Help Scout vs Intercom
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Help Scout and Intercom, verified . Help Scout is primarily help desk; Intercom is primarily live chat.
Plans side by side
Every published plan from each vendor, with the headline monthly anchor price. Some prices scale with subscriber count or seats; full detail lives on each tool's page.
Help Scout
- Free
Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site
Free - Standard
Entry paid tier with live chat and AI Inbox assistant
$25/mo - Plus
Advanced workflows, unlimited AI Drafts, WhatsApp
$45/mo - Pro
Unlimited users, SSO/SAML, HIPAA, dedicated onboarding
$75/mo
Intercom
- Essential
Messenger, shared inbox, ticketing, help center
$29/mo - Advanced
Workflow automation plus 20 free Lite seats
$85/mo - Expert
SSO, HIPAA, SLAs, multibrand, 50 free Lite seats
$132/mo - Fin AI Agent
Standalone AI agent (no seat fee)
Custom
Limits at the entry paid tier
Compares Standard (Help Scout) against Essential (Intercom). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Help Scout | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Team seats | 25 users (max) | 1 seat (per-seat pricing) |
When Help Scout wins
- SaaS support teams of 5 to 50 with email and chat as the main channels
- Healthcare-adjacent companies that need HIPAA on the help desk
- Teams that prefer a calm conversational inbox over the ticket-grid model
Where Help Scout is the wrong fit
- Enterprises with thousands of agents (Zendesk or Freshdesk fit better)
- Companies whose primary support channel is voice (no built-in voice)
- Teams that need deeply customizable ticket fields beyond what Help Scout exposes
When Intercom wins
- SaaS support teams that need both human chat and high-quality AI deflection
- Enterprises wanting messenger, ticketing, and help center in one tool
- Companies deflecting tier-1 with Fin AI
Where Intercom is the wrong fit
- Small teams who can run on Crisp or Help Scout for far less
- Teams averse to per-AI-outcome pricing
- Cost-conscious buyers who don't need the messenger pedigree
Migrating between these tools 1 guide
Long-form migration guide for this exact pair. Each covers the cost math, what you lose, what you gain, and the pair-specific gotchas that bite during cutover.
Common questions
- Is Help Scout cheaper than Intercom?
- At the entry tier, Help Scout starts at Free versus Intercom at $29/mo. Help Scout is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Help Scout or Intercom have a free plan?
- Only Help Scout has a permanent free plan. Intercom only offers a free trial.
- Are Help Scout and Intercom in the same category?
- No. Help Scout is primarily a help desk tool; Intercom is primarily a live chat tool. They overlap on use case but sit in different primary categories, so the comparison is between adjacent tools rather than direct competitors.
- Which has more plans, Help Scout or Intercom?
- Both Help Scout and Intercom ship 4 plans. Tier counts match; the differentiation is in features and pricing structure rather than tier ladder depth.
- Where can I see alternatives to Help Scout or Intercom?
- Each tool has a dedicated alternatives page on TierGauge with ranked options and verified pricing: /alternatives/help-scout for Help Scout and /alternatives/intercom for Intercom. Alternatives are derived from each tool's editor-flagged competitors plus same-category tools we track.
Help Scout: https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/ · Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/pricing
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.