12 Help Scout Alternatives: Which Helpdesk To Choose?

Help Scout is one of the top names in helpdesk software that combines email and live chat in one inbox. Its simplistic approach, unfortunately, comes at the cost of putting the most helpful ecommerce features, like social media integration, behind more expensive plans. In addition, users report:

• Limited app integrations
• Slow software for large ticket volumes
• Inaccurate reports

While the software you use should be easy to use, it should also have all the features you need. That’s why we’ve gathered 12 Help Scout alternatives that offer better features, pricing, and versatility than Help Scout. From ecommerce-based software to software with a free plan, we’ve got a helpdesk solution for you.

Gorgias: Best Help Scout alternative for ecommerce brands

Gorgias is a helpdesk tool geared towards ecommerce businesses. Whether you’re a small business or an online store with years of experience, Gorgias is familiar with your needs thanks to its user base of 10,000+ direct-to-consumer brands. 

Automation lies at the heart of Gorgias’s features, helping support teams address customer concerns with speed and accuracy.

Features: Gorgias is built with 100% ecommerce features, Help Scout isn’t

Gorgias covers online stores and ecommerce teams with features that directly address their concerns. That means instant integrations to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp and Shopify order management actions like one-click refunds and edits on all plans.

No matter which plan you choose, Gorgias can connect to your social media accounts and display all of your comments and messages in one comprehensive view. Support your customers wherever they are, without having to switch windows, tabs, or even devices. 

Gorgias integrates with:

• Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to centralize customer interactions
• Klaviyo and Attentive to manage marketing campaigns
• Over 100+ other apps ecommerce brands use daily
• Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento to simplify order management tasks

🛍️ Learn more about Gorgias and Shopify.

Resolve issues faster with one-click actions

With integrated Shopify actions, you can edit, duplicate, and change orders directly within Gorgias, so you can provide faster customer service. Gorgias’s convenient user interface allows you to:

• View detailed customer information and purchase history 
• Generate unique discount codes
• Create, cancel, and edit orders
• Issue full or partial refunds
• Check and manage stock levels

“Gorgias is the best support platform for businesses running on Shopify. The deep Shopify integrations are an invaluable part of our support process and save us countless hours a month.”

– Italic

🏃‍♂️ Learn how The Girlfriend Doctor answers tickets 40% faster with Gorgias

Automation: Gorgias has more automation for stores on Shopify and other ecommerce platforms

Gorgias speeds up your team’s efficiency with Automation Add-on which provides quick automated responses in your chat bot, including order information and product and article recommendations, so your agents can focus on your most pressing requests.

With Flows, you can effortlessly address customer FAQs using automated responses in your chat widget or Help Center. You can then elevate these interactions by incorporating multi-step Flows. For example, you can create a quiz within the Flow that offers personalized product recommendations based on a shopper’s answers.

Once customer inquiries roll in, Macros does the work by auto-populating your messages with information pulled from Shopify and other ecommerce tools. 

With Gorgias automation, you can:

• Automatically tag tickets to organize your inbox
• Prioritize tickets to flag customers who need the most help
• Auto-reply to customers in your brand’s voice
• Automatically send tracking order information to where is my order? requests

Pricing: Gorgias offers unlimited users, Help Scout charges per user

Gorgias starts at $10 per month for 3 users and 50 billable tickets on the Starter plan. When you upgrade to the Basic, Pro, Advanced, or Enterprise plans, you get access to up to 500 user seats. All plans include Shopify and social media integration (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), Macros, and support performance statistics. 

If your team deals with a large volume of support tickets, consider the following add-ons: 

• Automation Add-on
• Voice Add-on
• SMS Add-on

Gorgias is also available on the App Store for iOS users and Google Play Store for Android users.

Does Gorgias have a free trial?

Yes, Gorgias has a 7-day free trial.

🔢 Check out Gorgias’s pricing here.

Reporting: Gorgias provides detailed reports on revenue and support performance

To make sure your team takes the right next steps, Gorgias keeps track of your revenue and support performance statistics. These features can pinpoint which of your support tickets led to sales and which agents helped make them come to life.

Revenue and support performance metrics can even be converted into insightful reports that tell you just what your team needs to know. Used together with customer satisfaction surveys, you’ll be able to refine both your support process and team performance in no time. 

Integrations: Gorgias has 10x more integrations with ecommerce apps

Gorgias streamlines getting tasks done with 100+ app integrations and omnichannel capability.

Gorgias integrates with the following tools:

• Ecommerce platforms: Shopify, BigCommerce, and Adobe Commerce (Magento)
• Marketing tools: Klaviyo, Attentive, and more
• Reviews and loyalty tools: Yotpo, LoyaltyLion, and more 
• Subscription tools: Recharge, Skio, and more
• Shipping and fulfillment tools: ShibBob, LateShipment.com, and more
• Returns tools: Loop Returns, Returnly, and more

Chat with customers across multiple channels on Gorgias, including:

• Email
• Live chat
• Instagram
• Facebook
• WhatsApp
• SMS
• Voice
• Help Center
• Contact Form

👥 Learn how Gorgias gathers your social media messages in one helpdesk.

Zendesk: Best Help Scout alternative for enterprise-level teams

Zendesk is the best choice for large companies like airlines, telecommunication companies, and hospitals. They specialize in sales and offer a sweeping variety of reporting and analytics tools that rival most helpdesks.

If you’re a smaller online business, onboarding with a non-ecommerce-based tool like Zendesk will come with a big learning curve and an even bigger price tag.

Features: Zendesk is more feature-rich and customizable (but harder to use)

Zendesk is a helpdesk that focuses on heavier enterprise-level tasks by leveraging AI. Zendesk features include standard helpdesk functionality like ticketing, automation, and social media integration, as well as more unique features like Advanced AI.

Advanced AI adds bots and provides AI-powered macro suggestions to agents to accelerate their workflow. Currently, only teams on the Suite Professional plan or higher are eligible for the Advanced AI add-on.

🆚 Compare Zendesk and Gorgias.

Automation: Zendesk has GPT-powered bots

With ChatGPT integration, Zendesk’s bots can provide intelligent answers while maintaining your brand’s unique voice. Out of the box, Zendesk bots can recommend articles customers may find helpful to their inquiries. When set up with Answers, they become better at answering similar and more complex questions.

Help Scout also has its own chatbot, Beacon. The main difference, however, is that Beacon doesn’t integrate with ChatGPT and simply outputs pre-written answers you supply it with, while Zendesk’s bots can provide answers on their own. 

Pricing: Zendesk has similar low-price plans, but you should only use it if you can pay for enterprise plans

Zendesk has a more expansive list of plans for enterprise companies than most helpdesk software.

Zendesk pricing starts at $19 per user per month for only its customer support features. For more feature and customization, the Suite Team plan is $49 per user per month and goes up to the Suite Professional at $150 per user per month. 

If you’re an enterprise business that requires more, you’ll need to speak to a Zendesk sales agent to build a custom plan starting at $215 per month.

Does Zendesk have a free trial?

Yes, Zendesk has a 14-day free trial.

Reporting: Zendesk Explore creates deeper, more flexible reports

Zendesk Explore’s reporting abilities are wider in scope unlike Help Scout’s. You can forecast growth and create custom dashboards according to your sales goals. Then, gain insight from data by creating your own report or choosing a pre-built report from Zendesk’s library.

Zendesk Explore is available in three plans: Explore Lite which contains pre-built reports, Explore Professional which allows custom reports, and Explore Enterprise which includes a live dashboard and sharing features.

Integrations: Zendesk has 100s more integrations (but they aren’t as plug-and-play)

Zendesk has a much more extensive app library than Help Scout, but they don’t include as many ecommerce apps. 

As a multi-channel helpdesk, Zendesk can connect to the following:

• Email
• Voice
• SMS
• Live chat

Front: Best for client services

If your support team thrives on collaboration and email clients like Gmail, Front is for you. With Front’s shared inbox, you and your team members can share notes on email drafts before they’re sent out to your most important clients. 

Features: Front’s features are built around internal collaboration, not ticket management

Front's features prioritize internal collaboration in the form of email sharing. Emails can be assigned to specific members, including those outside of your team, so every task gets the attention it needs. To keep your priorities organized, emails can also be tagged with private or shared tags.

On the downside, some users report Front’s user experience to be unreliable. With keyboard shortcuts being accidentally activated to emails being lost in folders, a thorough setup of Front is essential.

🆚 Compare Front and Gorgias.

Automation: Front favors human touch, not automation

Team collaboration and proactive customer service are at Front’s core, so it’s no surprise that automation is a secondary feature. Rule templates are available in Front’s user-friendly Rule library, but you can’t create custom rules unless you’re on an enterprise-level plan like Scale or Premier. 

Chatbots are said to be coming soon and will be available on all plans except Starter.

Pricing: Front requires a minimum number of user seats

Front starts at $19 per user per month with a maximum of 10 users on the Starter plan. Its most popular plan, Scale, costs $99 per user per month and requires a minimum of 20 users. 

The biggest difference between Front and Help Scout is that Help Scout doesn’t require a minimum number of user seats on any of its plans. 

Does Front have a free trial?

Yes, Front has a 7-day free trial.

Integrations: Front has superior integrations to project management apps

Front has a sizeable app library, but its strongest integrations are with project management apps like:

• Jira
• Asana
• Monday
• Trello
• Github

Front connects to the following channels:

• Email
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Third-party messaging apps
• Voice
• Phone
• SMS (as an add-on)

9 other Help Scout competitors to consider

If you still want to explore helpdesk options beyond our top three picks of Gorgias, Zendesk, and Front, take a look at nine more Help Scout alternatives below. 

Zoho Desk, Salesforce Service Cloud, and Hubspot Service Hub: For teams already using one of these CRMs

Zoho, Salesforce, and Hubspot all have robust CRM suites, and chances are, your company may already be using one of their products. If that’s the case, sticking with a product you know best can be the most effective move.

The benefits of using one brand include not having to migrate your data, skipping the overwhelming onboarding stage, and not having to change your workflow. 

If you’re a new user interested in incorporating a powerful CRM like Zoho Desk, Salesforce, or Hubspot into your tech stack, expect a steep learning curve at the beginning. Otherwise, a standalone helpdesk should suffice.

Zoho Desk pricing

Zoho Desk starts at $14 per user per month with the Starter plan and goes up to the Enterprise plan at $40 per user per month.

Zoho Desk has a 15-day free trial. 

Salesforce Service Cloud pricing

Salesforce Service Cloud starts at $25 per user per month for up to 10 users and scales up to enterprise plans starting at $150 per user per month. You can also get the full Salesforce CRM, not just the helpdesk, for $300 per user per month. 

Salesforce Service Cloud has a 30-day free trial. 

Hubspot Service Hub pricing

Hubspot Service Hub starts at $50 per month for 2 users with the Starter CRM Suite and scales up to enterprise-level plans starting at $500 for 5 users. 

Hubspot Service Hub has a 14-day free trial.

Freshdesk: Best Help Scout alternative with a free plan

Not all support teams, especially smaller ones, require an enterprise-level subscription to a helpdesk. Freshdesk is a customer service helpdesk tool that comes with a free plan — perfect for small teams that only need the basics.

On Freshdesk’s free plan, you have access to: 

• Email ticketing
• Knowledge base creation
• Automated actions upon ticket creation
• Embeddable contact forms and solution articles
• A basic Facebook channel

Freshdesk also has user-based pricing plans. However, that can easily limit the number of agents in your team. If you don’t want user seats to be an issue, opting for a tool with ticket-based pricing like Gorgias can help your team grow without limitations.

Freshdesk pricing

There are a variety of Freshdesk products to choose from depending on your business needs:

• Service Desk: A ticketing solution that starts at $15 per user per month with the Growth plan and scales up to the Enterprise plan at $79 per user per month.
• Contact Center: A call center software that starts at $15 per user per month with the Growth plan and scales up to the Enterprise plan at $69 per user per month.
• Omnichannel Suite: An AI-powered helpdesk solution that starts at $29 per user per month and scales up to $99 per month for the enterprise plan.
• Customer Success: A customer analytics software that starts at $79 per user per month with the Estate plan and scales up to the enterprise plan at $129 per user per month.

Freshdesk also has a 21-day free trial. 

🆚 Compare Freshdesk and Gorgias.

Kayako: Best for customer activity tracking

Understanding customer behavior is central to providing excellent customer service. Kayako's SingleView™ feature displays all of a customer's activity in one location — from their browsing activity to preferred payment methods — so you can strengthen your customer relationships without an additional plugin.

As a cloud-based service, Kayako's prices are slightly higher in comparison to other support software. If you're on a budget, Freshdesk or Help Scout may be a better fit.

Kayako pricing

Kayako starts at $15 per user per month for the Inbox plan and goes up to the Scale plan at $60 per user per month.

Kayako has a 14-day free trial.

Intercom: Best CRM-like tool

Intercom boasts loads of features and integrations that compete with the leading CRMs in the market. Intercom leans towards being a comprehensive CRM rather than a dedicated helpdesk tool, offering the best functionality for enterprise teams.

If you're primarily seeking an affordable support tool, Intercom may not be the most cost-effective option. 

Intercom pricing

Intercom starts at $74 per month with their Starter plan, which is divided into three tiers: Support, Engage, and Convert. However, it's important to note that all Starter plans do not include social media integration, which can create a significant gap between your product and potential customers.

For specific pricing information about their enterprise-level plans, you’ll need to contact an Intercom agent.

HappyFox: Best for IT support teams

HappyFox is a helpdesk management software made for businesses that sell software. With LogMeIn Remote integration, technicians can remotely and securely access customer devices to deliver solutions quickly and cut down resolution times.

It’s worth mentioning that some users have reported HappyFox can be slow at times, even delaying notifications. Most of HappyFox’s features are robust, but sluggish software can harm your agents’ ability to fulfill support requests on time.

HappyFox pricing

HappyFox’s pricing starts at $29 per agent per month with the Mighty plan and scales up to enterprise-level plans starting at $69 per agent per month. If you have a large support team, you can get the Unlimited plan starting at $1,149 per month.

HappyFox has a 14-day free trial.

Gladly: Best for non-automation companies (with large budgets)

Gladly takes a different approach to automation than most helpdesk software. To Gladly, support is best served with a personal touch, as demonstrated in their People Match® feature. Rather than using bots, they pair customers with agents that can best answer their questions.

Businesses with a smaller but dedicated customer base will highly benefit from Gladly’s person-first philosophy. So, if ticket volume is your biggest hurdle, opting for a tool with a dedicated automation and ticketing system like Gorgias would be a better pick.

Gladly pricing

Gladly starts at $150 per agent per month for the Hero plan and scales up to the Super Hero plan which starts at $180 per user per month, both with a minimum of 10 seats. 

Gladly does not have a free trial.

🆚 Compare Gladly and Gorgias.

tawk.to: Best free standalone live chat tool

tawk.to stands out from the rest of our recommendations as a live chat software rather than a conventional helpdesk solution. It excels in providing real-time support to your customers at no cost.

If you need a straightforward live chat feature without multi-channel support (such as SMS, email, and social media), tawk.to is worth considering. Plus, you can take customer conversations on-the-go since tawk.to is available as a mobile app on the App Store and Google Play Store.

tawk.to pricing

tawk.to is free. The drawback is a “powered by tawk.to” watermark at the bottom of your live chat widget which can be removed by paying $19 per month. In addition, smaller-sized businesses without a dedicated support team can hire official tawk.io support agents for $1 per hour.