Freshdesk vs. Help Scout (Which Customer Support Software is Best for Your Business?)

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Consider this: you just got home after a long day at work. You’re exhausted and only want to zone out in front of the TV. But as you reach for the remote, your phone pings. You’ve received a customer email. Reluctantly, you open it. The sender is unhappy with your company, and their message is full of complaints.

You start to respond but quickly realize I have no idea what this person is talking about. Who are they? What did they buy? When? Why are they upset? You pause to check your email. It’s full of customer support messages, and I’m not even sure how to find the one that corresponds to this unhappy customer.

Sound familiar? If you’re not using customer support software to help manage customer inquiries and improve your response process, you might be facing this scenario—and it’s not pretty. This help desk best practices guide will explore two popular customer support solutions: Freshdesk vs. Help Scout. We’ll closely examine their features, pricing, pros, and cons to help you decide which software is best for your business.

What is Freshdesk?

Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support software designed to help businesses manage customer inquiries efficiently across multiple channels. Developed by Freshworks, it provides a centralized platform where companies can handle tickets, automate workflows, and provide self-service options for customers. It is widely used by startups, small businesses, and enterprises looking for an all-in-one support solution.

Freshdesk's Key Features: What Makes This Customer Support Tool Stand Out?

Freshdesk offers several features that help support teams provide efficient service and improve the customer experience. Here are some of the most notable capabilities of this help desk software:

Omnichannel Support

Freshdesk allows businesses to manage customer interactions across email, live chat, phone, social media, and self-service portals from a single dashboard. This ensures that customers can reach support agents through their preferred communication channels.

AI-Powered Automation (Freddy AI)

The Freddy AI assistant helps automate responses, categorize tickets, and suggest solutions based on previous interactions. Businesses can use AI-driven bots to resolve customer inquiries without human intervention.

Ticketing System & Workflow Automation

Freshdesk’s ticketing system automatically converts customer inquiries into tickets, assigns them to the right team members, and prioritizes urgent issues. Workflow automation helps businesses streamline repetitive tasks, ensuring faster response times.

Self-Service Portal & Knowledge Base

Companies can create a knowledge base with FAQs, articles, and guides to help customers find answers on their own. Community forums allow users to interact, share solutions, and reduce the load on customer support teams.

Third-Party Integrations

Freshdesk integrates with CRM platforms, project management tools, and communication apps like Slack, Salesforce, and Shopify. This helps businesses maintain smooth collaboration between support, sales, and product teams.

Reporting & Analytics

Businesses can track customer interactions and agent performance with detailed reports and analytics dashboards. Metrics like response time, resolution rate, and customer satisfaction scores help companies improve their support efficiency.

Freshdesk Pricing: How Much Does Freshdesk Cost?

Freshdesk offers flexible pricing, catering to different business sizes and needs.

Growth Plan - $15 per agent/month

Designed for small businesses looking for essential automation and collaboration tools. Includes workflow automation, ticket management, and a knowledge base.

Pro Plan - $49 per agent/month

Best for mid-sized businesses that require advanced AI, automation, and reporting tools. Offers features like Freddy AI automation, CSAT surveys, and SLA management.

Enterprise Plan - $79 per agent/month

Ideal for large enterprises that need custom roles, AI-powered bots, and advanced analytics. Provides additional security features, auto-triage, and personalized customer engagement tools.

Freshdesk Pros and Cons: What Are the Benefits of Using Freshdesk?

Pros

Highly scalable – suitable for businesses of all sizes. AI-powered automation reduces response times and workload. Omnichannel support ensures a smooth customer experience. Robust integrations with third-party tools like Salesforce, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. User-friendly interface with a clean and modern design.

Cons

Higher pricing for advanced features may not be budget-friendly for small businesses—the learning curve for new users, especially in setting up automation. Ticket-based support systems may feel impersonal compared to conversational support tools like Help Scout.

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Help Desk System Features

Customer Service Desk

What Is Help Desk Software Used For?

Help Desk Management

Best Customer Support Software for Small Business

What is Help Scout?

Help Scout is a customer support software for businesses prioritizing personalized, human-like customer service. Unlike traditional ticket-based systems, Help Scout offers a shared inbox that allows teams to manage customer conversations efficiently, providing a smooth and natural customer experience. It is particularly favored by small to mid-sized businesses that want a simple, intuitive, relationship-focused support tool.

Help Scout is built for companies that want to avoid the complexities of ticketing systems and instead focus on making customer interactions feel like genuine conversations. Its minimalistic and easy-to-use interface allows teams to collaborate effortlessly, ensuring customers receive fast and effective responses.

Key Features of Help Scout

Help Scout's design makes it a customer support solution that can help your business improve its help desk operations and deliver better customer service. Here are some of the key features that help achieve this goal:

Shared Inbox (No Ticket Numbers, Just Conversations)

Unlike Freshdesk, which uses a ticketing system, Help Scout operates with a shared inbox that organizes customer queries like email. This means no ticket numbers—just natural conversations, making interactions feel more personal. Teams can assign conversations, leave internal notes, and even tag colleagues for smoother collaboration.

Beacon AI allows businesses to embed a live chat widget on their website, where customers can search for answers in the knowledge base before initiating a conversation. If customers need more help, Beacon enables them to start a chat or email conversation without ever leaving the page.

Docs (Knowledge Base & Self-Service Portal)

Help Scout allows businesses to create a knowledge base where customers can find answers to common questions without contacting support. The Docs feature supports images, videos, and interactive articles, improving customer experience and reducing the workload for support agents.

Collaboration Tools (Team Productivity & Internal Notes)

Teams can assign conversations to specific agents and set up workflows to manage support requests efficiently. The internal notes feature lets teammates communicate within customer conversations, ensuring smooth resolution without unnecessary back-and-forth.

Automation & AI-Powered Workflows

Businesses can automate repetitive tasks like categorizing emails, assigning tickets, and sending follow-up responses. Custom workflows help ensure support teams respond faster and maintain high-quality customer service.

Reporting & Analytics

Help Scout provides performance reports, tracking response times, resolution rates, and customer feedback. These analytics help businesses optimize their support team’s efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.

Integrations with Popular Business Tools

Help Scout integrates with Slack, HubSpot, Shopify, Salesforce, and over 50 other tools to enhance workflow automation and customer data management.

Pricing Plans for Help Scout

Help Scout’s pricing is simple, making it an affordable option for businesses that want a powerful yet easy-to-use support tool.

Standard Plan

$50 per user/month. It is ideal for small to mid-sized businesses that need a robust, collaborative email support system. It includes features like a shared inbox, a Beacon AI chat widget, a knowledge base, and reporting.

Plus Plan

$75 per user/month. Best for growing businesses that need advanced automation, custom reporting, and API access. Offers additional features like custom user roles, HIPAA compliance, and in-depth analytics.

Pros & Cons of Help Scout

Pros

It is an easy-to-use, minimalistic interface with no ticket numbers, just natural conversations.

It is best for businesses that prioritize human-like customer interactions.

Beacon AI and knowledge base reduce repetitive customer inquiries.

Powerful collaboration tools for internal team communication.

Affordable compared to Freshdesk, especially for small businesses.

Cons

Limited automation and AI features compared to Freshdesk.

There are fewer integrations and add-ons compared to larger platforms like Freshdesk.

It is not ideal for large enterprises needing highly advanced support automation.

No built-in phone support—relies mainly on email, chat, and self-service options.

Freshdesk vs. Help Scout ( Key Differences)

User Interface & Ease of Use: Freshdesk vs. Help Scout

A customer support tool's user experience and interface can significantly impact productivity and efficiency.

Freshdesk

has a feature-rich interface designed for businesses that need a structured, ticket-based system. While the dashboard provides much information, some users may find it overwhelming, especially when dealing with complex workflows. The ticketing system ensures that customer requests are tracked efficiently, but it might feel less conversational compared to Help Scout.

Best for

Businesses that handle high support queries require ticket tracking and automation.

Help Scout

is designed to feel like an email inbox, making it more intuitive and user-friendly. It removes the ticketing system in favor of natural, email-like conversations, creating a more personalized support experience. The minimalist interface is easy to navigate, making it an ideal choice for small teams or businesses prioritizing simple, conversational support.

Best for

Businesses that want a personal touch in customer support rather than using a structured ticketing system.

If your team prefers a traditional ticketing system with more automation, Freshdesk is the better choice. However, if you want a lightweight and email-like interface, Help Scout is superior.

Automation & AI Features: Freshdesk vs. Help Scout

Automation is crucial for businesses looking to scale customer support and reduce manual workload.

Freshdesk

comes with Freddy AI, which can automate ticket responses, categorize issues, and suggest customer solutions. Provides workflow automation to streamline repetitive tasks, reducing response times. Offers automatic SLA (Service Level Agreement) management to ensure timely responses.

Best for

Businesses need AI-driven automation and ticket prioritization.

Help Scout

offers basic automation for assigning conversations, triggering workflows, and sending automated replies. The Beacon AI chat widget helps customers find answers before contacting support. Still, it’s not as advanced as Freshdesk’s AI-powered features—no advanced AI-powered ticket automation like Freshdesk’s Freddy AI.

Best for

Businesses that prefer human-centric support with minimal AI interference.

Freshdesk wins in automation because of Freddy AI and advanced workflow automation, making it better for businesses handling high-volume support queries.

Multi-Channel Support: Freshdesk vs. Help Scout

The ability to support customers across multiple platforms (email, chat, phone, social media) is essential for businesses that receive inquiries from various channels.

Freshdesk

offers an omnichannel experience, integrating email, live chat, phone, social media, WhatsApp, and self-service portals. The helpdesk ticketing system ensures all interactions across multiple channels are logged in one place.

Best for

Businesses that handle customer inquiries from multiple sources need a centralized support system.

Help Scout

primarily focuses on email and chat support; it lacks built-in phone or social media support. Customers can interact through the shared inbox or self-service knowledge base, but businesses relying on telephone or social media support will need third-party integrations.

Best for

Businesses rely primarily on email and chat-based support rather than full omnichannel coverage.

Freshdesk is the better choice for multi-channel support, as it provides social media, phone, and WhatsApp support in addition to email and chat.

Pricing & Scalability: Freshdesk vs. Help Scout

The cost of a customer support tool can significantly influence the decision, especially for small and growing businesses.

Freshdesk Pricing

Growth Plan – $15 per agent/month. Suitable for small businesses needing basic automation and collaboration tools.

Pro Plan – $49 per agent/month. It is best for mid-sized businesses that require AI automation, analytics, and SLA management.

Enterprise Plan – $79 per agent/month. It is ideal for large enterprises requiring custom roles, advanced AI, and security features.

Help Scout Pricing

Standard Plan – $50 per user/month. It is best for small teams needing a shared inbox, chat widget, and basic automation.

Plus Plan – $75 per user/month. Designed for businesses that need advanced reporting, automation, and API access.

Help Scout is slightly more expensive at the base level, but Freshdesk offers more features at a lower price, making it a better value for larger teams.

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Which is the Best Customer Support Software for Me?

Freshdesk and Help Scout are the top help desk solutions on the market. While both tools can help boost customer support operations and improve the end-user experience, they have unique features and capabilities. Freshdesk is a feature-rich solution with advanced automation, multi-channel support, and built-in AI. Help Scout, on the other hand, is a more straightforward tool focusing on email support and a human-centric approach to customer service.

Freshdesk vs. Help Scout: Pricing and Plans

Freshdesk and Help Scout offer similar pricing structures, but Help Scout’s plans are more straightforward to navigate. Freshdesk has a forever-free plan, which is great for startups. However, the free plan lacks many features, and you must upgrade to access automation and better multi-channel support. Freshdesk also has higher-tiered plans that quickly increase prices at each level. Help Scout has a simple pricing structure with three straightforward plans. The pricing is affordable and does not increase drastically with each level.

Freshdesk vs. Help Scout: Customer Reviews

User reviews help pick the best customer support software for your business. Analyzing the feedback from real users can help you identify each tool's common pros and cons. Freshdesk has a rating of 4.2 out of 5 on G2 from over 3,000 users. Its most praised features include automation, multi-channel support, and customization. However, many users complain about the learning curve and the complexity of the software. Help Scout has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 on G2 from over 700 users. Users love its simple interface and human-centric approach to customer support. The biggest drawback noted by users is the lack of advanced features.

Freshdesk vs. Help Scout: Customer Support

Help Scout and Freshdesk both offer excellent customer support. Freshdesk has extensive online resources, including a knowledge base, community forums, and video tutorials. You can also contact support directly via email, phone, or live chat. Help Scout has a similar structure but also boasts an impressive response time. The average response time for Help Scout’s support team is 22 minutes.

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