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Customer Support · head to head

Amazon Connect vs Scratchpad

Amazon Connect logo

Amazon Connect

Customer Support

Cloud contact center from AWS

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Scratchpad logo

Scratchpad

CRM

Faster workspace over Salesforce for sales reps to update pipeline, take notes and manage deals

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Connect telephony is charged separately from the platform, so the $0.038 per minute voice rate is not the whole cost of a call; Scratchpad scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Connect covers Voice, Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Connect and Scratchpad actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Connect and Scratchpad differ
AttributeAmazon ConnectScratchpad
Pricing modelusage-basedPer user per month
PlatformsWebWeb, Chrome extension
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon Connect

  • Voice
  • Chat
  • Tasks
  • ML-powered analytics
  • Contact Lens
  • Outbound campaigns
  • Forecasting
  • Salesforce

Only in Scratchpad

  • Spreadsheet pipeline views
  • Call recorder and notetaker
  • AI field updates
  • Deal and account agent
  • Hygiene monitor
  • Notes linked to records
  • Custom prompts
  • Kanban and forecast views

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon Connect

  • Cloud contact centre with no per-seat licencenot Scratchpad
  • Voice, chat, email and SMS in one queuenot Scratchpad
  • Conversational analytics and agent assistnot Scratchpad
  • Outbound campaigns and automated contactnot Scratchpad
  • Workforce scheduling for contact centre agentsnot Scratchpad

Scratchpad

  • A 60-rep Salesforce team whose forecast is unreliable because opportunity fields are updated once a week in a panic before the pipeline callnot Amazon Connect
  • A rep who wants to update twenty opportunities in a grid rather than opening twenty Salesforce recordsnot Amazon Connect
  • A sales manager wanting stale and incomplete pipeline records flagged automatically instead of chased by emailnot Amazon Connect
  • A revenue operations lead trialling AI notetaking that writes back to CRM fields before committing budget, using the free tiernot Amazon Connect

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon Connect

  • Telephony is charged separately from the platform, so the $0.038 per minute voice rate is not the whole cost of a call
  • Every channel is metered individually: $0.010 per chat message, $0.080 per email and $0.014 per SMS
  • Rates vary by region and by third-party provider, so a published figure is indicative rather than final
  • Cost tracks contact volume, which makes forecasting hard for a queue with seasonal peaks

Scratchpad

  • Scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • AI credits are metered per user per month at 400 on Solo and 800 on Team, which means heavy notetaking use pushes teams towards Enterprise for capacity rather than for features.
  • There is no proper native mobile application, so representatives who wanted to update records from a car park between meetings are back in a mobile browser.
  • Sync with Salesforce and call processing can lag, and a pipeline view showing yesterday state during a forecast call undermines the exact meeting the tool was bought to improve.
  • It creates a second notes surface alongside native Salesforce notes, so organisations end up with deal history split across two places unless they explicitly ban one of them.

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon Connect

Free
  • Pay-as-you-go$undefined/mo
    • Chat: $0.010 per message sent or received
    • Voice: $0.038 per minute
    • Email: $0.080 per message sent or received

Scratchpad

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Workspace limited to 3 views
    • 10 hours a month of call recording and notetaking
    • AI field updates
  • Solo$19/month
    • Unlimited views with sheets and notes
    • Call recorder and notetaker
    • AI field updates
  • Team$49/month
    • Everything in Solo
    • 800 AI credits per user per month
    • Gong integration
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited AI credits
    • White-glove agent services included
    • Enterprise security and administration

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Connect if

  • You need voice.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want chat.
Amazon Connect review

Choose Scratchpad if

  • You need spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome extension.
  • You also want call recorder and notetaker.
Scratchpad review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Connect or Scratchpad better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Connect starts at Free and Scratchpad at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Connect or Scratchpad?
Amazon Connect starts at Free and Scratchpad at Free.
Does Amazon Connect or Scratchpad run on more platforms?
Amazon Connect runs on Web. Scratchpad runs on Web, Chrome extension.
Can I use Amazon Connect for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Amazon Connect best used for?
Amazon Connect is most often used for cloud contact centre with no per-seat licence, voice, chat, email and sms in one queue, conversational analytics and agent assist, outbound campaigns and automated contact. Of those, cloud contact centre with no per-seat licence and voice, chat, email and sms in one queue are not what Scratchpad is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Connect do that Scratchpad cannot?
Amazon Connect covers Voice, Chat, Tasks, ML-powered analytics. Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views, Call recorder and notetaker, AI field updates, Deal and account agent.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon Connect: How much does Amazon Connect cost?

Amazon Connect uses pay-as-you-go pricing with no minimums or long-term contracts. Costs are $0.010 per chat message, $0.038 per voice minute, $0.080 per email message, and $0.014 per SMS or third-party messaging message.

Source
Scratchpad: Does Scratchpad work with HubSpot?

No. It is Salesforce-only.

Amazon Connect: Is Amazon Connect free to try?

Amazon Connect offers a free trial option for new customers to get started at no cost. Ongoing usage is charged based on consumption with no minimum commitment required.

Source
Scratchpad: Is the free plan usable in production?

Yes for an individual: full workspace with three views, 10 hours of recording and 100 AI credits a month. Teams outgrow it on views and credits.

Amazon Connect: What are Amazon Connect's per-channel pricing differences?

Communication channel costs vary: voice at $0.038 per minute is the most expensive, email at $0.080 per message, SMS at $0.014 per message, and chat at the lowest rate of $0.010 per message. All pricing is per message or per minute consumed with no unused portions charged.

Source
Scratchpad: Does it replace Salesforce licences?

No. Every user still needs their own Salesforce licence; Scratchpad is an interface on top.

Scratchpad: What are AI credits spent on?

Notetaking, summarisation, field update suggestions and agent queries. Enterprise removes the cap.

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