Front vs Help Scout
A side-by-side comparison of Front and Help Scout on what each one charges, what it meters, and which plan every capability actually sits on.
The short answer
6 of the 26 capabilities tracked on both differ, mostly in Channels. Front starts at $25/seat/mo, Help Scout at Free, then $25/seat/mo.
| Measure | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $25/seat/mo | Free, then $25/seat/mo |
| Charged per | Each agent seat | Each agent seat |
| AI billed at | $0.05 per conversation | $0.75 per AI resolution |
| Included, where the other says no | 1 capability | 0 capabilities |
Capability by capability
6 of the 26 capabilities tracked on both products differ.
Channels
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| IncludedAll plans, with OAuth for Office 365 and Gmail. On Starter, only if email is the single channel type you choose. | IncludedAll plans, including Free | |
| Live chat | IncludedAll plans in principle, but Starter supports one channel type only, so chat there means no email or SMS alongside it. Omnichannel starts at Professional. | IncludedStandard and above. Not on Free. |
| Voice | IncludedProfessional and above. Voice and telephony run through Aircall or Dialpad rather than a Front-operated network. | Paid add-onAircall add-on on Standard and Plus; preferred Aircall pricing on Pro. Help Scout publishes no price for it. |
| SMS | IncludedThrough Twilio on all plans, subject to the Starter single-channel-type limit. Dialpad also carries SMS. | IncludedStandard and above, listed alongside live chat. |
| Paid add-onNative WhatsApp is a paid add-on on Professional and Enterprise, priced as Meta's WhatsApp costs plus a 20% admin fee. Third-party WhatsApp through Twilio or Number AI is available otherwise. | IncludedStandard and above. | |
| Instagram / Facebook | IncludedProfessional and above. Social channels are not on Starter. | IncludedStandard and above. Instagram and Messenger. |
| X / Twitter | IncludedProfessional and above, listed with the other social channels. | Not published |
Ticketing
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Shared inbox | IncludedAll plans. 1 workspace on Starter, up to 5 on Professional, unlimited on Enterprise. | IncludedAll plans. Free 1 Inbox; Standard 2, Plus 5, Pro 10 included, extras at $10/mo annual. |
| Ticket queues | Not published | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
| SLA policies | Not published | IncludedOne basic SLA on Standard, two advanced on Plus, unlimited on Pro. None on Free. |
| Business hours | Not published | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
| Macros / saved replies | IncludedProfessional and above. Starter has no macros at all; Enterprise removes the cap. | IncludedSaved replies on all plans. Free caps at 10, paid plans unlimited. |
| Side conversations | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The matrix has no row for a conversation held beside the customer thread. |
| Custom fields | Not published | IncludedPlus and Pro. |
| Custom objects | Not published | NoNot on any plan. Custom fields cap at 10 a conversation and customer properties at 50, which are fields rather than objects. |
| Ticket forms | IncludedUnknown. A customer portal with ticket forms is named in the product navigation, but no plan gate is published for it. | IncludedEvery plan including Free. |
Routing & automation
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Skills-based routing | Not published | NoNot on any plan. Routing is round robin on Plus $45 and load balanced on Pro $75, neither of which reads a skill. |
| Round-robin assignment | Not published | IncludedPlus and Pro. |
| Load balancing | Not published | IncludedPro only, listed as multiple routing types. |
| Triggers | Not published | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
| Workflow builder | IncludedRules are capped: up to 10 on Starter, up to 20 on Professional, unlimited on Enterprise. Smart rules are Enterprise only. | Included150 basic workflows on Standard, 500 advanced on Plus, unlimited on Pro. None on Free. |
| Escalation rules | Not published | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
AI resolution
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous resolution agent | Paid add-onAutopilot, the omnichannel AI agent, is an add-on on all three plans starting at $0.05 per conversation. No included allowance on any plan, and Front bills the conversation rather than the resolution. | Paid add-onAI Answers add-on at $0.75 a resolution, on Standard $25 and above. Three months free from signup and a monthly spend cap that switches it off rather than overrunning. |
| Resolution over knowledge base | Not published | Paid add-onAI Answers add-on at $0.75 a resolution, on Standard $25 and above. Three months free from signup and a monthly spend cap that switches it off rather than overrunning. |
| Action-taking (API calls) | Not published | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers is described as answering, never as doing. |
| Handoff to human | Not published | Paid add-onAI Answers add-on at $0.75 a resolution, on Standard $25 and above. Three months free from signup and a monthly spend cap that switches it off rather than overrunning. |
AI assist
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Reply drafting | IncludedAI Compose is included on all plans and capped at 200 actions per teammate per day. | IncludedPlus $45 a user and above. |
| Tone rewrite | Not published | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
| Summarization | IncludedAI Summarize is included on all plans and capped at 200 actions per teammate per day. | IncludedPlus $45 a user and above. |
| Translation | IncludedAI Translate is included on all plans and capped at 200 requests per teammate per day. | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
| Next-best-action | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The four AI rows are Assist, Drafts, Summarize and Answers. |
| Auto-tagging | Not published | NoNot on any plan. Tags are unlimited on paid tiers and applied by hand or by a workflow. |
| Sentiment analysis | Not published | NoNot on any plan. Not among the four AI rows. |
AI voice
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Voice agent | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The matrix lists phone and voice as "via integration" on every tier, which is Aircall billed separately, so there is no voice layer to put AI on. |
| IVR replacement | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The matrix lists phone and voice as "via integration" on every tier, which is Aircall billed separately, so there is no voice layer to put AI on. |
| Real-time transcription | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The matrix lists phone and voice as "via integration" on every tier, which is Aircall billed separately, so there is no voice layer to put AI on. |
| Call summarization | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The matrix lists phone and voice as "via integration" on every tier, which is Aircall billed separately, so there is no voice layer to put AI on. |
Knowledge base
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Public help center | IncludedBasic knowledge base on Starter, customisable on Professional, multi-language on Enterprise. | IncludedAll plans. Free 1 Docs site; Standard 2, Plus 3, Pro 5 included, extras at $20/mo annual. |
| Multi-brand | Not published | IncludedDocs sites by tier: 1 on Free, 2 on Standard $25, 3 on Plus $45, 5 on Pro $75, and $20 a month for each one beyond that. |
| Versioning | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The Docs rows cover sites, branding, articles, contact forms and access control. |
| Localization | IncludedEnterprise only. The multi-language knowledge base is one of the three named Enterprise unlocks. | NoNot on any plan. AI Assist translates agent text, not articles. |
| In-product widget | Not published | IncludedThe embeddable support hub: 1 on Free, 5 on Standard $25, unlimited on Plus $45 and Pro $75. |
| AI answers over KB | Not published | IncludedAll paid plans, metered at $0.75 per resolution with no included allowance. Delivered through Help Scout's own Beacon widget over Docs content; there is no bring-your-own-helpdesk version. |
Self-service
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Chatbot flows | Not published | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers is a retrieval agent, not a flow anyone builds. |
| Order lookup | Not published | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers replies from content; the matrix describes no transactional actions. |
| Returns / RMA | Not published | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers replies from content; the matrix describes no transactional actions. |
| Account actions | Not published | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers replies from content; the matrix describes no transactional actions. |
QA & workforce
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation QA scoring | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix runs to roughly sixty rows across ten sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Automated QA coverage | Paid add-onSmart QA is $20 per seat per month on Starter and Professional, included on Enterprise. | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix runs to roughly sixty rows across ten sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Calibration | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix runs to roughly sixty rows across ten sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Agent scorecards | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix runs to roughly sixty rows across ten sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Forecasting | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix runs to roughly sixty rows across ten sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Scheduling | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix runs to roughly sixty rows across ten sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
| Adherence tracking | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The plan matrix runs to roughly sixty rows across ten sections and none of them is quality assurance or workforce management. |
Reporting
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Prebuilt dashboards | IncludedBasic analytics on Starter, advanced analytics on Professional. | IncludedEvery plan, but the history is the gate: 30 days on Free, two years on Standard $25, all-time on Plus $45 and Pro $75. |
| Custom reports | IncludedEnterprise only. | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
| Raw data export | IncludedNo plan gate, but not self-serve on any plan: "You will need to contact Front's Support team in order to export your team's Front account data. You cannot do this on your own in the app at this time." | IncludedPaid plans. Reporting data only, delivered to CSV or Excel "with the exception of conversation thread contents". |
| Data warehouse sync | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The export row goes to CSV or Excel and no further. |
| CSAT / NPS | Paid add-onSmart CSAT infers satisfaction rather than surveying for it. $10 per seat per month on Starter and Professional, included on Enterprise. | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. |
| Real-time reporting | Not published | NoNot on any plan. Reporting is described by history window, not as a live dashboard. |
Collaboration
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Internal notes | IncludedAll plans. Comments and discussions sit alongside the message thread, and free guests can comment without a license. | Not published |
| @mentions | IncludedAll plans. Guests may @mention participants already in the conversation but cannot invite new ones. | Not published |
| Assignment | Not published | IncludedEvery plan including Free. |
| Approvals | Not published | NoNot on any plan. Nothing in the matrix reviews a reply or an article before it goes out. |
Enterprise
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| SAML SSO | IncludedProfessional and above, any SAML-based IdP, plus OAuth for Office 365 and Gmail. Not on Starter. | Paid add-onAdd-on on Plus and Pro, at a price Help Scout does not publish. Unavailable on Free and Standard. |
| SCIM provisioning | IncludedProfessional and above. Not on Starter. | Not publishedNot listed in the published plan matrix or the security page. |
| Custom roles | IncludedEnterprise only. Starter gets basic user management, Professional adds SSO and SCIM. | Not publishedAdvanced permissions and Teams appear as rows in the plan matrix, but the matrix is icon-only and Help Scout publishes no text describing which plans carry them. |
| IP allowlist | Not published | Paid add-onAdd-on on Plus and Pro, at a price Help Scout does not publish. |
| HIPAA / BAA | Not publishedHIPAA is not mentioned on the security page, so neither a BAA nor its absence is published. | Paid add-onPro only, and an add-on even there. Requires a signed BAA. Price not published. |
| SOC 2 | IncludedNot plan-gated. SOC 2 Type II, report on request. | IncludedNot plan-gated. SOC 2 Type 2 for Security and Availability, report on request. |
| ISO 27001 | IncludedNot plan-gated. Certified, certificate on request. | Not publishedNot claimed anywhere on the security page, which names only SOC 2 Type 2 and penetration testing. |
| GDPR | IncludedNot plan-gated. A DPA is published. | IncludedNot plan-gated. A DPA is published, though the security page says only that Help Scout adheres to relevant privacy regulations without naming GDPR. |
| Data residency | IncludedUnited States or European Union, on Amazon Web Services. No plan gate and no price are stated for the choice. | Not publishedThe security page says only that Help Scout is hosted in AWS. No region choice is offered on the pricing page or the security page, and no data-residency product is published. |
Developer
| Capability | Front | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | IncludedAll plans. The Core API covers conversations, messages, contacts, tags and comments, and a separate analytics export endpoint exists. | IncludedAll paid plans. Inbox API for customers, users and conversations; Docs API for articles. |
| GraphQL API | Not published | NoNot on any plan. The matrix lists API access with per-tier rate limits and nothing else. |
| App framework | Not published | IncludedEvery plan including Free. |
| Published rate limits | IncludedPublished per plan: Starter 50 req/min, Professional 100, Enterprise 200, enforced per company. Burst limits are 5 req/s per resource type and 1 req/s for exports. | IncludedPublished per plan in the pricing matrix: Standard 200 calls/min, Plus 400, Pro 800. |
Both entries last checked Sep 9, 2026.
What Front costs
$25/seat/month
3 published plans, billed annually- Billing unit
Per seat per month at the annual-prepay rate - Free tier
No, 14-day trial - AI pricing
$0.05 per conversation - Vendor calls it
conversation - Human handoff
Not published - Reopened chat
Not published - AI billing window
Not published - Data export
Support ticket required - Automation export
Not offered
3 of 9 not published by Front, checked
What Help Scout costs
$25/seat/month
4 published plans, billed annually- Billing unit
Per user per month - Free tier
Yes - AI pricing
$0.75 per AI resolution - Vendor calls it
AI Answers resolution - Human handoff
Not billed - Reopened chat
Not published - AI billing window
Not published - Data export
None published - Automation export
Not offered
2 of 9 not published by Help Scout, checked