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Best Help Scout alternatives in 2026
Looking for something other than Help Scout? Below are 10 tools that do the same job, compared with Help Scout's $25/month starting price. 7 of them start cheaper, 3 have a free plan. Ordered by our rating, never by commission.
Help Scout what you have now
Shared inbox and help desk that feels like email.
✓ Free plan
$25/mo
All Help Scout alternatives
- ZendeskOur top pick
$19/mo
Customer service software with ticketing, chat and help center.
From $19/month · Trial: 14 days
- 2
$19/mo
Help desk and ticketing from Freshworks, with a free plan.
From $19/month · Trial: 14 days
- 3
$29/mo
AI-first customer service platform with messenger and help desk.
From $29/month · Trial: 14 days
- 4
$25/mo
Shared inbox for teams that handle customer email together.
From $25/month · Trial: 14 days
- 5
$10/mo
Help desk built for ecommerce and Shopify stores.
From $10/month · Trial: 7 days
- 6
- 7
$21.50/mo
IT and service desk from Atlassian.
✓ Free plan · Trial: 14 days (extendable to 30)
- 8
$7/mo
Affordable, context-aware help desk from Zoho.
✓ Free plan · Trial: 15 days
- 9
- 10
$11/mo
Help desk with live chat, email and call center.
From $11/month · Trial: 30 days
How do you pick the right Help Scout alternative?
It depends on why you're leaving. On a tight budget? HubSpot Service Hub has the lowest starting price in this list. Want to start free? Jira Service Management has a free plan. Want the best all-rounder? Start with Zendesk.
Before you switch
- Export your data from Help Scout first (contacts, projects, invoices or tickets).
- Check when your Help Scout contract renews; yearly plans usually don't refund unused months.
- Start a free trial of your top pick and import a small test set before you move everything.
See how we check prices, or compare every help desk software side by side on the Help desk software page.