Pricing guide · Last verified September 2026
Help Scout Pricing (2026): Plans, AI Answers & the Free Plan
Help Scout charges per user, per month. On annual billing, Standard is $25, Plus is $45 and Pro is $75 per user, and there is a Free plan for up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month. AI Answers, the customer-facing AI, is a $0.75 add-on per resolution. Contact-based pricing is now only for legacy customers.
- Free plan
- 5 users, 100 contacts
- Paid from
- $25 / user / mo
- AI Answers
- $0.75 / resolution
- Trial
- 15 days
Plan by plan
Help Scout plans and prices
Per user per month. Annual billing is shown first and saves about 16%; the monthly price is underneath. Paid plans include unlimited contacts.
Free
Very small teams that answer a few customers a day.
- 1 inbox and 1 Docs site
- 10 saved replies, 10 tags
- No AI Answers
Standard
Small teams that outgrow the free limits.
- Up to 25 users
- Unlimited contacts
- AI Assist included
Plus
Help Scout's most popular plan, for teams that want AI drafts and more control.
- Up to 50 users plus 25 light users
- AI Drafts and Summarize
- Unlimited contacts
Pro
Larger teams; 10-user minimum and sold via a sales demo.
- Unlimited users plus 50 light users
- 10-user minimum
- Sold through a sales demo
Last verified: September 2026. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on the official page before you buy. Source: helpscout.com/pricing
How you're billed
Per user, plus per resolution for AI Answers
New Help Scout accounts pay per user. Help Scout previously sold plans by "contacts helped" per month; that model now applies only to existing legacy customers. On today's paid plans, contacts are unlimited.
AI Answers, the AI that replies to customers in the Beacon widget, is billed per resolution at $0.75, charged at most once per conversation, with a monthly spending cap you control. A resolution counts when the customer gets an AI reply and doesn't escalate or ask for more help.
Help Scout gives new accounts three months of AI Answers free, so the true AI cost shows up from month four.
AI costs
What Help Scout AI costs
Help Scout splits AI into agent-assist features, which are included, and AI Answers, which is metered.
AI Answers: $0.75 per resolution
Billed monthly with a spending cap you set. Free and unlimited for the first 3 months of a new account. Help Scout mentions prepaid discounts through sales.
AI Assist: included
Rewrites and tone changes for your team's replies, on every paid plan.
AI Drafts and Summarize: Plus and Pro
Suggested reply drafts and thread summaries, not available on Standard.
Worked examples
What Help Scout costs a real team
Annual billing, list prices from helpscout.com, after the 3-month AI Answers free period. Resolution counts are assumptions.
3-agent team
Standard plan, AI Answers resolving 300 conversations a month.
Choosing Plus for AI Drafts raises seats to $135 and the total to $360.
3 team seats and 1,000 AI replies a month, flat, with actions like refunds and bookings included.
10-agent team
Plus plan, AI Answers resolving 1,500 conversations a month.
10 team seats and 5,000 AI replies a month at one flat price.
Watch for
Hidden costs
AI Answers after month three
The free AI period ends three months after account creation. From then on every resolution is $0.75.
Extra inboxes and Docs sites
An additional inbox is $10 a month (annual) and an additional Docs site is $20 a month (annual).
Security add-ons
HIPAA, SSO/SAML and higher API rate limits are $100 a month each.
Pro has a 10-user minimum
At $75 per user, Pro starts at $750 a month even for a smaller team.
Phone via integrations
Help Scout has no native voice. Phone support means a separate tool, such as Aircall, with its own bill.
Free plan
Is Help Scout free?
Yes. Help Scout has a Free plan for up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month, with one inbox and one Docs site. It doesn't include AI Answers. Paid plans have a 15-day free trial, no card required.
- Free: 5 users, 100 contacts / month, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site
- 15-day free trial on Standard and Plus
- AI Answers free for the first 3 months of a new account
The flat-rate option
Help Scout pricing vs. Bund AI
Help Scout is a clean, email-first help desk with a genuinely useful free plan. Its customer-facing AI is billed per resolution on top of per-user seats. Bund AI charges one flat price with the AI agent, actions and team seats included.
| Bund AI plan | Price | AI replies | Team seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0.99 / month | 50 AI replies / month | 1 team seat |
| Starter | $49 / month | 1,000 AI replies / month | 3 team seats |
| Growth | $99 / month | 5,000 AI replies / month | 10 team seats |
| Scale | $199 / month | 10,000 AI replies / month | 25 team seats |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited AI replies | Unlimited team seats |
One price per plan, with AI replies and team seats included. No per-seat add-ons and no per-resolution fees. An AI reply is any message the agent sends a customer on web chat or email.
FAQ
Questions people ask
How much does Help Scout cost?
On annual billing, Help Scout costs $25 per user per month for Standard, $45 for Plus and $75 for Pro (10-user minimum). Monthly billing is $30, $54 and $90. There is also a Free plan.
Does Help Scout have a free plan?
Yes. The Free plan covers up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month, with one inbox and one Docs site. It doesn't include AI Answers.
How much does Help Scout AI Answers cost?
$0.75 per resolution, billed monthly with a spending cap you set. New accounts get AI Answers free for their first 3 months.
Is Help Scout still priced by contacts?
Not for new customers. Help Scout now prices paid plans per user, with unlimited contacts. Contact-based plans remain only for existing legacy customers. The Free plan still has a 100-contact monthly limit.
What's cheaper than Help Scout for AI support?
Bund AI's Starter plan is $49 a month for 3 team seats and 1,000 AI replies, with no per-resolution fee. Its Basic plan is $0.99 a month for 50 AI replies if you just want to try an AI agent on your site.
Related
Keep comparing
Predictable pricing, AI included.
Start on the Basic plan for $0.99 a month, or book a demo to see the agent on your own conversations first.