 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $80 less than Help Scout and $280 less than Front for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $155 under Help Scout and $555 under Front.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Help Scout is a shared inbox and help desk built around a calm email inbox; Front is a team inbox built around shared email. Only Help Scout has a free plan (5 users, 100 contacts a month); Front offers a 14-day trial of Professional. Help Scout and Front both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Help Scout has WhatsApp. Neither Help Scout nor Front includes Telegram outright. Help Scout ($0.75 per resolution) and Front (from $0.05 per conversation) both meter AI above the seats. Neither Help Scout nor Front has a ticket queue, and only Front ships desktop apps. Help Scout is an afternoon; Front is a day.

What each price leaves out

Help Scout: AI Inbox assistant included; AI Answers (the chatbot) $0.75 per resolution. Front: Autopilot AI agent from $0.05 per conversation; Copilot $20 per seat per month and Smart QA $20 per seat (included on Enterprise). Beside Help Scout's $0.75 per resolution and Front's from $0.05 per conversation, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    Help ScoutHelp Scout$0.75$360
    FrontFront$0.05$24
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    Help ScoutHelp Scout · 15 days, no card
    FrontFront · 14-day trial of Professional
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Help Scout vs Front: the questions people ask

Help Scout is a shared inbox and help desk built around a calm email inbox; Front is a team inbox built around shared email. Neither Help Scout nor Front has a ticket queue, and only Front ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Help Scout $25/user/mo (Standard: 2 inboxes); Front $25/seat/mo (Starter: one channel type).
  • Chat in the price: Help Scout $25/user/mo (Beacon on every plan); Front $65/seat/mo (Professional: omnichannel).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: Telegram, which neither Help Scout nor Front has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Help Scout and Front on the same rows.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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