The 13 best alternatives to Help Scout for more responsive customer support
Nowadays, offering smooth, personalised customer support is no longer an option, it's a requirement. And if you're already using Help Scout, you know that this tool has its strengths... but also its limitations. Whether in terms of price, functionality, ticket management or direct chat, there are more flexible, more powerful or simply better adapted solutions on the market for your business.
👉 So we've selected the 13 best alternatives to Help Scout, tested, compared, and tailored for support teams, IT managers, or demanding contractors. All-in-one tools, more agile solutions, integrated chatbots, a better knowledge base, self-service, or even more affordable pricing plans: there's something for every need, every use, and every budget.
What is Help Scout?
Help Scout is an all-in-one customer support tool designed for businesses that want to offer a seamless experience, without unnecessary complexity. Part collaborative messaging, part ticket management system, it's seductive in its simplicity and clean interface.
🎯 It's a popular choice among startups, SMEs and customer relations-focused teams. Where Help Scout stands out is its ability to make customer service more human, thanks to direct chat, an integrated knowledge base, and accessible automation tools. It enables your team to respond quickly and well, without sacrificing personalisation.
💸 On the pricing side, Help Scout offers a free plan limited to 100 contacts per month. Plans start at €21.41 per agent per month, making it an intermediate solution between ultra-basic tools and complex platforms like Zendesk or Intercom. It also offers integrations with CRM, analytics tools and third-party services such as Slack and HubSpot Service.
But despite these strengths, Help Scout isn't always the best alternative for your needs... and that's what we're going to explore next.
Help Scout
Why consider an alternative to Help Scout?
Rates that rise quickly with growth
Help Scout offers a pricing model per agent and per feature that can quickly become restrictive. If your support team is growing or if you need :
- modules such as live chat
- advanced knowledge base
- or customised integrations, the monthly cost skyrockets.
This model is acceptable for small teams, but it' s difficult to scale without increasing the bill. Conversely, solutions such as Crisp or LiveAgent offer fixed-price plans per team, which are much more advantageous as you grow.
Limited functionality depending on the plan chosen
Some key features, such as ticket automation, intelligent self-service and advanced chatbots, are either absent from the first Help Scout plans or very limited. This can hamper the autonomy of your users or limit the efficiency of your team.
For companies looking to optimise their response times or automate repetitive tasks, Help Scout can quickly show its functional limitations.
Too little multi-channel support
Help Scout manages email and chat very well, but is limited when it comes to other essential channels: social networks, SMS, WhatsApp and the telephone. A good customer support management tool in 2025 needs to be truly omnichannel.
Platforms such as Bird, Zendesk or LiveAgent integrate all these contact points into a unified inbox, offering a seamless customer experience, whatever the channel used.
Lack of native integration with certain business tools
Although Help Scout offers integrations with popular tools such as Hubspot and Slack, coverage remains limited compared with competitors. Some integrations require development via the API or third-party gateways (such as Zapier), which can slow down implementation.
If you use a broader technical ecosystem (CRM, data tools, e-commerce platforms), you will gain in efficiency with a better-connected solution such as Zoho Desk, Intercom or Zendesk.
A lack of personalised customer experience
Help Scout focuses on simplicity, but this sometimes translates into an overly generic customer experience. There is little scope for customising workflows, email content, automated responses or interactions according to customer profile.
For companies that want to personalise on a large scale or adapt their message to different segments (freemium, VIP, corporate), it can become too rigid. Solutions like Intercom or Hubspot Service Hub go much further in this respect.
A simple interface... but sometimes too simple
Help Scout's interface is one of its great advantages when you're just starting out. But when you're managing a large volume of tickets or more complex workflows, this simplicity becomes an obstacle. There are few display options, no advanced routing, and no enhanced customer view like Kayako or Zendesk. The result: agents waste time, and customer service efficiency can suffer.
Comparative table of the 13 best alternatives to Help Scout
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 Zoho Desk | Help Scout |  Crisp |  Freshdesk |  Service Hub |  Intercom |  Kayako |  Landbot |  LiveAgent |  Zendesk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For all companies | For all companies | For companies with 2 to 250 employees | For companies with 2 to 5000 employees | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies |
| See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software |
| Learn more about Zoho Desk | Learn more about Help Scout | Learn more about Crisp | Learn more about Freshdesk | Learn more about Service Hub | Learn more about Intercom | Learn more about Kayako | Learn more about Landbot | Learn more about LiveAgent | Learn more about Zendesk |
Our top 13 alternatives to Help Scout
Crisp
Crisp is the up-and-coming Help Scout alternative made in France. Modern, affordable and ultra-connected, this platform offers much more than just a simple support tool. It features fluid direct chat, no-code chatbots, a multilingual knowledge base, and even an integrated email marketing tool.
Designed for agile customer support teams and entrepreneurs alike, Crisp's simplicity and wealth of integrations with Slack, Zapier, WhatsApp, Shopify, Intercom, etc. make it a real winner. And with its free offer, it's one of the best price/feature ratios on the market.
Here's what Crisp has to offer to centralise your customer service:
- real-time chat with co-browsing and file transfer ;
- automated chatbot and personalised scenarios
- shared inbox (email, chat, social networks) ;
- internal and public knowledge base;
- CRM and e-commerce integrations (Hubspot, Shopify, etc.);
- integrated email campaign tool;
- open API and webhooks.
Crisp
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is one of the most popular alternatives to Help Scout. Developed by Freshworks, this cloud-based customer support solution is aimed at SMEs and large enterprises alike. It covers all the basics: tickets, chat, knowledge base, automations, and more.
💵 Often compared to Zendesk, Freshdesk stands out for its ease of use, flexible pricing plans (from a free plan to €79/agent/month), and a modular logic that means you only pay for what you need.
Here are the advantages of Freshdesk to optimise your customer support:
- multi-channel ticketing system with SLA, escalation, etc. ;
- live chat via Freshchat + automated bots ;
- self-service portal with dynamic knowledge base ;
- powerful automation scenarios (assignment, responses, timescales);
- analysis dashboard and activity report;
- integrations: WhatsApp, Slack, Salesforce, Zoho, etc. ;
- app marketplace for adding à la carte functionality.
Freshdesk
Groove
Groove is an alternative to Help Scout aimed at SMEs looking for a simple, accessible but comprehensive tool . It's not as well known as Zendesk or Intercom, but it's quick to learn, manages tickets efficiently and offers customer support-oriented features.
💵 It's positioned as a straightforward, uncluttered solution that's 100% focused on customer support. All with plans starting from €20.56 a month, which already include a nice array of features.
Here's what Groove has to offer to simplify the day-to-day work of support teams:
- ticket management with shared inbox ;
- fast assignment and tagging workflows;
- public and private knowledge base;
- predefined responses and light automation;
- integration with Slack, Shopify, Zapier, Stripe, etc. ;
- agent performance monitoring;
- simple, efficient interface, ideal for small teams.
Hubspot Service Hub
Hubspot Service Hub is the customer support component of Hubspot's renowned CRM suite. It is aimed at companies that want a unified view of customer data across marketing, sales and service. It's a powerful tool for centralising communication and tracking every interaction with precision.
🚀 Native integration with Hubspot CRM enables advanced support customisation, while self-service features and automated workflows make it easy for the support team to scale up .
Here's what Hubspot Service Hub has to offer to enhance the customer experience:
- CRM-linked ticketing system with full tracking ;
- personalised customer portal and dynamic knowledge base
- automation (assignment, responses, notifications, reminders);
- live chat and chatbot (with conditional logic);
- dashboards for monitoring customer service KPIs;
- native integrations with other Hubspot + Zapier tools;
- advanced feedback functionalities (NPS, surveys).
Service Hub
Intercom
Intercom is the market leader in conversational customer support solutions . Powerful yet demanding, Intercom appeals to teams who want to personalise everything from automated onboarding to behavioural segmentation.
Targeting SaaS companies and fast-growing organisations, Intercom combines live chat, intelligent chatbots, email automation campaigns and multi-channel support in a single interface. Pricing starts at €24.84/month/agent, making it an affordable solution.
Here are the advanced features that distinguish Intercom from Help Scout:
- live chat with behavioural targeting ;
- chatbots with conditional logic and machine learning;
- automated email campaigns and in-app messages;
- interactive, self-fed knowledge base;
- ticket routing according to business rules;
- CRM, analytics and third-party platform integration;
- detailed reporting tools on self-service and productivity.
Intercom
Kartra
Kartra is not a customer support tool in the strict sense, but an all-in-one platform that integrates CRM, marketing automation, sales and customer management. It offers chat, simplified ticketing and knowledge base functions in an environment designed for online business.
Ideal for entrepreneurs or solopreneurs who want to centralise everything without piling up tools. It's a particularly relevant solution if you're managing training courses, sales tunnels or digital services. In terms of pricing, Kartra offers monthly plans at prices independent of the number of users, starting at €50.53/month.
Kartra's support features include
- integrated helpdesk with tickets and live chat ;
- public knowledge base and help desk;
- automated responses based on customer scenarios;
- tagging and sorting of users according to their actions;
- Integrated CRM for segmenting and personalising relationships;
- email integration, forms, videos, sales tunnel;
- sales, membership and payment management tools.
Kayako
Kayako is a ticket management and customer communication tool that stands out for its ability to centralise all exchanges, regardless of the channels used.
🎯 It is aimed primarily at IT or technical support teams who manage complex request flows, with fixed price plans starting at €67.67/month.
Its strength? A unified view of the customer: each interaction (email, chat, social networks) is traced, logged and linked to a complete record. The result is a smoother customer experience and better decision-making for agents.
Here are the main Kayako features to consider:
- multi-channel helpdesk with advanced ticket management ;
- chronological view of all customer interactions
- live chat with knowledge base integration
- customised workflows for automation;
- internal collaboration tools (notes, assignments, tags);
- detailed reporting on team performance; integrations with Salesforce, Slack, Zapier and more.
Kayako
Landbot
Landbot clearly stands out from the other tools listed here: it's a conversational chatbot platform that lets you create interactive customer experiences without coding.
🎯its design-first approach makes it perfect for marketing teams, support or even self-service in automated journeys. Used to complement or replace a tool like Help Scout, Landbot is particularly useful for offloading simple queries from human support. This solution is available free of charge or from €40/month for more advanced features.
Here are the Landbot features that make it the tool of choice for automation:
- code-free chatbot creation via a visual editor ;
- integration with channels: website, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc;
- Trigger personalised scenarios based on user behaviour;
- real-time enrichment of customer data;
- integration via API or Zapier (Hubspot, Google Sheets, etc.);
- escalation to a human agent if required;
- integrated analytics to optimise bot performance.
Landbot
LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a performance-oriented omnichannel customer support solution. It combines ticket management, real-time chat, video calls and even social networks in a single interface.
Its big advantage? A very good features/price ratio, with plans starting at €7.71/agent/month. It's a platform that appeals to teams who want to centralise everything, without technical complexity. Its in-house gamification system can also motivate agents to keep up their performance.
Here's what LiveAgent has to offer to improve your support management:
- unified inbox (email, chat, social networks, telephone) ;
- ultra-fast live chat with real-time monitoring;
- self-service portal with knowledge base
- voice and video calls directly from the interface;
- comprehensive ticketing system with SLAs, reminders and labels;
- integration with over 200 tools (including CRM, e-commerce, etc.);
- customer rating function for the agent.
LiveAgent
Bird (formerly MessageBird)
Bird (formerly MessageBird) is an omnichannel customer communications platform, ideal for businesses that want to unify their interactions on WhatsApp, SMS, Messenger, Instagram, email, and of course direct chat.
🎯 It's a strategic choice for international or high-volume businesses. More than a support tool, Bird is a messaging-as-a-service tool, with powerful APIs for personalising the customer experience at scale. Perfect for those who want to automate, segment and integrate chatbots into a proactive customer relations approach.
Bird's key customer service features include
- unified inbox: all channels in a single feed ;
- automated responses with chatbot AI ;
- intelligent routing according to team or priority;
- ticket management and conversation tracking;
- CRM integrations (Salesforce, Hubspot, etc.) and marketing tools;
- Flexible APIs for personalised customer journeys.
ThriveDesk
🎯 ThriveDesk is a little-known but fast-rising customer support tool designed for small SaaS teams, e-commerce or content creators looking for a fluid experience that's quick to deploy and fun to use.
Its minimalist yet effective interface makes it highly accessible, while incorporating all the essential features: collaborative inbox, live chat, knowledge base, customisable widget, and even a native WordPress plugin. The emphasis is on ease of use, while ensuring the robustness required for structured ticket management.
Here's what ThriveDesk has to offer to modernise your customer service:
- multi-channel shared inbox with tagging, assignment and status ;
- ultra-light live chat with customisable widget ;
- self-service portal with integrated knowledge base
- integrations with WordPress, WooCommerce, Slack, and more;
- reporting and analytics to track team performance;
- full conversation history by customer;
- integrated customer feedback system (CSAT).
Zendesk
Zendesk is probably the best-known solution in the world of customer support. Zendesk's strength lies in its ecosystem: chat, voice, knowledge base, automation, analytics, AI... everything is modular. But beware: the learning curve is steeper, and pricing plans can climb quickly if you want to activate everything (from €19/agent/month to €169/agent/month)
🎯 It's an ultra-complete platform, designed for large teams, multi-site businesses or departments that manage a large volume of tickets and communication channels.
Here's what Zendesk offers for managing large-scale support:
- multi-channel ticketing system with advanced prioritisation ;
- AI-based live chat and chatbot;
- self-service help desk and intelligent knowledge base;
- automated routing and pre-programmed responses;
- reports, dashboards, satisfaction scoring;
- an extensive marketplace with over 1,000 integrations;
- collaborative tools for support teams.
Zendesk
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is the customer service management tool in the Zoho suite, designed for businesses looking to combine automation, CRM integration and omnichannel support.
It's a robust solution, particularly suited to IT or B2B support teams. Its strengths lie in its intelligent ticket prioritisation logic and ultra-configurable workflows. What's more, its knowledge base can be linked to the customer portal to promote self-service.
Here's what Zoho Desk has to offer to structure your support:
- intelligent ticket system with automatic prioritisation ;
- predefined responses and process automation;
- personalised customer portal with integrated knowledge base;
- multi-channel support: email, telephone, chat, social networks;
- analytical dashboards and customised reports;
- native integration with Zoho CRM, as well as Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc. ;
- agent collaboration tools.
Zoho Desk
How do you choose the right alternative to Help Scout?
Summary table of the best alternatives to Help Scout
| Tool | Starting price | Main features | Ideal for... |
| Crisp | Free offer | Real-time chat, chatbot, knowledge base, shared inbox | Startups, SaaS, agile SMEs |
| Freshdesk | Free offer | Tickets, chat, customer portal, automation with bots | Multi-channel customer support |
| Groove | From €20.56 per month | Simple tickets, shared box, knowledge base, reporting | Small teams, simple support |
| Hubspot Service Hub | Free offer | Integrated CRM, tickets, chat, knowledge base, NPS | Hubspot users, marketing + support teams |
| Intercom | From €24.84 per month | Conversational chat, AI chatbot, onboarding, email automation | Scale-ups, SaaS, growing businesses |
| Kartra | From €50.53 per month | Helpdesk, CRM, sales tunnel, marketing automation | Entrepreneurs, trainers, infopreneurs |
| Kayako | From €67.67 per month | Ticket management, unified customer view, customised workflows | Technical support, IT teams |
| Landbot | Free offer | Creation of visual chatbots, no-code integrations, conversational automation | Automation, self-service |
| LiveAgent | From €7.71 per month | Multi-channel inbox, telephony, self-service portal, reporting | Responsive, multi-channel support |
| Bird | On quotation | Omnichannel messaging (WhatsApp, SMS...), API automation, CRM | International support, multiple channels |
| ThriveDesk| | From €24.84 per month | Collaborative inbox, chat, knowledge base, WordPress plugin, analytics | Small SaaS teams, e-commerce, designers |
| Zendesk | From €19 per month | Complete helpdesk, AI chatbot, advanced reporting, knowledge base | Large companies, structured service |
| Zoho Desk | From €7 per month | Ticketing system, self-service portal, advanced automation | Structured SMEs, in-house customer service |
Criteria for selecting an alternative to Help Scout
With so many tools available, how do you choose the best alternative to Help Scout for your business? Here are the key criteria to consider
- the type of customer support to be managed: managing technical tickets, offering direct chat, or automating a customer journey do not imply the same needs. A tool like Zoho Desk will be perfect for structured support, whereas Crisp or Intercom focus on immediacy and conversation.
- Volume and size of team: if you're a small team with a few agents, there's no need to opt for a behemoth like Zendesk. More agile solutions like Groove or LiveAgent will do the job.
- Key features required: do you need a knowledge base? a chatbot? automation workflows? Rank your priorities: some tools shine in one area, but fall short in others.
- Integrate with your existing tools: your CRM, your communication channels, your data platforms, etc. If the alternative you choose doesn't integrate natively, it can quickly become a headache (or an extra cost).
- Ease of use and familiarity: a powerful but complex tool slows down adoption by the support team. Platforms like Crisp focus on a modern interface, designed to be quick and easy to use.
- Available budget (plan and cost per agent): prices can vary from a few dollars to several hundred per month, depending on the options activated. Be sure to check what is included in each plan (number of agents, chatbot access, API, reporting, etc.).
- Long-term scalability: a tool that is suitable today may become limiting tomorrow. Choose a scalable solution that can grow with you.
Alternative to Help Scout: the right choice depends on your real needs
As we have seen, there is no single best alternative to Help Scout, but several options that are more or less suited to your context. The right choice depends neither on price alone, nor on the number of features displayed on a homepage.
Above all, it depends on your real needs:
👉 is your team comfortable with tech tools?
👉 do your customers expect answers in real time?
👉 Is your budget stretchable, or do you need to do more with less?
Whether you're looking for an all-in-one tool, an intelligent chatbot, or a simple and effective ticketing solution, today there are alternatives that are more flexible, more agile, and sometimes even more human than Help Scout.
Take the time to test, compare and challenge. Because when it comes down to it, a good support tool is not one that does everything... but one that really helps you to serve your customers better.
Article translated from French