1v1 Pricing Showdown
Help Scout vs Intercom
Side-by-side pricing breakdown for Help Desk decision-makers
Prices in USD, verified from the United States. Regional pricing may vary.
When choosing between Help Scout and Intercom for your help desk stack, the right answer depends on three things: your budget, the specific features you actually use day-to-day, and your tolerance for renewal-price increases. Below we lay out the prices each vendor advertises today (verified against their live pricing pages), the plan limits that decide whether they'll fit your team, and the features that differ between them.
Help Scout starts at $25/mo; Intercom starts at $29/mo. The cheaper headline price isn't always the cheaper total cost — renewal pricing, per-user fees, and overage charges can shift the math. Use the plan-by-plan tables below to model your actual spend.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| shared inbox | Yes | Yes |
| live chat | Standard+ | — |
| instagram messenger | Standard+ | — |
| Plus+ | — | |
| knowledge base | Yes | — |
| workflows | Standard basic, Plus advanced, Pro unlimited | Advanced+ |
| sla policies | Plus (2), Pro (unlimited) | Expert+ |
| ai inbox assistant | Standard+ | — |
| ai drafts | Plus unlimited | — |
| sso saml | Pro | — |
| hipaa | Pro | Expert+ |
| ai answers add on | $0.75/resolution | — |
| messenger widget | — | Yes |
| ticketing | — | Yes |
| help center | — | Yes |
| multiple inboxes | — | Advanced+ |
| round robin routing | — | Advanced+ |
| sso | — | Expert+ |
| multibrand support | — | Expert+ |
| fin ai outcome pricing | — | $0.99 per resolved conversation |
| copilot add on | — | $29/agent/mo |
| proactive support plus add on | — | $99/mo (500 messages) |
Affiliate links — you pay the same price
Dive Deeper
About the help desk category
Help desk pricing in 2026 has split between 'traditional tickets' (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout) and 'AI-powered conversations' (Intercom, Crisp). Traditional players charge per agent at $19-89/mo entry tiers. Intercom pivoted to outcome-based pricing — $0.99 per AI resolution — plus seat fees. For a 10-person support team handling 500 tickets/mo, Intercom Advanced runs $850 + $495 AI = $1,345/mo. Help Scout Standard at $21/user annual = $210/mo — 6x cheaper. The question: are you paying for automation depth or software that doesn't do the work?
How to choose between help desk options
Decide first: are you supporting customers who reach out (tickets/chat) or proactively engaging (onboarding flows, upsells)? For reactive support: Help Scout or Freshdesk are significantly cheaper with similar functionality. For proactive messaging: Intercom's Messenger is still category-leading. Second: AI automation budget. If you want AI to handle 30%+ of tickets automatically, Intercom Fin ($0.99/outcome) or Zendesk Copilot ($50/agent/mo) can deliver that — but costs add up. If human agents do most work, cheaper tools serve you. Third: team size. Crisp's Mini at $45/mo flat for 4 seats is dramatically cheaper than Intercom Essential ($29 × 4 = $116/mo) for small teams.
Building Your Business Stack?
Decision-makers comparing tools often need more than one category. Here are related comparisons:
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Help Scout cheaper than Intercom?
- Help Scout is cheaper starting at $25/mo. Help Scout starts at $25/mo and Intercom at $29/mo.
- Does Help Scout or Intercom offer a free plan?
- Help Scout offers a free plan.
- Which is better, Help Scout or Intercom?
- Help Scout scores 9/10 compared to Intercom's 8.5/10 in our analysis. Help Scout ranks higher on features and value, but Intercom may suit specific use cases — see the feature comparison above.
- Is Help Scout cheaper than Intercom for a team of 5?
- For a team of 5, Help Scout costs $125/mo (5 x $25) and Intercom costs $29/mo (flat rate). Intercom is the cheaper option at this team size.
- Are there other help desk alternatives besides Help Scout and Intercom?
- Yes. Our [Help Desk pricing comparison](/pricing/help-desk/) page covers all major providers with daily-verified prices. You can also see the [cheapest help desk](/pricing/help-desk/cheapest/) for budget-focused options.