Crisp vs Help Scout
Crisp and Help Scout, side by side across AI, pricing, channels, security, and seven more categories. We pull every figure from public sources and don’t pick a winner.
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Crisp
The AI customer support platform for every business. Omnichannel shared inbox plus AI agent.
Best for SMBs and growing teams wanting affordable all-in-one AI support; bootstrapped companies.
2015 · Nantes, France.
Help Scout
The most intuitive customer support platform.
Best for SMB and mid-market across SaaS, ecommerce, education, and healthcare.
2011 · Boston, MA (fully remote).
Claimed: from the vendor, not independently verified.
3rd-party: sourced elsewhere, not on the vendor's site.
Everything else: from the vendor's own pages and verifiable.
Pricing
List prices, seat rules, trials, and pricing transparency.
- Pricing model
- CrispFlat rate per workspace/mo, not per-seat (extra seats $10/mo each).
- Help ScoutPer seat monthly; AI Answers billed separately per resolution.
- Free plan
- CrispYes. Forever free; 2 seats, 100 profiles, no AI credits.
- Help ScoutYes. Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site.
- Free trial / guarantee
- Crisp14-day; all features; no card.
- Help Scout15-day (Standard and Plus); 3-month unlimited AI Answers for new accounts.
- Price
- Crisp$45/mo (Mini, 4 seats, 5,000 profiles, ~$5 AI credits). · $95/mo (Essentials, 10 seats, 50,000 profiles, ~$25 AI credits). · $295/mo (Plus, 20+ seats, ~$75 AI credits); Enterprise custom.
- Help ScoutStandard $25/user/mo (monthly); about $21 annual. · Plus $45/user/mo; about $38 annual. · Pro $75/user/mo; about $63 annual.
- Seat minimum
- Crisp2 (Free); 4 (Mini); 10 (Essentials); 20+ (Plus); extra seats $10/mo.
- Help ScoutPro: 10 users minimum; others none beyond Free's 5.
- Unlimited agents
- CrispNo. Extra agents $10/mo.
- Help ScoutYes. Pro (10-seat minimum).
- Implementation fee
- CrispNone.
- Help ScoutNot disclosed; onboarding specialist is a paid add-on; Pro incl. account manager.
- Transparency
- CrispHigh. All tier prices public.
- Help ScoutHigh. All prices public.
- Pricing last verified
- Crisp2026-06-02
- Help Scout2026-06-02
Channels
Where each tool can talk to customers.
- CrispNative
- Help ScoutNative
- Live chat
- CrispNative
- Help ScoutNative (Beacon)
- In-app messenger
- CrispNative (SDK iOS/Android/React Native/JS)
- Help ScoutNative (Beacon iOS and Android SDK)
- Voice
- CrispVia integration (Aircall, Ringover, KrispCall; no native phone)
- Help ScoutVia integration (Aircall, CloudTalk, JustCall, Talkdesk, Ringover)
- SMS
- CrispVia integration (Twilio)
- Help ScoutVia integration (Aircall)
- CrispNative (WhatsApp Business)
- Help ScoutNative (added Mar 2026; Plus and Pro)
- Social
- CrispNative. Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, Line, Viber, Twitter/X.
- Help ScoutNative (Instagram confirmed; others implied)
- Unified inbox
- CrispNative
- Help ScoutNative
Voice & Telephony
Native voice vs telephony integrations.
- Native vs via integration
- CrispVia integration. Aircall/Ringover/KrispCall; no native PSTN.
- Help ScoutVia integration only. No native telephony.
- Voice AI / transcription
- CrispYes. Voice-to-text for audio messages and recorded calls.
- Help ScoutNot offered natively (depends on partner).
- Telephony billed separately
- CrispYes. Via third-party provider.
- Help ScoutYes. Billed by the integration partner.
AI & Automation
Autonomous resolution, agentic actions, models, and how AI is priced.
- Autonomous AI agent
- CrispYes. Hugo AI agent resolves tickets 24/7.
- Help ScoutYes. AI Answers resolves in Beacon and escalates to a human.
- Copilot / Assist mode
- CrispYes. Reply suggestions, grammar, rephrasing, summarization, transcription, translation.
- Help ScoutYes. AI Assist (tone, grammar, translate), AI Drafts, and AI Summarize.
- Claimed automation rate
- CrispResolves up to 60% of repetitive questions automatically.(claimed)source
- Help Scout73.19% average resolution with AI Answers.(claimed)source
- AI channel coverage
- CrispWeb chat, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, email, SMS, Telegram, Line, Viber, Twitter/X.
- Help ScoutBeacon (web and mobile chat); AI Drafts and Assist in email, chat, and Docs.
- Agentic actions (API) vs answer-only
- CrispActions via API. HTTP calls in workflows (Shopify refunds, order lookup, password resets).
- Help ScoutAnswer and resolution only. No external API actions.
- Knowledge sources
- CrispAnswer snippets, KB articles (auto-reindexed), website crawl, conversation history, file importer (PDF/CSV).
- Help ScoutDocs sites, public URLs, PDF, Word, Excel, Google Docs and Sheets, and Improvements snippets.
- Underlying model
- CrispNot fully disclosed. Can connect Claude, Llama, or ChatGPT; in-house private LLM mentioned.
- Help ScoutOpenAI API (version undisclosed); does not train its own model.
- Trains on past tickets
- CrispYes. Conversation history is a knowledge source.
- Help ScoutNo. Never uses your data to train models.
- Pre-deploy simulation / sandbox
- CrispWorkflow testing available; no dedicated simulation sandbox.
- Help ScoutYes. Run AI Answers through any scenario.(claimed)source
- Multilingual
- CrispYes. Multilingual snippets, language detection, translation.
- Help ScoutYes. AI Answers in 50+ languages; AI Assist translates 13.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- CrispNative only.
- Help ScoutNative only.
- AI pricing model
- CrispAI credits bundled per plan tier.
- Help ScoutPay-per-resolution add-on ($0.75); Assist, Drafts, and Summarize on Plus and Pro; 3-month free trial.
- AI unit price
- Crisp~$0.055/automated conversation implied (Mini $5 credit ~90; Essentials $25 ~450; Plus $75 ~1,350).
- Help Scout$0.75 per AI resolution; prepay for up to 33% savings.
- Copilot / Assist price
- CrispNot disclosed (bundled).
- Help ScoutIncluded on Plus and Pro (not Standard or Free).
How Open.cx compares
Open.cx runs on top of Crisp or Help Scoutas an AI layer, or works as its own helpdesk. Here's where it lands on the same questions.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- Both. Add it on top of the helpdesk you already run, or use it as your own inbox. Works with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Twilio Flex, and Creatio.
- Autonomous AI agent
- Yes. Autopilot resolves tickets end to end on its own, across every channel.
- AI pricing model
- Per resolution, so you pay for outcomes. Escalations to a human are free.
- Claimed automation rate
- 77% average automation; up to 80% (Trunkrs)(claimed)source
Security & Compliance
Certifications, data residency, and access controls.
- SOC 2 Type II
- CrispNot certified. No SOC2 audit; self-assessed only.
- Help ScoutSOC 2 Type 2.
- GDPR
- CrispYes. Fully GDPR-compliant; DPA; EU-only storage; DPO.
- Help ScoutYes. EU and UK GDPR, Swiss FADP; DPA; DPF participant.
- HIPAA / PCI
- CrispNot disclosed.
- Help ScoutYes. Pro plan; BAA required.
- SSO / SAML
- CrispOIDC SSO (Enterprise); SAML not confirmed.
- Help ScoutYes. SAML SSO (Pro).
- Data residency
- CrispEU only. Messaging in Netherlands, plugin data in Germany; relay (no storage) US/UK/SG.
- Help ScoutNo. AWS US only; no EU or regional hosting.
Integrations
Marketplace breadth, APIs, and developer tooling.
- Marketplace / integrations (approx.)
- Crisp~73 integrations across 7 categories.
- Help Scout100+ apps.
- Shopify depth
- CrispOrder history in inbox; refunds actionable; live chat widget; built-in ecommerce features.
- Help ScoutNative. Order status, refunds, and order management in the inbox; Shopify App Store.
- Open / public API
- CrispYes. REST API; Developer Hub.
- Help ScoutYes. Inbox API, Docs API, Chat API, and Webhooks.
- Developer SDK / MCP
- CrispYes. Chat SDK (JS, iOS, Android, React Native); open-source on GitHub.
- Help ScoutCustom Apps framework; Beacon iOS and Android SDK; no server-side SDK.
Automation & Workflows
Builders, triggers, routing, and SLAs.
- Workflow builder
- CrispYes. No-code visual builder; conditional logic, HTTP calls.
- Help ScoutYes. If/then workflow builder.
- Triggers / automations
- CrispYes. Auto-trigger on conversation start/events/Hugo scenarios.
- Help ScoutYes. Condition-triggered workflows (run once per conversation).
- Routing
- CrispYes. Round Robin, origin-based, intent-based, custom rules.
- Help ScoutYes. Auto-assign via workflow rules.
- Macros / canned responses
- CrispYes. Shortcuts (templated, dynamic data).
- Help ScoutYes. Saved Replies.
- SLA management
- CrispPersonalized SLA at Enterprise only; SLA tracking in analytics.
- Help ScoutYes. 1 policy on Standard, 2 on Plus, unlimited on Pro; NRT tracking.
Collaboration
How support teams work a queue together.
- Internal notes
- CrispYes. Agent-only private notes.
- Help ScoutYes. @Mentions.
- Collision detection
- CrispYes. Real-time alerts when another agent is replying.
- Help ScoutYes. Built in on all plans (yellow and red indicators).
- Side conversations
- CrispNot disclosed (@mentions exist).
- Help ScoutNot offered (notes and splits instead).
- Shared inbox
- CrispYes. Omnichannel shared inbox.
- Help ScoutYes. Core product.
Self-Service & Knowledge
Knowledge base, help center, and deflection.
- Knowledge base
- CrispYes. Customizable, brandable, multilingual.
- Help ScoutYes. Docs; 1 site on Free and Standard, extra at $20/mo.
- Help center
- CrispYes. Public-facing, widget plus standalone URL.
- Help ScoutYes. Docs, embeddable in Beacon.
- Community forum
- CrispNot offered.
- Help ScoutNot offered.
- AI answers from knowledge base
- CrispYes. Hugo uses KB articles as primary source.
- Help ScoutYes. AI Answers from Docs; tracks search gaps.
Reporting & Analytics
Dashboards, custom reports, and CSAT.
- Dashboards
- CrispYes. Line/bar/treemap/heatmap, operator performance, geo, ratings.
- Help ScoutYes. 7 built-in reports.
- Custom reports
- CrispYes. Custom analytics playground; filtering; formulas; export.
- Help ScoutNo. Not native; raw data via Inbox API.
- Included in lowest tier
- CrispAnalytics across plans; advanced gating not disclosed.
- Help ScoutReporting on all paid plans, including Standard.
- CSAT surveys
- CrispYes. Automated post-interaction CSAT via email and chat.
- Help ScoutYes. Happiness report (post-conversation surveys).
Onboarding & Support
Implementation, CSM tiers, and partners.
- Onboarding
- CrispSelf-service all tiers; dedicated onboarding plus training at Enterprise; Plus gets onboarding assistance.
- Help ScoutSelf-serve; onboarding specialist (paid add-on); Pro incl. dedicated onboarding.
- Support channels
- CrispKB; chat; email. Per-tier channels not disclosed.
- Help ScoutEmail on all paid plans (priority); no customer phone support.
- Dedicated CSM
- CrispEnterprise only. Dedicated onboarding/personalized service.
- Help ScoutStrategic account manager on Pro.
- Implementation partners
- CrispNot disclosed. No partner program found.
- Help ScoutNot disclosed. No partner directory.