Software · head to head
Jira Service Management vs Help Scout
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Jira Service Management the vendor's own pricing page as captured by the Internet Archive on 28 December 2021 named four tiers, Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise; the Free tier caps at 3 agents per site with one site, five major incidents per month, and unlimited alerts capped at 100 emails and 200 SMS per day, while Standard, Premium, and Enterprise each cap at 5,000 agents per site, with Enterprise adding unlimited sites and requiring a Confluence subscription for some features; per-figure dollar pricing was not shown on this capture, only per-agent pricing structure; Help Scout the free plan caps contacts at 100 a month, so it is a volume trial rather than a standing free tier
- They diverge on capability: Jira Service Management covers Incident management, Help Scout covers Shared inbox.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Jira Service Management and Help Scout actually diverge.
| Attribute | Jira Service Management | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 | 2011 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (subscription), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Jira Service Management
- Incident management
- Change management
- Problem management
- Asset management
- Knowledge management
- SLAs
- Jira Software
- Confluence
Only in Help Scout
- Shared inbox
- Knowledge base
- Live chat
- Customer profiles
- Workflows
- Reporting
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
Both cover
- Slack
- SOC2
- GDPR
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Jira Service Management
- IT service managementnot Help Scout
- Incident responsenot Help Scout
- Change managementnot Help Scout
- Asset trackingnot Help Scout
Help Scout
- Shared inbox and help desk for customer support teamsnot Jira Service Management
- Publishing a knowledge base alongside email and chat supportnot Jira Service Management
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Jira Service Management
- The vendor's own pricing page as captured by the Internet Archive on 28 December 2021 named four tiers, Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise; the Free tier caps at 3 agents per site with one site, five major incidents per month, and unlimited alerts capped at 100 emails and 200 SMS per day, while Standard, Premium, and Enterprise each cap at 5,000 agents per site, with Enterprise adding unlimited sites and requiring a Confluence subscription for some features; per-figure dollar pricing was not shown on this capture, only per-agent pricing structure
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
Pricing, plan by plan
Jira Service Management
Free- FreeFree
- 3 agents
- Ticket management
- Knowledge base
- Standard$20/month
- Unlimited customers
- 250 agents
- 20 GB storage
- Premium$45/month
- Advanced incident management
- Asset management
- Change management
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited sites
- 24/7 support
- Data residency
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
Which should you pick?
Choose Jira Service Management if
- You need incident management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want change management.
Choose Help Scout if
- You need shared inbox.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want knowledge base.
Questions people ask
- Is Jira Service Management or Help Scout better?
- Neither clearly leads. Jira Service Management starts at Free and Help Scout at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Jira Service Management or Help Scout?
- Jira Service Management starts at Free and Help Scout at Free.
- Does Jira Service Management or Help Scout run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Jira Service Management for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Jira Service Management best used for?
- Jira Service Management is most often used for it service management, incident response, change management, asset tracking. Of those, it service management and incident response are not what Help Scout is typically brought in for.
- What can Jira Service Management do that Help Scout cannot?
- Jira Service Management covers Incident management, Change management, Problem management, Asset management. Help Scout covers Shared inbox, Knowledge base, Live chat, Customer profiles. Both handle Slack, SOC2, GDPR, Web support.