Help Scout vs Kustomer
Help Scout and Kustomer, 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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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).
Kustomer
AI-native customer service platform and CRM. Unifies AI agents, omnichannel, and CRM in one timeline.
Best for Mid-market to enterprise retail, travel, and finance replacing legacy ticketing (e.g. Turo, Everlane, Sweetgreen).
2015 · New York, NY
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
- Help ScoutPer seat monthly; AI Answers billed separately per resolution.
- KustomerPer-seat, annual; two plans (Enterprise, Ultimate); voice/SMS/WhatsApp pay-as-you-go on top.
- Free plan
- Help ScoutYes. Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site.
- KustomerNo
- Free trial / guarantee
- Help Scout15-day (Standard and Plus); 3-month unlimited AI Answers for new accounts.
- KustomerNot disclosed
- Price
- Help ScoutStandard $25/user/mo (monthly); about $21 annual. · Plus $45/user/mo; about $38 annual. · Pro $75/user/mo; about $63 annual.
- KustomerEnterprise ~$89/seat/mo (annual). · Ultimate ~$139/seat/mo (annual).(3rd-party)source
- Seat minimum
- Help ScoutPro: 10 users minimum; others none beyond Free's 5.
- Kustomer8 seats minimum.(3rd-party)source
- Unlimited agents
- Help ScoutYes. Pro (10-seat minimum).
- KustomerNo. Seat-based.
- Implementation fee
- Help ScoutNot disclosed; onboarding specialist is a paid add-on; Pro incl. account manager.
- KustomerPaid add-on; price not disclosed.
- Transparency
- Help ScoutHigh. All prices public.
- KustomerLow. Base prices not published; Talk to Sales required.
- Pricing last verified
- Help Scout2026-06-02
- Kustomer2026-06-02
Channels
Where each tool can talk to customers.
- Help ScoutNative
- KustomerNative
- Live chat
- Help ScoutNative (Beacon)
- KustomerNative
- In-app messenger
- Help ScoutNative (Beacon iOS and Android SDK)
- KustomerNative (web/mobile SDKs).
- Voice
- Help ScoutVia integration (Aircall, CloudTalk, JustCall, Talkdesk, Ringover)
- KustomerNative (Kustomer Voice; $0.02/min US/CA inbound).
- SMS
- Help ScoutVia integration (Aircall)
- KustomerNative (pay-as-you-go).
- Help ScoutNative (added Mar 2026; Plus and Pro)
- KustomerNative (up to 5 accounts; Meta fee + 20% markup).
- Social
- Help ScoutNative (Instagram confirmed; others implied)
- KustomerNative (up to 50 FB pages, 50 IG accounts).
Voice & Telephony
Native voice vs telephony integrations.
- Native vs via integration
- Help ScoutVia integration only. No native telephony.
- KustomerNative. AI-powered voice native; also 8x8, Aircall, Amazon Connect, Cordless integrations.
- Voice AI / transcription
- Help ScoutNot offered natively (depends on partner).
- KustomerAI conversation summaries confirmed; real-time transcription not explicit; PCI redaction across voice.
- Telephony billed separately
- Help ScoutYes. Billed by the integration partner.
- KustomerYes. Pay-as-you-go from $0.02/min US/CA.
AI & Automation
Autonomous resolution, agentic actions, models, and how AI is priced.
- Autonomous AI agent
- Help ScoutYes. AI Answers resolves in Beacon and escalates to a human.
- KustomerYes. Concierge customer-facing agent. Multi-step workflows, refunds, subscriptions, GET/POST/PUT/DELETE API calls.
- Copilot / Assist mode
- Help ScoutYes. AI Assist (tone, grammar, translate), AI Drafts, and AI Summarize.
- KustomerYes. Envoy (ex KIQ Agent Assist): suggested responses, summaries, text enhancement, 2-way translation.
- Claimed automation rate
- Help Scout73.19% average resolution with AI Answers.(claimed)source
- Kustomer70% of chat fully automated (Vuori); 98% WhatsApp AI-powered (unnamed); copilot up to 65% efficiency.(claimed)source
- AI channel coverage
- Help ScoutBeacon (web and mobile chat); AI Drafts and Assist in email, chat, and Docs.
- KustomerChat, email, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, forms.
- Agentic actions (API) vs answer-only
- Help ScoutAnswer and resolution only. No external API actions.
- KustomerActions via API. Refunds, subscription changes, shipment tracking (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE).
- Knowledge sources
- Help ScoutDocs sites, public URLs, PDF, Word, Excel, Google Docs and Sheets, and Improvements snippets.
- KustomerKB articles, public web pages, full CRM timeline (purchase history, conversations, loyalty), Guru integration.
- Underlying model
- Help ScoutOpenAI API (version undisclosed); does not train its own model.
- KustomerOpenAI (GPT-3.5/GPT-4), Anthropic, AWS Bedrock; Amazon Translate.
- Trains on past tickets
- Help ScoutNo. Never uses your data to train models.
- KustomerCustomer data not used to train global models; OpenAI zero-retention.
- Pre-deploy simulation / sandbox
- Help ScoutYes. Run AI Answers through any scenario.(claimed)source
- KustomerYes. AI Evaluations (hundreds of test conversations); Automation Assistant flags conflicts pre-launch; sandbox.
- Multilingual
- Help ScoutYes. AI Answers in 50+ languages; AI Assist translates 13.
- KustomerYes. 2-way translation in 53 languages; agent templates in FR/NL/DE/Amharic.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- Help ScoutNative only.
- KustomerNative only. The Kustomer AI layer needs the Kustomer platform for full functionality.
- AI pricing model
- Help ScoutPay-per-resolution add-on ($0.75); Assist, Drafts, and Summarize on Plus and Pro; 3-month free trial.
- KustomerCustomer-facing agents per engaged conversation; rep copilot per user/mo.(3rd-party)source
- AI unit price
- Help Scout$0.75 per AI resolution; prepay for up to 33% savings.
- Kustomer$0.60 per engaged conversation (add-on).(3rd-party)source
- Copilot / Assist price
- Help ScoutIncluded on Plus and Pro (not Standard or Free).
- Kustomer$40/user/mo (AI for Reps/Envoy); historically $39 KIQ Agent Assist.(3rd-party)source
How Open.cx compares
Open.cx runs on top of Help Scout or Kustomeras 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
- Help ScoutSOC 2 Type 2.
- KustomerSOC 2 Type II.
- GDPR
- Help ScoutYes. EU and UK GDPR, Swiss FADP; DPA; DPF participant.
- KustomerYes. Data processor; DPA; US and EU hosting; CCPA.
- HIPAA / PCI
- Help ScoutYes. Pro plan; BAA required.
- KustomerPaid add-on (Enterprise/Ultimate); BAA; requires SSO+MFA.
- SSO / SAML
- Help ScoutYes. SAML SSO (Pro).
- KustomerYes. SAML; Google and MS365 SSO; SCIM.
- Data residency
- Help ScoutNo. AWS US only; no EU or regional hosting.
- KustomerAWS US and EU via sub-processors; customer-selectable residency not disclosed.
Integrations
Marketplace breadth, APIs, and developer tooling.
- Shopify depth
- Help ScoutNative. Order status, refunds, and order management in the inbox; Shopify App Store.
- KustomerDeep native. One-click; full order history, SKUs, images, LTV; process returns/exchanges; Shopify Plus.
- Open / public API
- Help ScoutYes. Inbox API, Docs API, Chat API, and Webhooks.
- KustomerYes. REST API + webhooks; MCP server.
- Developer SDK / MCP
- Help ScoutCustom Apps framework; Beacon iOS and Android SDK; no server-side SDK.
- KustomerYes. Chat SDKs (web, iOS, Android, React Native); Apps Platform.
Automation & Workflows
Builders, triggers, routing, and SLAs.
- Workflow builder
- Help ScoutYes. If/then workflow builder.
- KustomerYes. Visual builder with Workflow Assistant (AI-guided).
- Triggers / automations
- Help ScoutYes. Condition-triggered workflows (run once per conversation).
- KustomerYes. Up to 200 business rules; message-attribute AI activation; Automation Assistant.
- Routing
- Help ScoutYes. Auto-assign via workflow rules.
- KustomerYes. Smart routing, business-hours-aware, team filtering, queue routing.
- Macros / canned responses
- Help ScoutYes. Saved Replies.
- KustomerYes. Shortcuts; AI-suggested responses.
- SLA management
- Help ScoutYes. 1 policy on Standard, 2 on Plus, unlimited on Pro; NRT tracking.
- KustomerYes. SLA management with visual dashboard; up to 10 queues/teams.
Collaboration
How support teams work a queue together.
- Internal notes
- Help ScoutYes. @Mentions.
- KustomerYes. Visible to team; @mentions.
- Collision detection
- Help ScoutYes. Built in on all plans (yellow and red indicators).
- KustomerYes. Presence indicators when multiple agents view.(3rd-party)source
- Side conversations
- Help ScoutNot offered (notes and splits instead).
- KustomerNot disclosed (notes/@mentions confirmed).
Self-Service & Knowledge
Knowledge base, help center, and deflection.
- Knowledge base
- Help ScoutYes. Docs; 1 site on Free and Standard, extra at $20/mo.
- KustomerYes. SEO-optimized; internal and public; theme builder, multi-brand/language.
- Help center
- Help ScoutYes. Docs, embeddable in Beacon.
- KustomerYes. Customer portal with search; request submission and tracking.
- Community forum
- Help ScoutNot offered.
- KustomerYes. Referenced as help center component.
- AI answers from knowledge base
- Help ScoutYes. AI Answers from Docs; tracks search gaps.
- KustomerYes. Concierge surfaces AI answers from KB; KB Assistant improves accuracy.
Reporting & Analytics
Dashboards, custom reports, and CSAT.
- Dashboards
- Help ScoutYes. 7 built-in reports.
- KustomerYes. Prebuilt dashboards (volume, handle time, CSAT, SLA); real-time.
- Custom reports
- Help ScoutNo. Not native; raw data via Inbox API.
- KustomerYes. Chart Editor; Data Explorer (NL analytics).
- Included in lowest tier
- Help ScoutReporting on all paid plans, including Standard.
- KustomerReporting in base platform (no tier gating noted).(claimed)source
- CSAT surveys
- Help ScoutYes. Happiness report (post-conversation surveys).
- KustomerYes. Native CSAT; real-time tracking; AI Evaluations scores every AI interaction.
Onboarding & Support
Implementation, CSM tiers, and partners.
- Onboarding
- Help ScoutSelf-serve; onboarding specialist (paid add-on); Pro incl. dedicated onboarding.
- KustomerImplementation services paid add-on; vendor-managed onboarding; ~2 months typical.
- Support channels
- Help ScoutEmail on all paid plans (priority); no customer phone support.
- KustomerHelp Center, community portal; direct channels not public.
- Dedicated CSM
- Help ScoutStrategic account manager on Pro.
- KustomerEvery customer gets a CSM.
- Implementation partners
- Help ScoutNot disclosed. No partner directory.
- KustomerYes. Referral/Reseller/Developer/Integration partner tiers.