HelpScout ties AI usage to a contact-based pricing model—offering unlimited agents and AI across plans—making it easy for startups to get started and scale efficiently with usage.
- Category
Customer Support Platform - Employees
200+ - Business Model
Product-Led Growth (PLG) - Target Market
SMBs, startups, and growing support teams
Pricing Model: Tiered, usage-based (priced per contact)
Primary Value Metrics: Number of monthly contacts (unique individuals who receive a response or resolution)
Freemium: Yes – Free plan for up to 50 contacts with unlimited users
Add-ons: Not prominently featured, plans are mostly bundled
Discount Strategy: Discounts offered on annual subscriptions
Core Pricing Structure
AI Assist (embedded into agent workflows and automation) is included across all paid plans
AI is bundled with tiered pricing; Standard and Plus plans are priced per contact, with a slight premium for Plus to reflect advanced use cases
By tying AI to a contact-based pricing model, HelpScout balances cost with support value, reducing spam and duplicate contact overhead. Unlimited agents and AI access in the free plan support adoption while encouraging startups to grow into paid tiers.
HelpScout uses AI to streamline ticket resolution and improve customer service efficiency—offering strategic value across plans while keeping pricing transparent and aligned to actual support usage.