Pick Help Scout if you are a small support team that works mainly in email and wants a free plan and AI that charges only when it resolves; pick Front if your operations or account team needs EU data hosting or shares email-heavy work across channels and can live with seat caps and non-refundable contracts.
Both are shared inboxes first, with chat and a knowledge base added, and neither has a native phone channel. Help Scout bundles AI drafting into its Plus plan and bills its AI agent per resolution; Front sells Copilot per seat below Enterprise and bills its Autopilot agent per conversation at three levels. Both cap team size on their lower plans, so check where your headcount lands.
Bottom line
- Help Scout is the cheaper, simpler choice for an email-first support team, and Front is the one to pick if you need EU hosting.
Side by side
| Help Scout | Front | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 8.3 | 6.8 |
| Pricing model | Per seat, plus AI usage | Per seat, plus AI usage |
| Price from | $25 per agent per month | $25 per agent per month |
| 10 agents · Mid tier · seats only | $450 | $650 |
| 10 agents · Mid tier · with AI on | $825 | $1,295 |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Mandatory extra fees | No | No |
| Channels | Email, Live chat, WhatsApp, Social messaging | Email, Live chat, WhatsApp, Social messaging |
| Agent interface languages | Not documented · German: Not documented · Spanish: Not documented | 1 languages · German: No · Spanish: No |
| EU data hosting | No | Yes |
| UK data hosting | No | No |
| HIPAA (BAA available) | Yes | No |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR data processing agreement, HIPAA BAA (Pro plan only) | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 |
| Best for | Small teams that work mainly in email | Small and mid-size operations and account teams that work mainly in email |
Choose Help Scout if
- You want to start free: Help Scout has a permanent free plan for up to 5 users.
- You want AI drafting for agents without a per-seat add-on: AI Drafts is included from Plus, while Front charges $20 per seat for Copilot below Enterprise.
- You want to pay for the AI agent only when it resolves: AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution and nothing when the customer asks for a person.
- You need a HIPAA business associate agreement, which Help Scout signs on Pro and Front does not offer.
Choose Front if
- You need EU data hosting: Front offers EEA hosting on request, while Help Scout documents US hosting only.
- You want AI triage and handoffs billed below the resolution price: Autopilot charges $0.05 to triage and $0.39 for a handoff.
- You want Copilot, QA and CSAT scoring bundled into one seat price, which Front's Enterprise plan at $105 includes.
- You want SSO and up to 5 workspaces on a self-serve plan, which Front Professional includes.
True cost at 3, 10 and 50 agents
| Product | 3 agents · Entry tier · seats only | 3 agents · Entry tier · with AI on | 10 agents · Mid tier · seats only | 10 agents · Mid tier · with AI on | 50 agents · Mid tier · seats only | 50 agents · Mid tier · with AI on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Help Scout | $75 | $188 | $450 | $825 | $2,250 | $4,125 |
| Front | $75 | $269 | $650 | $1,295 | $3,250 | $6,475 |
Help Scout: entry tier is Standard, mid tier is Plus, top tier is Pro with its 10-user minimum. AI Drafts is included from Plus, so the agent-assist add-on costs nothing there and is not available on Standard. AI resolutions are billed at $0.75 each. Front: entry tier is Starter (up to 10 seats), mid tier is Professional (up to 50 seats), top tier is Enterprise, annual only with Copilot included. Copilot costs $20 per seat on Starter and Professional. AI resolutions are billed at $0.89 each; triage and handoff conversations are not counted. Help desk true-cost calculator
Score breakdown
| Criterion | Weight | Help Scout | Front |
|---|---|---|---|
| True cost with AI on | 30% | 4/5 | 3/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 20% | 5/5 | 3/5 |
| AI, as documented | 15% | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Access and switching | 10% | 5/5 | 3/5 |
| Channels and languages | 10% | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| Data protection and compliance | 15% | 2/5 | 3/5 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Help Scout cheaper than Front?
At entry level the seat prices match: Help Scout Standard and Front Starter both cost $25 per user per month on annual billing. Higher up Help Scout is cheaper, with Plus at $45 against Front Professional at $65, and Help Scout includes AI Drafts from Plus while Front charges $20 per seat for Copilot. Help Scout also has a free plan; Front does not.
Which has better AI pricing, Help Scout or Front?
Both charge the customer-facing AI by result. Help Scout's AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution and nothing if the customer escalates. Front's Autopilot costs $0.89 per resolution, $0.39 per handoff and $0.05 per triage, and counts a conversation as resolved when no teammate follows up within 72 hours on email. For agent assist, Help Scout bundles AI Drafts from Plus while Front charges $20 per seat below Enterprise.
What are the seat limits on Help Scout and Front?
Help Scout Standard stops at 25 users and Plus at 50, and Pro has a 10-user minimum. Front Starter stops at 10 seats and Professional at 50, beyond which only Enterprise, annual-only, is available. Front also bills removed seats until the next contract term.
Can I migrate from Front to Help Scout?
Help Scout documents an import tool for bringing in emails and tickets, but check what it covers before you plan around it. Front's payments are non-refundable and removed seats stay billed until the next term, so time the move for your renewal. See the help desk migration checklist.
Related pages
- Help Scout reviewreview
- Help Scout pricing explainedpricing
- The best Help Scout alternativesalternatives
- Front reviewreview
- Front pricing explainedpricing
Sources
- Help Scout pricing — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- User-based billing and plans guide — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Light users — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Manage your contact-based plan — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- About annual payments — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Import emails or tickets into Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Security at Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- HIPAA at Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- AI transparency — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- About Help Scout — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- eCatholic customer story — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- Front pricing — Front · September 18, 2026
- Front plans and pricing — Front Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Adding and removing licenses — Front Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Guests in Front — Front Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Channel limits per license — Front Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Autopilot pricing and billing — Front Help Center · September 18, 2026
- AI Answers (legacy) — Front Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Meet Autopilot, the AI agent built for control, not chaos — Front Community · September 18, 2026
- Switch to French? (staff answer on interface languages) — Front Community · September 18, 2026
- Data location — Front Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Data Processing Addendum — Front · September 18, 2026
- List of subprocessors — Front · September 18, 2026
- Security at Front — Front · September 18, 2026
- Rate limiting — Front Developers · September 18, 2026
- About Front — Front · September 18, 2026
- Front customers — Front · September 18, 2026
- Front pricing and buyer data — Vendr · September 18, 2026
This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not run hands-on tests of these products. Method: How we review