Help Scout is a dedicated customer support tool that helps teams deliver exceptional customer service. It allows you to manage customer communications through live chat, messaging, shared inbox, and a help center.
The shared inbox consolidates your team’s email into a single inbox, allowing you to collaborate, increase productivity, and create vital connections.
Help Scout integrates with Google apps, Mailchimp, Slack, Shopify, and many other tools. This integration lets you quickly pull customer information from your favorite tools and respond to it.
The Messages tool allows you to promote new projects, keep customers updated on important events, and provide proactive support to those who require it. Their help center, live classes, or support team is readily available for any assistance.
That said, Help Scout has some limitations too. It only supports cloud-based calls and not normal calls. Besides, it has no SMS integration, doesn’t allow you to create your own bots, and lacks a free plan.
If the aforementioned is one of the reasons you are looking for Help Scout alternatives, you’re in the right place.
Read this article to know more.
Best Help Scout Alternatives
1. Zendesk
Our first Help Scout alternative is Zendesk. It is a service-first CRM company trusted by over 100,000 businesses to improve customer interactions. It offers a user-friendly and scalable full customer care solution.
When you add the message and live chat function to your website, smartphone apps, and social networks, consumers can reach you instantaneously. This feature includes bots that can respond to customers without needing an agent.
Compared to Help Scout, It features a robust integrated ticketing system as a hub for all your customers’ inquiries, requests, and complaints. Above all, it gives you information about each customer, allowing you to provide the appropriate support.
Whether customers contact you through email, chat, phone, or any other online, mobile, or social channel, each input generates a ticket and places it in a queue. Customers get an email confirming that your support staff received their request and that assistance is coming.
Monitoring your sales and customer service data is easy with Zendesk. The reporting and analytics tool provides fast access to client information that can help your business improve.
Its reporting system incorporates data from all channels, including email, chat, phone, and social networks, allowing you to see how clients interact with your business without losing track of the thread.
Zendesk’s knowledge base helps you gather, manage, and share vital internal and external information in a structured and searchable fashion. The purpose of developing a consumer knowledge base is to provide a centralized directory of information about your goods or services and how they are used.
For your staff members, a knowledge base is crucial for disseminating details about your systems, procedures, and rules.
Its integrated voice system synchronizes with all other channels to provide agents instant access to all client information. The agent can speak directly with consumers to provide tailored answers to difficult problems.
Zendesk pricing plans fall into two categories: Zendesk for Service and Zendesk for Sales. Zendesk for Service is further categorized into two plans: plans for everyone and plans for enterprises.
There are three plans for everyone that cost $49, $79, and $99 monthly for Suite Team, Suite Growth, and Suite Professional, respectively. On the other hand, there are two plans for enterprises and those cost $150 and $215 per agent per month.
Zendesk for Sales features Team, Growth, and Professional plans that cost $19, $49, and $99 per month, respectively.
2. Richpanel
Richpanel helps you manage your eCommerce store’s customer support. With this tool, you can track, manage, and handle questions quickly.
It allows customers to take charge when they need help. All you need is to provide them with a customized self-service portal. Customers will not contact you for order changes, tracking information, or product suggestions.
The platform has a tool that manages the workforce because it provides the most user-friendly and extensive dashboards for eCommerce customer care agents. It lets agents make product suggestions, send bills, and sell more. This feature gives it an edge over Help Scout.
Agents can also track support requests by subject and use these insights to enhance operations, processes, and rules. These reports provide a comprehensive perspective of your clients’ most prevalent problems.
It enables you to create an effective multi-channel support system to communicate with your clients wherever they are. Bring all your favorite channels into one dashboard, including social media, live chat, email, and SMS.
Not to forget, it works with leading eCommerce systems such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento.
Richpanel has multiple pricing plans: the Starter plan is $300 per month, the Regular plan is $600 per month, the Pro is $900 per month, and the Enterprise plan is custom, meaning you have to contact their customer care for a quote.
3. Freshdesk
Freshdesk from Freshworks helps you interact with your customers. Also, it features some best tools that make it easy to analyze and track customers.
It delivers the greatest possible customer experience through collaborative ticketing. This ticketing system is intended to promote teamwork and agent productivity. Freshdesk can turn customer concerns into tickets. No customer discussions will go without being addressed.
You should prioritize each ticket depending on the keywords. Assign each ticket to a different agent and group to avoid misunderstanding about who will be handling which ticket. Select tickets based on particular attributes so that the most critical tickets for agents to work on are at the top of the list.
Freshdesk has a robust collaboration feature that can help agents work more effectively to deliver better customer care. An agent can include teammates in talks and work on assignments in parallel.
Freshdesk analytics allows you to record customer support data and produce reports exactly as you want without coding or effort. Furthermore, you do not need to rely on a data scientist or external business analytics products.
It has a help widget that you can incorporate solutions and display a contact form on your website to let the customers reach you.
Every Freshdesk account is automatically equipped with an SSL certificate. It encrypts data sent between web browsers and web servers. Another advantage is that it allows you to integrate with other apps and software like Shopify, Whatsapp, Slack, etc.
Freshdesk has a Support Desk plan that includes best-in-class ticketing, reporting, and self-service. Support Desk has a free plan that can be used by up to 10 agents and has out-of-the-box reporting and analytics, and other impressive features. Help Scout doesn’t have a free plan.
The premium plans include Growth, Pro, and Enterprise, which cost $15, $49, and $79 per agent per month, billed annually.
The second pricing plan is Omnichannel, which combines messaging and telephony services with your Support Desk to provide seamless support across channels from a single location.
The following are the plans under Omnichannel: Growth for $29 per month, Pro for $59 per month, and Enterprise for $99 per month, billed annually.
The platform offers you add-ons to do the service much better. You’ll pay $75 for 1000 bot sessions per month. Select your membership and begin your 21-day free trial with full access to all features.
4. Re:amaze
Re:amaze is a customer support service for most eCommerce businesses. It integrates features that allow you to reach out to customers easily.
This Help Scout alternative lets you create a centralized inbox for your entire team to handle client dialogues from many channels like email, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, and text messages.
Re:amaze features live chat that can be tailored to your brand’s and your consumers’ needs. This chat function might assist you in increasing consumer confidence and sales.
Use the Re:amaze live dashboard to view the number of recently logged-in and active users on your website or app. Real-time tracking of customers’ activities and live messaging can help you increase sales.
Use ready-made chatbots or create your customized chatbots, a feature you won’t find on Help Scout.
You can write your FAQs in Markdown or complete HTML. This gives you complete flexibility over how your material is displayed and will help customers get the information without contacting you.
It has a Push Campaign tool that lets you generate customizable messages, buttons, and call-to-action links. Push Campaigns allow you to collect an audience as your business grows.
To get Re:amaze services, you’ll have to subscribe to its pricing plans which include: the Basic plan for $29 per month, a Pro plan for $49 per month, or Plus plan for $69 per month.
This program has a starter plan for $59 per month. You can access all of the tools in the Basic plan for an unlimited number of team members. It also has a monthly restriction of 500 responded conversations.
The Enterprise plan is designed for high-volume, rapidly developing organizations, and you’ll have to contact the sales team for pricing details.
5. ThriveDesk
ThriveDesk is an all-in-one program that allows you to respond to client inquiries and quickly become a support pro.
Its shared inbox is a central location for all client communications, chats, and inquiries. The inbox allows you to organize, collaborate, customize, and track all your customers’ messages.
Even if your staff is too busy or unable to chat live, live chat allows you to reach out to more consumers with less effort. Its live chat assistant will interact with consumers without slowing your website down.
The Reporting feature in ThriveDesk assists you in making data-driven decisions to serve and satisfy your customers. You will receive a corporate performance report that will allow you to track how your firm is performing in relation to your own goals and those of your rivals.
Second, you’ll see the Leaderboard report, which provides a quick snapshot of team performance over any period and allows you to examine outcomes for the entire team or a single team member.
It gives you a report on the Happiness Score. Also, it identifies team performance patterns with a sharable score on your site, which will act as a testimonial to urge your consumers to make a buy.
Stop responding to the same questions from customers. ThriveDesk provides on-the-spot responses from the knowledge base directly within the live chat assistance.
It enables you to build a customer community, considerably cutting your marketing expenditures. Furthermore, it increases customer lifetime value by allowing your customers to come together, interact, and contribute to ideas and debates. This feature puts it above Help Scout.
You can get started with Thrivedesk for $15 per month. Furthermore, it has a subscription for three users; you’ll get it at $36, 10 at $120, and 50 at $600. Also, it has a 14-day free trial.
6. AzureDesk
AzureDesk is a customer support platform that gives you a simple means to communicate with your customers.
Thanks to the Self Service Portal, customers can resolve support issues before contacting customer care. Customers can own the Support Center page by adding their company logo and website URL.
It contains a knowledge base that customers can check for answers when they are away. Customers can browse for FAQs, and AzureDesk’s search capability returns results with each keystroke.
The program has a Tracking Requests feature similar to a customer ticket portal in that it allows customers to follow all of their requests independently and see the progress of their tickets without having to contact an Agent.
Compared to Help Scout, it has Agent Signature that allows the Administrator to personalize their responses. Administrators, for example, can add the agent’s name, email, firm name, and so on in all outbound email messages.
The platform has a Multi-Language function that allows agents to write notes to customers in a language they understand. The agent can type in the source text field, choose the language for translation, and then click the Translate Text button. The content is translated, and the customer can copy and paste it to speak with the consumer in their native language.
You can get AzureDesk for $33 per user per month, billed annually. They also offer a 14-day free trial.
7. HappyFox
HappyFox is a multi-channel platform that communicates with customers via email, social media, live chat, and even phone.
HappyFox has a simple ticketing system to set up and use for support staff. All incoming tickets are immediately classified as customer support, marketing, sales, or billing. To categorize tickets according to priority and responsibility, you can create custom ticket queues by setting one or more rules.
The Work Management tool allows you to allocate tasks to specific agents and specify due dates and times for each task. Additionally, generate task templates and apply them to tickets.
Why opt for a standard help page that relies on your ‘website guy’ for updates? You can transform your static single-page FAQ area into a professional knowledge base in a couple of minutes.
Using the HappyFox help desk report, you can monitor your customer support productivity, track SLAs, and enhance CSAT for a great support experience. In contrast to Help Scout, it includes Canned Actions allowing you to reply to inquiries using templated replies.
The pricing plan for HappyFox is as follows:
The first is Agent-based monthly pricing with several sub-plans: The Mighty plan is $39 per month, the Fantastic plan is $59 per month, the Enterprise plan is $79 per month, and the Enterprise Plus plan is $99 per month.
The second category is the Unlimited Agents plan, which also features multiple plans with yearly billing: The Starter plan is $1,499 per month, the Growth plan is $1,999 per month, the Scale plan is $2,999 per month, and the Scale Plus plan is $4,999 per month.
8. Kayako
Kayako works with high-growth enterprises, startups, nonprofits, and governments to provide seamless customer service experiences. It allows you to help or engage with consumers on Twitter and Facebook without exiting the dashboard, a feature that Help Scout doesn’t have.
Its live chat system makes it simple to provide personalized help desk assistance and experience to your customers. You can incorporate its live chat into your website, Android, and iOS apps.
Kayako connects with Zapier, allowing it to integrate with dozens of platforms like Slack and Salesforce.
You can create a single-point Help Center to allow customers to help themselves. Just provide them a comprehensive picture of their support history, a library of self-help articles, videos, and FAQs.
You must pay $60 Per Month per agent to access its services, with a minimum of five agents. The price increases with the increase in the number of agents.
9. Front
Front allows you to handle different consumer communication channels; you only need to link SMS, live chat, email, Facebook, and other services to a single collaboration hub.
It’s never been easier to manage a group email. In Front, add group email addresses to a shared inbox to provide your team with a unified view of all emails. With this shared inbox option, your team can quickly engage on email and progress through the queue.
With its Workflow Management function, it is easy to see who is working on what, with assignments and automated procedures to keep projects and discussions running smoothly.
Front has a powerful Email Management system compared to Help Scout, which helps you avoid duplicate responses and missed communications by designating owners to reply. You’ll know who’s working on what using this email collaboration tool, which reduces back and forth.
Front has three pricing plans billed annually: Starter at $19 per month, Growth at $49 per month, and Scale at $99 per month.
10. Gorgias
Gorgias is a support service that allows you to view customer information while speaking with them. You can edit orders, adjust subscriptions, and refund money without leaving the dashboard.
Sometimes customers will not constantly be on your website. Track every transaction that your customer service representatives make through text messages, responses on social media, and online live chats.
It provides a phone number for customers to contact and let your customer support representatives operate from a single platform. You can reply to all customer emails in a common workspace. This enables you to know which customer to help next.
Gorgias is better than Help Scout because it offers SMS support, allowing quick communication with customers. It also allows you to respond to customers while resolving order requests. Your days of tab-switching and copy-pasting are over.
Gorgias’ monthly pricing plans are as follows: The basic plan is $60 per month; including 300 tickets, the Pro plan is $360 per month; includes 3000 tickets, the Advanced plan is $900 per month; includes 5000 tickets, and the Enterprise plan is custom so you’ll have to contact their customer support.
11. Enchant
Enchant’s customer-centric tools enable you to give personalized service to customers. It includes a shared inbox that allows your team to collaborate effectively.
This alternative to Help Scout makes it simple for you to manage FAQ or knowledge base material so that your consumers may assist themselves when they want assistance.
The Report tool will provide vital information that will assist you in identifying trends, improving team performance, and increasing customer delight.
Multiple messengers can be set up under a single account, linked to a separate team, or customized for a separate site. It integrates with major programs like Shopify or Slack.
You can get Enchant for only $15 per user per month, which is cheaper than Help Scout’s Standard plan. They also offer a 30-day free trial.
12. HelpDesk
HelpDesk helps you control all your customer communications in one location. It analyzes your performance and customers’ actions and looks for trends.
Use Viewer Accounts to provide free HelpDesk access to everyone in your organization. It enables collaboration through private notes, multiple inboxes, and automatic assignment rules.
The Automation function allows you to automate repetitive processes and reduce reaction time. Create automated workflows to speed up your procedures as well. To achieve a robust multichannel customer support platform, connect HelpDesk to LiveChat.
Unlike Help Scout, it is easy to build trust by consistently responding to consumers using your corporate domain. Using a customizable email template, you can personalize your mailing correspondence.
HelpDesk has a Team plan subscription which costs $34 per month.
13. UseResponse
Our last Help Scout alternative is UseResponse. It is a flexible and fully adaptable customer support solution designed to fit your support team’s needs.
Use Response provides more than ten customer support channels (email, live chat, social media, community forums, messengers, and more). It enables automated work and alerts.
The software allows you to organize a to-do list under a certain ticket or subject and distribute tasks among team members.
You can also build a confidential feedback forum for your internal staff or participate in a general feedback collection system. This feature is not included in Help Scout.
UseResponse plans include Enterprise Cloud, which is $1490 per year for two agents, and the On-Premise Solution is $4800 per year for five agents.
Wrap Up
Though It’s difficult to pick one from the list above, I found Freshdesk the best of the lot. This is primarily because of the reporting feature that tracks your performance and customers’ activities. The program offers widgets that you can integrate into your website.
Freshdesk offers an SSL certificate, which guarantees you powerful security. Its multiple pricing plans suit different budgets and needs. Other features include ticketing, automation, and analytics that help support agents resolve issues quickly.
