---
title: "Help Scout alternative: flat vs per resolution"
description: "Help Scout is $25 per user billed annually, with AI Answers at $0.75 per resolution and translation on Pro only. Checked October 11, 2026."
url: https://retily.com/alternatives/help-scout
language: en
last_modified: 2026-10-28T18:11:29Z
---

Alternatives

# Help Scout alternative: the inbox people love, now per user plus per resolution.

Facts checked October 11, 2026, on helpscout.com/pricing and Help Scout's own documentation as displayed that day.

Help Scout earned its reputation on a clean shared inbox and a fair price. In 2026 the price is per user again, and the AI is metered per resolution. For a small team, those two facts decide more than the feature list does.

## The numbers, side by side

Checked October 11, 2026

Retily

Help Scout

Three seats with the AI

$79 a month, 9,000 AI answers included

$75 a month (3 Standard users billed annually) plus $0.75 per AI resolution

Per-resolution fee

None

$0.75 per AI Answers resolution, with a spending cap

Free plan

No free plan; Starter is $9 a month, the first month $1. The demo on your own website is free

Up to 100 contacts a month; no live chat, no API, no AI

Email on your own mailbox

IMAP and SMTP with provider presets

Forwarding or a Gmail / Outlook connector

Translation for your agents

Every plan, tickets and chat, translation previewed before sending

Pro plan ($75 per user) and chat only

Team chat and tasks beside tickets

Channels, DMs, @mentions, tasks linked to tickets

Notes and @mentions; Slack via integration

AI drafts a ticket the customer confirms

Yes, on every plan

The AI sends an email to the team

Worked example: three Standard users and 300 AI resolutions in a month is about $300. Retily Pro is $79 for three seats with 9,000 AI answers included.

## Where the models differ

- **The AI meter.** Help Scout's AI Answers cost $0.75 per resolution on top of the seats, with a spending cap you set. Retily includes AI credits in the plan, and nothing is charged per resolution.
- **The entry price.** Help Scout's free plan stops at 100 contacts a month and excludes live chat, the API and the AI. Retily has no free plan: Starter is $9 a month with live chat, the API and 500 AI answers, and the first month is $1.
- **Languages.** Help Scout translates agent replies only on Pro and only in chat. Retily lets your team read and write in their own language on tickets and chat, on every plan, with the translation previewed before it goes out.

Where Help Scout is the better pick

If you need WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS channels, phone support through Aircall, native iOS and Android apps, Workflows on inbound email, SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA paperwork, Help Scout has them today and Retily does not. Choose on what you will actually use.

## Try the alternative before you decide

Retily builds an AI agent from your website, usually in about a minute, before you sign up: [see it answer from your own site](https://retily.com/try). Then start for $1, and move to Pro, with three seats, when your team joins.

Prices checked on each vendor's public pricing page on the date above. If you find one that has changed, [tell us](mailto:support@retily.com) and we will fix it.

## AI for the routine. Your team for what matters.

See the agent answer from your own website for free, usually in about a minute. Or start today, with your first month for $1.

[Start for $1](https://app.retily.com/register) [Try it on your website](https://retily.com/try)

Cancel anytime.