Alternatives to Help Scout

A hosted shared inbox and help desk service for customer support teams. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Help Scout.

  • Zendesk

    A hosted customer and employee service platform for handling support tickets across channels.

    PaidProprietaryWeb

    Zendesk is a larger paid hosted platform with many channels, internal employee service, an integration marketplace and heavy AI features.

  • Freshdesk

    A cloud customer service help desk with omnichannel ticketing, automated workflows and AI agents.

    FreemiumProprietaryWeb

    Freshdesk is a hosted omnichannel help desk with automated workflows, AI agents and a free plan to start.

  • Zoho Desk

    A cloud help desk that collects support requests from several channels into one ticket inbox.

    FreemiumProprietaryWeb

    Zoho Desk adds a built-in help center with knowledge base and community to a hosted multichannel inbox, with a free tier.

  • FreeScout

    A self-hosted open source help desk and shared inbox, modelled on Help Scout and Zendesk.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    FreeScout is modelled on Help Scout but free, open source and self-hosted, with unlimited agents and mailboxes on your own PHP server.

  • Chatwoot

    An open-source customer support desk for live chat, email, WhatsApp and social conversations.

    FreemiumOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    Chatwoot is open source and self-hostable, adding live chat, WhatsApp and social channels to the shared inbox.

  • Libredesk

    An open-source, self-hosted customer support desk that ships as a single binary.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxSelf-hosted

    Libredesk is an open-source, self-hosted support desk shipped as a single binary, keeping support data on your own server.

  • Jitbit Helpdesk

    An email-first help desk ticketing system available as a hosted service or a self-hosted install.

    PaidProprietaryWebSelf-hosted

    Jitbit Helpdesk offers email-first ticketing as SaaS or on-premises, with Exchange support and a documented API, but no free plan.

  • Hesk

    A lightweight PHP help desk with ticketing and a built-in knowledge base, self-hosted or cloud.

    FreemiumProprietaryWebSelf-hosted

    Hesk is a simple PHP help desk with a knowledge base that can be self-hosted or used in the cloud, and is not open source.

Also worth comparing

These listings name Help Scout as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Front

    A shared inbox and customer service platform that lets teams handle email, chat and other channels together.

    PaidProprietaryWindowsmacOSWeb

    Help Scout is a hosted shared inbox and help desk for support teams, with a free tier and positioning as lower cost than larger platforms.

  • Missive

    A collaborative email app for teams that combines shared inboxes, internal chat and task assignment.

    FreemiumProprietaryWeb

    Help Scout is a hosted shared inbox and help desk aimed at support teams, positioned as lower cost, but without Missive's internal chat and task features.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.