Customer Support · head to head
Help Scout vs Front
Help Scout
Customer Support
Customer service software that people love
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Front
Customer Support
Where teams collaborate on customer communication
- From
- $25/month per seat
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Help Scout has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Help Scout the free plan caps contacts at 100 a month, so it is a volume trial rather than a standing free tier; Front starter tier limited to single-channel support; omnichannel support requires Professional tier
- They diverge on capability: Help Scout covers Knowledge base, Front covers Email collaboration.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Help Scout and Front actually diverge.
| Attribute | Help Scout | Front |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $25/month per seat |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, Ios, Android | Cloud-based SaaS |
| Founded | 2011 | 2013 |
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Customer Support).
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 Help Scout
- Knowledge base
- Live chat
- Customer profiles
- Reporting
- Shopify
- HIPAA
Only in Front
- Email collaboration
- Omnichannel messaging
- Analytics
- Integrations
- Asana
- SSO
- Desktop support
Both cover
- Shared inbox
- Workflows
- Slack
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Jira
- SOC2
- GDPR
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Help Scout
- Shared inbox and help desk for customer support teamsnot Front
- Publishing a knowledge base alongside email and chat supportnot Front
Front
- Multi-team customer support across email, chat, SMS channelsnot Help Scout
- Enterprises using AI to resolve complex multi-step customer requestsnot Help Scout
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Help Scout
- The free plan caps contacts at 100 a month, so it is a volume trial rather than a standing free tier
- Inboxes are rationed by plan, at 1 on free, 5 on Plus and 10 on Pro
- Each plan also caps users, at 25 on Standard and 50 on Plus
- The Pro plan at $75 per user per month carries a 10 user minimum, so the entry cost is $750 a month
- SSO, SAML and HIPAA compliance are Pro only
- AI Answers is billed separately at $0.75 per resolution on top of the seat price
Front
- Starter tier limited to single-channel support; omnichannel support requires Professional tier
- AI Copilot, Smart QA, and Smart CSAT are included only in Enterprise tier ($105/seat/month); available as add-ons at higher cost in lower tiers
- Starter tier limited to 10 automation rules; Professional tier allows 20; unlimited rules only in Enterprise
- Advanced analytics excluded from Starter tier
Pricing, plan by plan
Help Scout
Free- Standard$20/month
- 2 mailboxes
- 1 Docs site
- Email & live chat
- Plus$40/month
- 5 mailboxes
- Custom fields
- Advanced permissions
- Pro$65/month
- 25 mailboxes
- Enterprise security
- HIPAA compliance
Front
$25/month per seatNo published plan breakdown. See the Front review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Help Scout if
- You need knowledge base.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want live chat.
Choose Front if
- You need email collaboration.
- You work on Cloud-based SaaS.
- You also want omnichannel messaging.
Questions people ask
- Is Help Scout or Front better?
- Neither clearly leads. Help Scout starts at Free and Front at $25/month per seat, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Help Scout or Front?
- Help Scout has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Help Scout and $25/month per seat for Front.
- Does Help Scout or Front run on more platforms?
- Help Scout runs on Web, Ios, Android. Front runs on Cloud-based SaaS.
- Can I use Help Scout for free?
- Yes. Help Scout has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Front starts at $25/month per seat.
- What is Help Scout best used for?
- Help Scout is most often used for shared inbox and help desk for customer support teams, publishing a knowledge base alongside email and chat support. Of those, shared inbox and help desk for customer support teams and publishing a knowledge base alongside email and chat support are not what Front is typically brought in for.
- What can Help Scout do that Front cannot?
- Help Scout covers Knowledge base, Live chat, Customer profiles, Reporting. Front covers Email collaboration, Omnichannel messaging, Analytics, Integrations. Both handle Shared inbox, Workflows, Slack, Salesforce.