Help Scout vs Intercom
A side-by-side look at what Help Scout and Intercom publish about pricing, plans and features.
This page sets the two products' recorded data side by side. It is not an editorial review — nobody has tested either product for this page, and the figures below are not independently verified. Read how we handle data and what each label means.
| Field | Help Scout | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Customer Support | Customer Support |
| Entry price | $22/mo | $39/mo |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | 15-day trial | 14-day trial |
| Tagged for | Small Teams | Startups |
| G2 rating unverified | 4.4 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Capterra rating unverified | 4.6 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
Where they differ
- Entry pricing recorded here is $22/month for Help Scout and $39/month for Intercom. Plan structures differ, so these are not like-for-like — check both pricing pages before comparing totals.
Head to head
Help Scout
Help Scout keeps support human-scale: a shared inbox that feels like email, light workflows, Docs knowledge base and Beacon chat, without the enterprise machinery. Customers never see a ticket number, which fits brands that want conversations rather than cases. It is priced fairly and set up in a day; large operations needing complex routing, deep customization or heavy analytics will eventually need more platform than it offers.
Email-first support that feels personal.
What we record about Help Scout →Reported strengths
- Simple and human
- Great shared inbox
- Fast setup
Reported drawbacks
- Fewer enterprise features
- No free plan
Intercom
Intercom reinvented itself around AI-first support: its Fin agent resolves a meaningful share of conversations before humans get involved, on top of the polished messenger, help center and product tours it was known for. It suits SaaS companies that treat support as part of the product experience. Pricing is the recurring objection — per-seat costs plus usage-based AI resolution fees make bills hard to predict at volume.
Conversational support with AI agents.
What we record about Intercom →Reported strengths
- Excellent chat
- Strong AI
- Modern UX
Reported drawbacks
- Expensive
- Usage-based pricing