Help ScoutHappyFoxHelp Scout vs HappyFox

Help Scout vs HappyFox: five seats for $125 or $120

A shared inbox and help desk against a help desk: HappyFox is $5 a month cheaper for five people. Where Help Scout and HappyFox 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 HappyFox if you want a classic ticket help desk with SLAs and are fine buying chat separately. For five people, HappyFox is $5 a month cheaper than Help Scout ($125 a month on Help Scout against $120 on HappyFox), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $75 below HappyFox. Help Scout and HappyFox both include email in the price; only Help Scout has website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Help Scout nor HappyFox includes Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Help Scout against HappyFox, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceHelp ScoutHelp ScoutHappyFoxHappyFox
Built aroundA calm email inbox · Beacon adds chatTickets · chat and chatbot sold separately
Entry plan$25/user/mo · Standard: 2 inboxes$24/agent/mo · Help Desk, yearly
Chat in the price$25/user/mo · Beacon on every planSeparate product · HappyFox Chat
AI agent$0.75 per resolution · AI Answers$0.33 per resolution · the Chatbot product
Copilot for agentsIncluded · AI inbox assistant$14/agent/mo · HappyFox AI
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. HappyFox raises a ticket where Help Scout keeps a conversation.

    HappyFoxHappyFox

    As a ticket from email, a form or the chat product, with categories, priorities and SLAs. Help Scout has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  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 $120 on HappyFox.

    HappyFoxHappyFox

    $24 buys the help desk on the entry plan, capped at five agents; higher plans lift the cap. $120 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. HappyFox meters AI ($0.33 per resolution) above the seats as well.

    HappyFoxHappyFox

    HappyFox AI is $14 per agent; the Chatbot is $0.33 per resolution; Autopilot actions from two cents. 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. website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram are here and not on HappyFox.

    HappyFoxHappyFox

    Email, forms and social in the help desk; live chat is a separate product, no Telegram. Help Scout adds website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram, which HappyFox lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

    Docs, the knowledge base, and customer profiles with properties; no contact center or campaigns. HappyFox is a help desk instead.

    HappyFoxHappyFox

    A contact center suite, a service desk for IT and a CRM, each priced on its own. 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. HappyFox is a day.

    HappyFoxHappyFox

    A day: connect the mailbox, set categories and SLAs. Help Scout is an afternoon.

Sources: Help Scout pricing · HappyFox 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 HappyFox ticket list: the queue with categories, priorities and the ticket detail
HappyFoxHappyFox. The HappyFox ticket list: the queue with categories, priorities and the ticket detail

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, Chatbot resolutions on HappyFox

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.

HappyFoxHappyFox

$219/mo

Ticketing, capped at five agents.

5 × $24 seats
$120
300 Chatbot resolutions × $0.33
$99
Copilot, 5 × $14
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. $0.33 per resolution by the HappyFox Chatbot, as printed. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

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); HappyFox pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). 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, HappyFox 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 ScoutHappyFoxHappyFoxSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per user; extra inboxes $10; AI per resolution.
Per agent; AI per agent and per resolution
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
5 users, 1 inbox, 100 contacts a month.
None; 14-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI Answers, trained on Docs.
Chatbot product
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
$0.75 per resolution.
$0.33 per resolution
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to the inbox.
Creates a ticket
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Conversations with status; no separate ticket object.
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Workflows; rule lists with counts per plan.
Smart rules; Workflows product extra
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and Happiness ratings.
Reports and CSAT
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile apps.
Browser and mobile
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.
  • You need website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram in the price, which HappyFox does not include outright.
  • You want a free plan to start on; HappyFox offers a 14-day trial, no card.

Pick HappyFox if

  • You want a classic ticket help desk with SLAs and are fine buying chat separately.
  • You like AI priced per resolution at a low rate.
  • Five people cost $5 a month less than on Help Scout ($120 against $125), before AI.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Help Scout does not have.

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 $120 on HappyFox 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, HappyFox meters AI ($0.33 per resolution) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Help Scout nor HappyFox 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. HappyFox on Help Desk Basic: $48, $120 and $240 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 $75 less than HappyFox for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $155 under Help Scout and $145 under HappyFox.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Help Scout is a shared inbox and help desk built around a calm email inbox; HappyFox is a help desk built around tickets. Only Help Scout has a free plan (5 users, 100 contacts a month); HappyFox offers a 14-day trial, no card. Help Scout and HappyFox both include email in the price; only Help Scout has website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Help Scout nor HappyFox includes Telegram outright. Help Scout ($0.75 per resolution) and HappyFox ($0.33 per resolution) both meter AI above the seats. HappyFox has tickets and Help Scout does not, and neither Help Scout nor HappyFox ships a desktop app. Help Scout is an afternoon; HappyFox is a day.

What each price leaves out

Help Scout: AI Inbox assistant included; AI Answers (the chatbot) $0.75 per resolution. HappyFox: HappyFox AI $14 per agent per month; Chatbot $0.33 per resolution; Autopilot from two cents per action. Beside Help Scout's $0.75 per resolution and HappyFox's $0.33 per resolution, 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
    HappyFoxHappyFox$0.33$158
    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
    HappyFoxHappyFox · 14-day trial, no card
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Help Scout vs HappyFox: the questions people ask

Help Scout is a shared inbox and help desk built around a calm email inbox; HappyFox is a help desk built around tickets. HappyFox has tickets and Help Scout does not, and neither Help Scout nor HappyFox ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Help Scout $25/user/mo (Standard: 2 inboxes); HappyFox $24/agent/mo (Help Desk, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: Help Scout $25/user/mo (Beacon on every plan); HappyFox Separate product (HappyFox Chat).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: Telegram, which neither Help Scout nor HappyFox has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Help Scout and HappyFox 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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