Help Scout vs Intercom: pricing, plans, and positioning compared
Verified pricing and side-by-side plan structures. Updated daily.
Side-by-side comparison
Help Scout Customer Support | Intercom Customer Support | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $25/mo | $39/mo |
| Annual discount | −16% | −26% |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Number of tiers | 4 | 4 |
| Positioning | Customer support platform positioned as the alternative to Zendesk for teams that want email-first support (not ticket-first). Distinctive for its shared inbox UX — customer conversations look like Gmail threads, not tickets. Priced $22-$65/user/mo. Bootstrapped by Nick Francis (still founder-led after 15 years). Popular with SMBs and mid-market SaaS whose support volume is manageable in an inbox format. | AI-first customer messaging platform pioneering outcome-based pricing with its Fin AI Agent at $0.99 per resolution. Positioned against Zendesk's per-seat model as the AI-native alternative. Distinctive for how aggressively founder Eoghan McCabe returned in 2023 to bet the company on AI — the resolution-based pricing move led the industry. Priced per seat for human agents ($29-$139/user/mo) plus outcome pricing for AI. Popular with SaaS and e-commerce companies. |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Plan-by-plan comparison
| # | Help Scout | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Free Monthly: 0 · Annual: 0 5 users, 100 contacts/mo | Essential Monthly: 39 · Annual: 29 shared inbox + basic AI Copilot |
| 2 | Standard Monthly: 25 · Annual: 21 per user | Advanced Monthly: 99 · Annual: 85 multiple inboxes + workflows + tickets |
| 3 | Plus Monthly: 45 · Annual: 38 per user | Expert Monthly: 139 · Annual: 132 multi-brand + SSO + AI resolution |
| 4 | Pro Monthly: 75 · Annual: 63 10-user minimum | Fin AI Agent Monthly: 0.99 per resolution · Annual: 0.99 per resolution outcome-based add-on |