Help ScoutZendeskHelp Scout vs Zendesk

Help Scout vs Zendesk: $125 against $275 a month

A shared inbox and help desk against a help desk suite: Help Scout is $150 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

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 Zendesk if your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage. For five people, Help Scout is $150 a month cheaper than Zendesk ($125 a month on Help Scout against $275 on Zendesk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $80 under Help Scout. Help Scout and Zendesk both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Help Scout has WhatsApp. Neither Help Scout nor Zendesk includes Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Help Scout and Zendesk sell here at one price.

At a glanceHelp ScoutHelp ScoutZendeskZendesk
Built aroundA calm email inbox · Beacon adds chatTickets and a queue · messaging came later
Entry plan$25/user/mo · Standard: 2 inboxes$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and tickets
Chat in the price$25/user/mo · Beacon on every plan$55/agent/mo · Suite Team
AI agent$0.75 per resolution · AI AnswersPer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printed
Copilot for agentsIncluded · AI inbox assistant$50/agent/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. Zendesk raises a ticket where Help Scout keeps a conversation.

    ZendeskZendesk

    As a ticket. Every channel, chat included, becomes a ticket with a status, a priority and an SLA clock. 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 $275 on Zendesk.

    ZendeskZendesk

    $19 buys email and tickets. Live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and AI agents start at Suite Team, $55. $275 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. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats as well.

    ZendeskZendesk

    AI agents are priced per automated resolution on top of seats, and the rate comes from your quote. 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 Zendesk.

    ZendeskZendesk

    Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice on Suite plans; WhatsApp conversation fees still apply. Help Scout adds WhatsApp, which Zendesk lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    Help ScoutHelp Scout

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

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. 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. Zendesk is a project.

    ZendeskZendesk

    A project. Queue, SLAs, routing and macros are set up before the first ticket is answered. Help Scout is an afternoon.

Sources: Help Scout pricing · Zendesk 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 Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields
ZendeskZendesk. The Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields

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, automated resolutions on Zendesk

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.

ZendeskZendesk

$725/mo

Adds messaging, live chat, voice and AI agents.

5 × $55 seats
$275
300 automated resolutions × $1.5
$450
Copilot, 5 × $50
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Zendesk's pricing page says AI agents are priced per automated resolution and does not print the rate. $1.50 is the figure Zendesk has quoted publicly; change it to what your quote says. 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); Zendesk 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, Zendesk 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 ScoutZendeskZendeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per user; extra inboxes $10; AI per resolution.
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
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.
Suite plans
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.
Suite plans, plus conversation fees
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Included on paid plans.
Suite plans
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not a channel.
Third-party apps only
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications.
Slack notifications and side conversations
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI Answers, trained on Docs.
All plans, trained on the help center
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
$0.75 per resolution.
Per automated resolution, on top of seats
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to the inbox.
Escalates to agents
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.
Triggers and automations, form-based
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and Happiness ratings.
Explore; advanced on higher plans
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile apps.
Browser and mobile only
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 $150 a month less than on Zendesk ($125 against $275), before AI.
  • You need WhatsApp in the price, which Zendesk does not include outright.

Pick Zendesk if

  • Your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage.
  • You need phone support and a contact center in the same tool.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Help Scout does not have.
  • Time to the first reply is a project here and an afternoon on Help Scout.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Help Scout or Zendesk who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $125 a month on Help Scout against $275 on Zendesk for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Help Scout meters AI ($0.75 per resolution) above the seats, Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Help Scout nor Zendesk 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. Zendesk on Suite Team: $110, $275 and $550 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 $230 less than Zendesk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $155 under Help Scout and $455 under Zendesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Help Scout is a shared inbox and help desk built around a calm email inbox; Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue. Only Help Scout has a free plan (5 users, 100 contacts a month); Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional. Help Scout and Zendesk both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Help Scout has WhatsApp. Neither Help Scout nor Zendesk includes Telegram outright. Help Scout ($0.75 per resolution) and Zendesk (per automated resolution) both meter AI above the seats. Zendesk has tickets and Help Scout does not, and neither Help Scout nor Zendesk ships a desktop app. Help Scout is an afternoon; Zendesk is a project.

What each price leaves out

Help Scout: AI Inbox assistant included; AI Answers (the chatbot) $0.75 per resolution. Zendesk: AI agents are billed per automated resolution on top of the seat price; the Copilot add-on is $50 per agent per month. Beside Help Scout's $0.75 per resolution and Zendesk's per automated 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
    ZendeskZendeskAssumed $1.5$720
    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
    ZendeskZendesk · 14-day trial of Suite 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 Zendesk: the questions people ask

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

  • Entry plan: Help Scout $25/user/mo (Standard: 2 inboxes); Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets).
  • Chat in the price: Help Scout $25/user/mo (Beacon on every plan); Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team).
  • Sellio: Telegram, which neither Help Scout nor Zendesk has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Help Scout and Zendesk rows is on the shared inbox page.

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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