Helploom vs Help Scout: Which tool is better for small businesses and solo founders?
Posted on by Preet Mishra
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Help Scout is a well-established customer service platform known for its UI and focus on delivering human-centered support. It's been trusted by thousands of businesses and offers a comprehensive suite of features including shared inbox, live chat, and knowledge base tools.
If you're a solo founder or small business choosing between Help Scout and Helploom, this comparison will help you understand which platform better fits your needs.
Help Scout at a Glance
Help Scout positions itself as a customer service platform that's easier to use than enterprise tools like Zendesk, while still offering powerful features:
- Shared inbox for email, chat, and social media support.
- Live chat widget (Beacon) included on all plans.
- Knowledge base creation with Docs.
- AI features including drafts, summarization, and translation.
- Workflow automation and saved replies.
- Customer profiles and conversation history.
- Advanced reporting and analytics.
- Integrations with popular tools like Shopify, HubSpot, and Salesforce.
Help Scout is built for small to mid-sized businesses that want professional customer support tools without the complexity of enterprise platforms.
What Makes Helploom Different
Helploom takes a more focused approach, built specifically for solo founders and small businesses who want simple customer support without the complexity:
- Simple setup in minutes.
- Live chat with a shared inbox for customer conversations.
- Affordable, flat pricing that doesn't scale with agents.
- Focus on human, personal support.
- Minimal learning curve.
Pricing: A Clear Difference
Help Scout's pricing follows a per-user model that can get expensive as your team grows:
- Free plan: Unlimited users, but limited to 25 conversations per month.
- Standard plan: $55/user/month, includes 2 mailboxes, basic features.
- Plus plan: $83/user/month, includes unlimited users, advanced features.
While Help Scout offers good value, the per-user pricing means costs increase rapidly with your team size and conversations.
Helploom keeps pricing flat, simple, and affordable:
- Free plan: 30 threads/month, 1 user.
- Base plan: $13/month, 300 threads/month, 1 user.
- Plus plan: $39/month, 5000 threads/month, unlimited users.
| Plans | Help Scout | Helploom |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes (limited) | Yes |
| Base plan (live chat) | $55/agent/month | $13/month |
| Team plan (live chat) | $83/agent/month | $39/month (unlimited agents) |
$13
/mo
Helploom
$55
/mo
Help Scout
The Good Old Comparison Table
| Feature | Help Scout | Helploom |
|---|---|---|
| Target audience | Small to mid-sized businesses | Solo founders and small businesses |
| Setup complexity | Low to moderate | Low, ready in seconds |
| Pricing model | Per user per month, costs grow with team size | Simple flat pricing |
| Core features | Comprehensive: inbox, chat, docs, AI, reports | Essential support: live chat, shared inbox |
| Learning curve | Easy to moderate for advanced features | Easy and intuitive |
| AI features | Advanced AI tools included | Basic AI assistance while replying |
| White labeling | Available on higher plans | Available on Plus plan |
The Bottom Line
Help Scout is a solid, feature-rich customer support platform that offers good value for small to mid-sized businesses. It strikes a nice balance between ease of use and comprehensive features, making it more approachable than enterprise tools while still providing powerful capabilities.
However, Help Scout's per-user pricing and comprehensive feature set can be overkill for solo founders and very small businesses. The learning curve, while manageable, still requires time investment to master all the features.
Helploom was built to be the opposite: a simple, affordable customer support tool that helps you connect with your customers without distraction. If you're looking for straightforward customer support that just works without the complexity, Helploom might be the better choice.