Freshdesk vs Help Scout (2026): Pricing and Features Compared

Freshdesk and Help Scout both target small and midsize support teams, but they start from different places. Freshdesk is a ticketing help desk that includes a knowledge base and customer portal on its entry plan. Help Scout is built around a shared inbox, offers an ongoing free plan, and lists messaging channels on its first paid tier.

This comparison covers pricing, AI costs, self-service, routing, and SLAs. All figures were checked against the Freshdesk pricing page and the Help Scout pricing page on October 24, 2026.

Quick Summary

Choose Help Scout if you want to start free, your support runs mainly through email and chat, and you prefer an inbox-style workspace.

Choose Freshdesk if you want the lowest per-agent paid price, a ticket-centric workflow, and a published price for enterprise controls such as sandbox and audit logs.

Pricing Compared

	Freshdesk	Help Scout
Free	—	$0 (up to 5 users)
Entry paid plan	Growth: $19/agent/mo	Standard: $25/user/mo
Mid tier	Pro: $55/agent/mo	Plus: $45/user/mo
Top tier	Enterprise: $89/agent/mo	Pro: $75/user/mo (minimum 10 users)

Freshdesk’s prices are per agent, billed annually. The pricing page has a monthly toggle but doesn’t show monthly prices. Help Scout’s page has a monthly/annual toggle labeled “-16%” but doesn’t say which basis its listed prices reflect, so confirm before comparing like for like.

At the listed prices, a 5-person team would pay:

• Freshdesk Growth: $95/month, billed annually.
• Help Scout Standard: $125/month.
• Help Scout Free: $0, if the team helps no more than 100 contacts a month and can work within the free plan’s limits.

The order flips at the middle tier. Help Scout Plus ($45) costs less per seat than Freshdesk Pro ($55), and both are the tier where round-robin routing and stronger SLA tools appear.

The Free Plan Question

Help Scout’s free plan is the clearest difference. It covers up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, and 100 contacts per month. Help Scout counts a contact as someone who received a reply from your team or had a question resolved by its AI assistant, and repeat conversations with the same person count once. The free plan also caps saved replies, tags, and Docs articles at 10 each and allows 1 integration.

Freshdesk has no free plan. Signing up starts a 14-day trial of the Enterprise plan, after which you choose a paid plan or the account is suspended. Because the trial runs on Enterprise, note which features you configure during it. Skill-based assignment, sandbox, and audit logs won’t carry over to Growth or Pro.

Feature Differences That Matter

Workspace model. Help Scout presents support work as conversations in shared inboxes, close to how email already works. Freshdesk is organized around tickets, with dispatch rules and automations from the Growth plan. Our guide to shared inboxes vs. help desk software explains why that distinction matters as volume grows.

Self-service. Both include a knowledge base on every plan. Freshdesk pairs its knowledge base with a customer portal from Growth. Help Scout includes Docs sites by tier: 1 on Free with up to 10 articles, 2 on Standard, 3 on Plus, and 5 on Pro. Extra sites cost $20/month billed annually.

Channels. Help Scout lists live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger on Standard, with phone available through integrations such as Aircall. Freshdesk’s pricing page doesn’t list chat, phone, or social channels plan by plan, so confirm channel coverage with Freshworks before you buy.

AI costs. The two vendors bill AI differently:

• Freshdesk includes 500 free AI Agent sessions once per account, then charges $49 per 100 sessions. Freddy AI Copilot is a $29/agent/month add-on on Pro and Enterprise.
• Help Scout includes AI Assist, AI Summarize, and AI Drafts. AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution after a 3-month free period, with an optional monthly spending cap.

Per conversation, those rates are close: $0.49 per Freshdesk session versus $0.75 per Help Scout resolution. They measure different things, though. A Help Scout resolution only counts when the AI resolves the conversation without human help, and a Freshdesk Email AI Agent session is a 72-hour window.

Routing and SLAs. Freshdesk adds round-robin and load-balanced assignment, intelligent routing, and multiple SLA policies on Pro, with skill-based assignment on Enterprise. Help Scout lists 1 basic SLA policy on Standard, round-robin routing and 2 advanced SLA policies on Plus, and multiple routing types with unlimited SLA policies on Pro. For how to set SLA targets, see our help desk SLA guide.

Enterprise controls. Freshdesk publishes a price for sandbox, audit logs, and IP whitelisting on Enterprise ($89/agent/month). Help Scout lists SSO/SAML, HIPAA compliance, and IP restrictions as add-ons without published prices.

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose Help Scout if:

• You’re a small team that wants to start on a free plan and upgrade later.
• Your support is mostly email, chat, and messaging rather than phone.
• You want round-robin routing at a lower per-seat price than Freshdesk Pro.

Choose Freshdesk if:

• You want the lowest per-agent price on a paid plan.
• You prefer a ticket-centric workflow with a customer portal from the entry tier.
• You need sandbox, audit logs, or IP whitelisting at a published price.

For the full picture of each tool, read our Help Scout review and Freshdesk review. If Zendesk is also on your shortlist, see Zendesk vs Freshdesk.

FAQ

Is Help Scout cheaper than Freshdesk?

It depends on team size and tier. Help Scout is cheaper for very small teams because its free plan costs nothing. On entry paid plans, Freshdesk Growth ($19/agent/month) costs less than Help Scout Standard ($25/user/month). At the middle tier, Help Scout Plus ($45) costs less than Freshdesk Pro ($55).

Does Freshdesk have a free plan like Help Scout?

No. Freshdesk offers a 14-day trial of its Enterprise plan, then requires a paid plan. Help Scout’s free plan is ongoing for up to 5 users and 100 contacts per month.

Which has the better knowledge base?

Both include one on every plan. Freshdesk’s comes with a customer portal from Growth. Help Scout’s Docs is included on every plan, with more Docs sites on higher tiers and a 10-article cap on the free plan.

Can I switch from Freshdesk to Help Scout or vice versa?

Yes, but plan for manual work. Expect to rebuild automations, routing rules, saved replies, and SLA policies, since these don’t transfer between platforms automatically. Check which history and knowledge base content each vendor can import before you commit.