Help Scout vs Freshdesk (2026)

Help Scout and Freshdesk are often the final two options for teams leaving Zendesk. Help Scout offers simplicity. Freshdesk offers features at lower cost.

Here’s an honest comparison—including when neither fits.

The Quick Answer

Choose Help Scout if: Simplicity matters most. You want email-like support that your team can use immediately without training.

Choose Freshdesk if: You need more features at lower cost. You’re okay with more complexity for more capability.

Choose neither if: Per-seat pricing doesn’t fit your team, you need multi-brand without expensive tiers, or you want API-first architecture.

Pricing Comparison

Help Scout Pricing

Tier	Price	Key Features
Standard	$20/user/mo	Email, chat, knowledge base
Plus	$40/user/mo	+ Multi-brand, custom fields, advanced reports
Pro	$65/user/mo	+ Enterprise security, HIPAA

Freshdesk Pricing

Tier	Price	Key Features
Free	$0	Basic ticketing, 10 agents max
Growth	$15/agent/mo	Automation, marketplace apps
Pro	$49/agent/mo	Multi-brand, custom reports, SLAs
Enterprise	$79/agent/mo	Sandbox, audit logs, skill routing

Price Analysis

For a 10-person team:

• Help Scout Standard: $200/month
• Help Scout Plus: $400/month
• Freshdesk Growth: $150/month
• Freshdesk Pro: $490/month

Freshdesk is 25% cheaper at the base level. But Help Scout Plus vs Freshdesk Pro is close ($400 vs $490).

The real comparison:

• Help Scout includes features at Standard that Freshdesk locks to Pro
• Freshdesk has a free tier; Help Scout doesn’t
• Multi-brand: Help Scout Plus ($40/user) vs Freshdesk Pro ($49/agent)

Feature Comparison

Core Features

Feature	Help Scout	Freshdesk
Email ticketing	✓	✓
Live chat	✓ (Beacon)	✓ (Freshchat)
Knowledge base	✓ (Docs)	✓
Automation	Basic	Advanced
Reporting	Standard/Plus	Growth+
API	Basic	Good

Where Help Scout Wins

Simplicity: Help Scout feels like email. No training needed. Your team can start responding immediately.

User experience: The interface is clean and opinionated. Less is more.

Customer perception: Conversations feel personal, not like tickets. Customers don’t feel like ticket #4521.

Knowledge base: Docs is genuinely good. Clean, searchable, easy to maintain.

Where Freshdesk Wins

Price: 25% cheaper at base tiers. Free tier for getting started.

Features: More automation, more routing options, more reporting depth.

Scalability: Handles higher volumes better. More enterprise features.

Integrations: Larger marketplace. More out-of-box connections.

Where Both Fall Short

Per-seat pricing: Both charge per user. Cross-functional collaboration becomes expensive.

Multi-brand: Both lock multi-brand to expensive tiers. Help Scout needs Plus ($40/user). Freshdesk needs Pro ($49/agent).

API: Neither is API-first. Both APIs are adequate but clearly secondary to the web UI.

Ease of Use

Help Scout

• Set up in hours
• No training needed
• Clean, intuitive interface
• Limited options = less confusion

Freshdesk

• Set up in a day or two
• Some training helpful
• More powerful but more complex
• More options = more decisions

Verdict: Help Scout wins on ease of use. That’s the entire point of Help Scout.

When to Choose Neither

Per-seat pricing from both means:

• Expensive to include engineers in support
• Expensive to let PMs see feedback
• Expensive to keep founders close to customers

Consider alternatives if:

• Your whole team needs visibility
• Multi-brand without high-tier pricing
• API-first matters
• Per-ticket economics make more sense

Alternatives:

• Dispatch Tickets: Per-ticket, unlimited users, multi-brand included
• Crisp: Flat pricing, chat + email
• Front: Shared inbox model

Decision Framework

Choose Help Scout if:

• Simplicity is #1 priority
• Team under 10 people
• Customer relationships over ticket volume
• Don’t need advanced automation
• Willing to pay for ease of use

Choose Freshdesk if:

• Need more features at lower cost
• Higher ticket volumes
• Want free tier to start
• Need more automation
• Okay with some complexity

Choose neither if:

• Per-seat pricing limits collaboration
• Need multi-brand without expensive upgrades
• API-first is a requirement
• Want whole team in support without seat costs

Migration Considerations

Help Scout → Freshdesk

• Freshdesk has Help Scout importer
• Conversations migrate well
• Saved replies need manual recreation
• Docs → Knowledge base is manual

Freshdesk → Help Scout

• Help Scout has basic import
• Some data loss likely
• Simpler = fewer features to migrate
• Automations won’t transfer

The Bottom Line

Help Scout and Freshdesk represent different philosophies:

• Help Scout: Less is more. Pay for simplicity.
• Freshdesk: More for less. Accept complexity for features.

Neither philosophy is wrong. The question is which trade-off fits your team.

If neither trade-off fits—if per-seat pricing is the real problem—look at per-ticket alternatives like Dispatch Tickets.

Related

• Help Scout Alternatives
• Freshdesk Alternatives
• Freshdesk vs Zendesk