{"id":9184,"date":"2021-08-06T16:57:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T16:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helpcrunch.com\/blog\/?p=9184"},"modified":"2026-02-12T09:54:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:54:23","slug":"help-scout-vs-zendesk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpcrunch.com\/blog\/help-scout-vs-zendesk\/","title":{"rendered":"Help Scout vs Zendesk: Which Tool is Better for Support?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where would a business end if its customer service left much to be desired? To give you an idea, it wouldn’t have much appreciation among users, decent profit, and general demand. That’s why choosing an immaculate provider with all the essentials for providing top-notch customer service is high-stakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as you landed on this blog post, you probably have two options in mind: Help Scout vs Zendesk. Both are impressive with their own good parts. But you can’t have your foot in both camps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ease the burden of deciding for you, we’ve brought together these two solutions and shown their strong points (and a few weak ones, too). So, grab a pen cause, you know, it wouldn’t hurt to make a pros and cons list.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

TL;DR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Help Scout is a good soldier in the world of customer service with all those essentials for support and marketing without frills. Startups and small businesses usually rely on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zendesk is like an old-time friend for mid-sized and big brands \u2013 everyone is familiar with the name since year one which makes the tool more reputable. The latter boasts about its ticketing feature and numerous add-ons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the third option though \u2013 HelpCrunch<\/a> \u2013 a one-stop solution for companies of all sizes. Being a platform for enhancing customer relations, HelpCrunch has everything you have ever wished for support, marketing, and sales: powerful live chat<\/a>, an SEO-friendly knowledge base, a shared inbox, and a popup builder for more effective user engagement. Probably, this is your lucky strike?<\/p>\n\n\n

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NOTE! <\/strong>Want to see if it’s real? All it takes is to <\/em>sign up for a free 14-day trial<\/em><\/a> with HelpCrunch: neither hidden fees nor paying through the nose. Just the robust toolset for your sales, marketing, and support that is a click away.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/th>Help Scout <\/strong><\/th>Zendesk<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Main functionalities<\/strong><\/td>Chat widget (Beacon) 
Knowledge base (Docs)
Shared inbox (Mailboxes)<\/td>		Live chat
Help desk 
Help center (Zendesk Guide)<\/td><\/tr>
Out-of-the-box functionalities<\/strong><\/td>None<\/td>Community forums<\/td><\/tr>
Trial period<\/strong><\/td>a 15-day free trial<\/td>a 14-day free trial<\/td><\/tr>
Quick installation guide for each feature<\/strong><\/td>Yes, a 5-step guide<\/td>Yes, but too long<\/td><\/tr>
G2 rating<\/strong><\/td>4.3 out of 5 \u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f (238 reviews)<\/td>4.2 out of 5 \u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f (2,780 reviews)<\/td><\/tr>
General impression<\/strong><\/td>A budget-friendly option, perfect for early-stage and startup businesses<\/td>Expensive solution with an advanced toolset, ideal for mid-sized and big enterprises<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Help Scout vs Zendesk: History <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Help Scout was created<\/a> back in 2011 and is headquartered in the USA, Boston. It was formerly a web design consultancy \u2013 Brightwurks. Three tech entrepreneurs Nick Francis, Jared McDaniel, and Denny Swindle ran it in Nashville. Help Scout as we know it today was launched thanks to a startup accelerator program Techstars Boston and raised $800k in angel funding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Help
Help Scout landing page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At first, Help Scout saw the primary need for a user-friendly product that would feel like an ordinary email conversation, which is why their initial solution was a shared inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Focusing on one area allows us to do that one thing really well, and be versatile there, as opposed to offering 50 different features that just lead to a complicated and mediocre overall user experience.<\/em><\/p>\nNick Francis<\/em><\/a>, co-founder @ Help Scout <\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Long after, Help Scout has topped up its feature arsenal with something more versatile. Today, it offers everything from live chat and knowledge base to reporting. Though the core positioning of a help desk remains the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Help Scout vs Zendesk fight, the latter is the oldest. Being founded<\/a> in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Morten Primdahl, and Alex Aghassipour, Zendesk has a rather unorthodox origin: Copenhagen, Denmark (and not Silicon Valley as one might think). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Zendesk
Zendesk landing page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to some other alternatives to Zendesk<\/a>, the company didn’t have explosive growth. It was a simple alternative to some tricky customer service tasks that offered a web-based, SaaS-delivered help desk and support ticketing application. So, everything was happening gradually, with its ups and downs. It was the voice of customers that got the ball rolling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After plenty of investment rounds, Zendesk was turning into not just a nice-to-have help desk solution but a solid customer service brand. As of today, the San Francisco-based company provides tools for sales and support together with powerups suited to every fancy and branch organizations scattered across the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help Scout vs Zendesk: Pricing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can guess with the naked eye that in the Help Scout vs Zendesk comparison, the former is a more affordable option. This comes as no surprise: Zendesk does offer a multi-tier intricate pricing system as compared to Help Scout. So, let’s dwell on the financial sides in more detail.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help Scout pricing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From the moment you land on the Help Scout’s pricing page, it becomes loud and clear: the prices are transparent and you won’t have any headaches in the long run. It’s quite a good sign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other than that, there are four packages available:<\/p>\n\n\n\n