Freshdesk vs Help Scout – Which Ticketing Tool is the Best?

Ramya Balakrishnan
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Updated on : February 27, 2025 February 27, 2025

Choosing the right ticketing system is crucial for the success of your support operations. With so many options out there, it can be tough to decide, especially when you’re choosing between two of the most popular helpdesk tools: Freshdesk vs Help Scout. Each offers a unique set of features, pricing plans, and user experiences, which makes the choice even more challenging.

If you’re stuck trying to figure out which platform would best suit your team’s needs, you’re in the right place! In this post, we’ll take an in-depth look at Freshdesk vs Help Scout, comparing their features, pricing, and overall performance. By the time you finish reading, you’ll have all the insights you need to make a confident decision on which helpdesk tool is the best fit for your business. Let’s explore these two options together!

Freshdesk overview

Freshdesk is a great option for businesses of all sizes looking for a flexible and powerful helpdesk ticketing tool. It allows you to manage customer support requests from multiple channels, like email, phone, chat, and social media, by turning them into organized support tickets. One of the standout features of Freshdesk is its automation capabilities, which help streamline your support process and reduce manual work. The platform also uses AI to help resolve common issues faster and improve response times.

Other key features of Freshdesk include a user-friendly interface, customizable workflows, reporting and analytics tools, and integration with a variety of third-party apps. Whether you’re a small team or a large organization, Freshdesk offers the tools you need to provide efficient and effective customer support.

Help Scout overview

Help Scout is a great choice for teams that mainly communicate with customers via email. It’s designed to make customer support more efficient and user-friendly. One of its key features is the knowledge base tool, which allows you to create helpful articles that customers can use to find answers on their own. It also has an embedded search and contact widget, making it easy for customers to quickly get the support they need.

In addition to these features, Help Scout offers a shared inbox to keep your team organized, live chat, reporting tools to track performance and integrations with other apps you may already use. Help Scout’s simple and intuitive interface makes it easy for both support agents and customers to use, making it a solid choice for teams looking to offer great customer service.

Similarities and differences between Help Scout vs Freshdesk

When comparing Help Scout vs Freshdesk, it’s important to look at both their similarities and differences to determine which tool best meets your needs. Here’s an in-depth overview of the key helpdesk features both platforms share, as well as what sets them apart.

Similarities:

Centralized ticket management: Both Freshdesk and Help Scout offer a centralized platform where customer support tickets from different channels can be managed in one place. This ensures that no request gets lost or missed, streamlining support and making it easy for agents to track all interactions.

Automation features: Both platforms come with automation tools designed to reduce manual work and speed up processes. You can automate ticket routing, assign tickets to the right agents, and even send automatic responses, saving time and ensuring consistency in handling requests.

Knowledge base: Freshdesk and Help Scout both offer robust knowledge base functionality. This allows you to create a library of helpful articles, FAQs, and guides, enabling customers to resolve issues on their own and reducing the workload for your support team.

Reporting and analytics: Both tools come equipped with powerful reporting and analytics features. You can track key metrics, such as response times, ticket volume, customer satisfaction, and agent productivity. This data helps businesses make informed decisions and optimize their support operations.

User-friendly interfaces: A major selling point of both platforms is their simplicity and ease of use. Freshdesk and Help Scout are designed to be intuitive, allowing support teams to quickly get up to speed without the need for extensive training.

Integration capabilities: Freshdesk and Help Scout both integrate with a wide range of third-party applications. This allows businesses to connect the ticketing system with other tools they use, such as CRM systems, live chat platforms, and marketing automation software, to create seamless workflows.

Differences:

Primary focus and multi-channel support: While Help Scout is heavily focused on email-based customer support, Freshdesk stands out with its multi-channel approach. Freshdesk lets you manage customer requests from multiple sources, including email, phone, chat, social media, and more, all in one place.

Automation and AI capabilities: Freshdesk offers more advanced automation and AI-driven features. For example, it has predictive support, AI-based ticket classification, and intelligent routing that ensures the right ticket reaches the right agent quickly. Help Scout provides solid automation features, but it lacks some of the more advanced tools that Freshdesk offers.

Recommended Reading: Top AI Helpdesk Software in 2025

Customer interaction and personalization: Help Scout focuses on maintaining a personal touch in customer interactions, offering features like customer profiles and continuous conversation threads. This helps build stronger relationships with customers over time. Freshdesk, on the other hand, is built with scalability in mind, offering features like parent-child ticketing, shared ticket ownership, and automated escalations for larger teams and more complex workflows.
Field service management: Freshdesk provides additional functionality for businesses that require field service management. This includes features like managing on-site service requests, scheduling, and dispatching technicians. Help Scout does not offer these field service management capabilities.

Team collaboration features: Freshdesk offers collaboration tools, such as linked tickets, team huddle features, and collaborative ticket resolution. These features are particularly useful for larger teams who need to work together on complex customer issues. Help Scout’s collaboration features are simpler, with shared inboxes and customer profiles.

Customization options: Freshdesk provides customization options that allow you to tailor workflows, ticket forms, and even the user interface to fit your team’s needs. It also supports extensive customization in terms of integrations and apps. Help Scout, while customizable, offers fewer options compared to Freshdesk, making it a more streamlined but less flexible solution.

Customer support and training: Both platforms offer customer support, but Freshdesk has a more extensive range of support options, including 24/7 support and live chat. Help Scout also provides excellent support but lacks some of the more comprehensive training resources that Freshdesk offers, including dedicated account managers and detailed onboarding processes.

Recommended Reading: Best Customer Service Software in 2025

Mobile experience: Both Freshdesk and Help Scout offer mobile apps for customer support on the go. Freshdesk’s app provides a more feature-rich experience, allowing agents to manage tickets, respond to customers, and even access reporting from their mobile devices. Help Scout’s mobile app is more basic but still allows agents to view and respond to tickets easily.
Scalability: Freshdesk is designed with scalability in mind, making it a great choice for businesses that are growing or have complex support needs. It offers robust tools for large teams, including multi-level ticketing, advanced analytics, and team collaboration features. Help Scout, while scalable, is better suited for smaller teams or businesses that don’t require advanced features and complex workflows.

Pricing structure: The pricing models for both platforms also differ. Freshdesk pricing tends to be more affordable for businesses that need a wide range of features, especially at the entry-level. Help Scout’s pricing is more straightforward, but it can become more expensive as your team grows and you require additional features.

To help you get a quick overview of both platforms, here’s a summary generated by G2, which compares Freshdesk and Help Scout.

Source – G2

Pros and cons of Freshdesk vs Help Scout

Now that we’ve covered the similarities and differences, let’s dive into the pros and cons of each platform.

Freshdesk

Pros:

Freshdesk has a user-friendly interface that makes it simple to get started, even for new users.
It integrates with many third-party apps, which helps businesses connect their existing tools easily.
Freshdesk is suitable for businesses of all sizes, whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise.
The mobile app allows support agents to work on the go, offering flexibility and convenience.

Cons:

Compared to some other tools, Freshdesk has fewer customization options, which may not meet the needs of businesses with highly specific workflows.
The reporting features may not be as advanced as some users need, especially for businesses with complex data tracking requirements.
Some users report slower ticket loading times and occasional latency, which can affect overall efficiency.
Users have noted that Freshdesk’s contact management and search functionality could be improved.

Help Scout

Pros:

Help Scout’s interface is also user-friendly, making it easy to set up and use without a steep learning curve.
It has strong automation features that help speed up workflows and reduce manual tasks, making support teams more efficient.
Help Scout integrates with social media platforms, helping you respond to customer inquiries across multiple channels.

Cons:

The initial setup and customization might be more complicated compared to other tools, especially for larger teams.
There are fewer options for notifications when customers reply to tickets via email, which could lead to slower response times for agents.

In summary, both Freshdesk and Help Scout have their strengths and weaknesses. Freshdesk excels in scalability, integrations, and flexibility for teams of all sizes, but it might not be as customizable or feature-rich for advanced reporting needs. Help Scout, on the other hand, offers strong automation and social media integrations but may require more effort to set up and customize. Your choice depends on your business size, needs, and how much customization you require.

What customers are saying about Freshdesk and Help Scout

When deciding between Freshdesk and Help Scout, it helps to look at real customer experiences. We analyzed reviews from Reddit, G2, and Capterra to understand what users love and what they don’t about these two platforms.

Freshdesk reviews

👍 What customers love:

Freshdesk’s interface simplify work! The automation features save so much time – G2 Review
The multi-channel support is a huge advantage. Emails, chat, and social media tickets can be managed all in one place. – Capterra User
Freshdesk is a solid tool for ITIL practices, with pricing that sits in the middle range of other SaaS ticketing systems. – Reddit discussion

👎 Common complaints:

Enhancements to improve interface speed and flexibility would make it a better tool for scaling during high-demand periods – G2 Review
The cost can escalate for larger organizations, and the mobile app’s user experience can have some improvements – Capterra User
Expensive and disappointing, with technical issues, poor support, and no refunds for annual plans creating a poor cost-to-value ratio – Reddit Comment

Help Scout reviews

👍 What customers love:

The interface is very clean and user-friendly, making it ideal for email-based support – Capterra User
Effective team collaboration with the shared inbox and the ‘tags’ feature is highly appreciated – G2 User
Perfect for small businesses in need of simple yet effective customer support. – Reddit discussion

👎 Common complaints:

Limited functionality for escalating tickets and poor Slack integration, especially with the lack of visibility for agent responses, makes the system cumbersome for Agile environments – G2 User
The report generator lacks the ability to create reports for tickets cleared for individual admins within a specific time period – Capterra User
Help Scout occasionally becomes slow, and the change to the document editor has made it much less functional and harder to use – Reddit Comment

Feature breakdown

Here is a detailed comparison of the features offered by Freshdesk vs Help Scout across various categories such as ticketing, AI capabilities, collaboration tools, and more. The table below summarizes the key features of both platforms to help you make an informed decision.

Core Features

Features

Freshdesk

Help Scout

Free Plan

Yes

Omnichannel Ticketing

Yes

Multi-Brand Support Center

Yes

SLA Management

Yes

Automated Ticket Routing

Yes

Custom Statuses for Tickets

Yes

No

Private/Internal Notes for Collaboration

Yes

Real-Time Reporting

Yes

Limited (Pre-built Reports)

AI & Automation

Features

Freshdesk

Help Scout

AI-powered Bots

Yes

No

AI Copilot

Yes

No

AI-Powered Insights

Yes

No

AI Security

Yes

No

AI Knowledge Base Creation

Yes

No

AI Triage and Troubleshooting

Yes

No

Event & Time-Based Automations

Yes

Agent Scripts and Training

Yes

No

Knowledge Management

Features

Freshdesk

Help Scout

Knowledge Base

Yes

Multilingual Knowledge Base

Yes

No

Canned Responses

Yes

AI Answers

Yes

Collaboration & Reporting

Features

Freshdesk

Help Scout

Collaboration

Advanced

Basic

Analytics

Advanced (Custom Reports)

Limited (Pre-built Reports)

Scheduled Tickets

No

Task Management

No

Asset Management

No

Agent Collision Detection

Yes

Channel Coverage

Features

Freshdesk

Help Scout

Channel Coverage

Web, Email, Mobile, Social, Messaging Apps

Primarily Email; requires third-party integrations for phone/voice and SMS

Freshdesk vs Help Scout: Which one should you choose?

Choosing between Freshdesk and Help Scout can be tricky, as both are excellent customer support tools, but they cater to different business needs. if you’re a small team focused mainly on email and live chat with minimal need for advanced features, Help Scout could be the right fit. However, if you need a more comprehensive, scalable solution with multi-channel support, automation, and integrations, Freshdesk would likely be the better choice.

Why Desk365 is a better alternative?

While both Freshdesk and Help Scout have their strengths, Desk365 is a modern, AI-powered alternative that offers the best of both worlds.

Simple and easy to use – Just like Help Scout, Desk365 is easy to set up and requires minimal training.
Feature-rich and scalable – Like Freshdesk, Desk365 supports omnichannel support.
AI-powered efficiency – Desk365 automates tasks with features like AI Agent, Draft with AI and AI Actions, helping agents work smarter.
Affordable pricing – Unlike Freshdesk, which can get expensive as you scale, Desk365 offers transparent and cost-effective plans.
Seamless Microsoft integration – If your business uses Microsoft Teams, Desk365 is the perfect fit, allowing you to manage tickets directly within Teams.

If you’re looking for a powerful yet easy-to-use help desk solution, Desk365 is the better choice for growing businesses.