Help Scout vs Plain
A side-by-side comparison of Help Scout and Plain on what each one charges, what it meters, and which plan every capability actually sits on.
The short answer
4 of the 13 capabilities tracked on both differ, mostly in Developer. Help Scout starts at Free, then $25/seat/mo, Plain at $35/seat/mo.
| Measure | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Free, then $25/seat/mo | $35/seat/mo |
| Charged per | Each agent seat | Each agent seat |
| AI billed at | $0.75 per AI resolution | Sidekick credit allowance, no rate published |
| Included, where the other says no | 1 capability | 1 capability |
Capability by capability
4 of the 13 capabilities tracked on both products differ.
Channels
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| IncludedAll plans, including Free | Included2 email addresses on Foundation, 10 on Horizon, 25 on Frontier | |
| Live chat | IncludedStandard and above. Not on Free. | IncludedListed on the integrations page and available from Foundation |
| Voice | Paid add-onAircall add-on on Standard and Plus; preferred Aircall pricing on Pro. Help Scout publishes no price for it. | Not published |
| SMS | IncludedStandard and above, listed alongside live chat. | Not published |
| IncludedStandard and above. | Not published | |
| Instagram / Facebook | IncludedStandard and above. Instagram and Messenger. | Not published |
| Slack Connect | Not published | Included25 Slack channels on Foundation, unlimited on Horizon and Frontier. Slack Enterprise Grid is Frontier only. |
| Microsoft Teams | Not published | IncludedHorizon and above. Not available on Foundation. |
| Community forum | Not published | IncludedUnknown. A Discourse integration is listed on the compare table, but the per-plan checkmarks are images and could not be read. Plain ingests an existing forum rather than hosting one. |
Ticketing
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Shared inbox | IncludedAll plans. Free 1 Inbox; Standard 2, Plus 5, Pro 10 included, extras at $10/mo annual. | Not published |
| Ticket queues | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | Not published |
| SLA policies | IncludedOne basic SLA on Standard, two advanced on Plus, unlimited on Pro. None on Free. | IncludedSLAs and business hours start on Horizon |
| Business hours | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | IncludedHorizon and above |
| Macros / saved replies | IncludedSaved replies on all plans. Free caps at 10, paid plans unlimited. | IncludedDocumented as Snippets, with full API read and write on all plans |
| Side conversations | NoNot on any plan. The matrix has no row for a conversation held beside the customer thread. | Not published |
| Custom fields | IncludedPlus and Pro. | Not published |
| Custom objects | NoNot on any plan. Custom fields cap at 10 a conversation and customer properties at 50, which are fields rather than objects. | Not published |
| Ticket forms | IncludedEvery plan including Free. | Not published |
Routing & automation
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Skills-based routing | NoNot on any plan. Routing is round robin on Plus $45 and load balanced on Pro $75, neither of which reads a skill. | Not published |
| Round-robin assignment | IncludedPlus and Pro. | Not published |
| Load balancing | IncludedPro only, listed as multiple routing types. | Not published |
| Triggers | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | Not published |
| Workflow builder | Included150 basic workflows on Standard, 500 advanced on Plus, unlimited on Pro. None on Free. | IncludedUp to 5 workflows on Foundation, unlimited on Horizon and Frontier |
| Escalation rules | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | IncludedEscalation paths start on Horizon |
AI resolution
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous resolution agent | 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. | IncludedAri, the customer-facing AI agent, is free on all workspaces and consumes no credits. Bring-your-own AI agent is Frontier only. |
| Resolution over knowledge base | 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. | Not published |
| Action-taking (API calls) | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers is described as answering, never as doing. | Not published |
| Handoff to human | 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. | Not published |
AI assist
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Reply drafting | IncludedPlus $45 a user and above. | Not published |
| Tone rewrite | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | Not published |
| Summarization | IncludedPlus $45 a user and above. | Not published |
| Translation | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | Not published |
| Next-best-action | NoNot on any plan. The four AI rows are Assist, Drafts, Summarize and Answers. | Not published |
| Auto-tagging | NoNot on any plan. Tags are unlimited on paid tiers and applied by hand or by a workflow. | Not published |
| Sentiment analysis | NoNot on any plan. Not among the four AI rows. | Not published |
AI voice
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Voice agent | 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. | Not published |
| IVR replacement | 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. | Not published |
| Real-time transcription | 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. | Not published |
| Call summarization | 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. | Not published |
Knowledge base
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Public help center | IncludedAll plans. Free 1 Docs site; Standard 2, Plus 3, Pro 5 included, extras at $20/mo annual. | Not publishedKnowledge bases are plan-limited (1 on Foundation, unlimited above) and a Help center API section is documented, but nothing states whether they are publicly hosted. The headless portal starts on Horizon. |
| Multi-brand | 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. | Not published |
| Versioning | NoNot on any plan. The Docs rows cover sites, branding, articles, contact forms and access control. | Not published |
| Localization | NoNot on any plan. AI Assist translates agent text, not articles. | Not published |
| In-product widget | IncludedThe embeddable support hub: 1 on Free, 5 on Standard $25, unlimited on Plus $45 and Pro $75. | Not published |
| AI answers over KB | 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. | Not published |
Self-service
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Chatbot flows | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers is a retrieval agent, not a flow anyone builds. | Not published |
| Order lookup | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers replies from content; the matrix describes no transactional actions. | Not published |
| Returns / RMA | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers replies from content; the matrix describes no transactional actions. | Not published |
| Account actions | NoNot on any plan. AI Answers replies from content; the matrix describes no transactional actions. | Not published |
QA & workforce
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation QA scoring | 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. | Not published |
| Automated QA coverage | 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. | Not published |
| Calibration | 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. | Not published |
| Agent scorecards | 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. | Not published |
| Forecasting | 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. | Not published |
| Scheduling | 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. | Not published |
| Adherence tracking | 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. | Not published |
Reporting
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Prebuilt dashboards | 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. | Not published |
| Custom reports | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | Not published |
| Raw data export | IncludedPaid plans. Reporting data only, delivered to CSV or Excel "with the exception of conversation thread contents". | Not published |
| Data warehouse sync | NoNot on any plan. The export row goes to CSV or Excel and no further. | Not published |
| CSAT / NPS | IncludedStandard $25 a user and above. Not on Free. | Not published |
| Real-time reporting | NoNot on any plan. Reporting is described by history window, not as a live dashboard. | Not published |
Collaboration
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | IncludedEvery plan including Free. | Not published |
| Approvals | NoNot on any plan. Nothing in the matrix reviews a reply or an article before it goes out. | Not published |
Enterprise
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| SAML SSO | Paid add-onAdd-on on Plus and Pro, at a price Help Scout does not publish. Unavailable on Free and Standard. | IncludedFrontier only. Neither publicly priced plan includes SSO. |
| SCIM provisioning | Not publishedNot listed in the published plan matrix or the security page. | IncludedFrontier only |
| Custom roles | 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. | IncludedUnknown. A Custom roles row exists on the compare table but the per-plan checkmarks are images and could not be read. |
| IP allowlist | Paid add-onAdd-on on Plus and Pro, at a price Help Scout does not publish. | Not published |
| HIPAA / BAA | Paid add-onPro only, and an add-on even there. Requires a signed BAA. Price not published. | Not publishedNo claim on /pricing, the trust center notices or the help center. |
| SOC 2 | IncludedNot plan-gated. SOC 2 Type 2 for Security and Availability, report on request. | IncludedUnknown. A SOC2 Type II Report row sits under Services and compliance; per-plan gating is not readable. A live trust center is published with dated subprocessor notifications. |
| GDPR | IncludedNot plan-gated. A DPA is published, though the security page says only that Help Scout adheres to relevant privacy regulations without naming GDPR. | IncludedNot plan-gated. A DPA is published at /legal/dpa, and the terms forbid training AI models on Subscriber Data without written consent. |
Developer
| Capability | Help Scout | Plain |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | IncludedAll paid plans. Inbox API for customers, users and conversations; Docs API for articles. | Not publishedOnly a GraphQL API is documented. No REST surface appears in the docs navigation. |
| GraphQL API | NoNot on any plan. The matrix lists API access with per-tier rate limits and nothing else. | IncludedAll three plans. Plain is built on the same GraphQL API it exposes. |
| Webhooks | Not published | IncludedWebhooks and Events are shown on all three plans |
| App framework | IncludedEvery plan including Free. | Not published |
| Published rate limits | IncludedPublished per plan in the pricing matrix: Standard 200 calls/min, Plus 400, Pro 800. | NoNo rate-limit figure on the GraphQL Introduction or Authentication pages, and no rate-limit page in the docs navigation. |
Both entries last checked Sep 9, 2026.
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
What Plain costs
$35/seat/month
2 published plans, billed annually- Billing unit
$35/month - Free tier
No, 7-day trial - AI pricing
Not published - Vendor calls it
Sidekick credit - Human handoff
Not billed - Reopened chat
Refunded - AI billing window
Not published - Data export
Self-serve - Automation export
Partial
2 of 9 not published by Plain, checked