Close vs Help Scout
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Close and Help Scout, verified . Close is primarily crm; Help Scout is primarily help desk.
Plans side by side
Every published plan from each vendor, with the headline monthly anchor price. Some prices scale with subscriber count or seats; full detail lives on each tool's page.
Close
- Solo
Single user, 10,000 lead cap
$9/mo - Essentials
Core CRM with unlimited contacts and leads
$35/mo - Growth
Adds Chloe AI agent, workflows, and Power Dialer
$99/mo - Scale
Adds Predictive Dialer, role-based access, unlimited call recording
$139/mo - Enterprise
Custom pricing for 10+ users or complex needs
Custom
Help Scout
- Free
Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site
Free - Standard
Entry paid tier with live chat and AI Inbox assistant
$25/mo - Plus
Advanced workflows, unlimited AI Drafts, WhatsApp
$45/mo - Pro
Unlimited users, SSO/SAML, HIPAA, dedicated onboarding
$75/mo
Limits at the entry paid tier
Compares Solo (Close) against Standard (Help Scout). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Close | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Team seats | 1 user (Solo plan limit) | 25 users (max) |
When Close wins
- Outbound-heavy SDR teams that live in the dialer all day
- B2B sales teams of 1 to 20 reps that want one tool for calls, email, and CRM
- Founders running their own outbound and wanting calling, email, and CRM in one place
Where Close is the wrong fit
- Marketing-heavy teams that need a broader hub (use HubSpot CRM)
- Service-business CRMs needing ticketing (use Pipedrive or Zoho)
- Enterprise sales orgs with complex territory structures (use Salesforce)
When Help Scout wins
- SaaS support teams of 5 to 50 with email and chat as the main channels
- Healthcare-adjacent companies that need HIPAA on the help desk
- Teams that prefer a calm conversational inbox over the ticket-grid model
Where Help Scout is the wrong fit
- Enterprises with thousands of agents (Zendesk or Freshdesk fit better)
- Companies whose primary support channel is voice (no built-in voice)
- Teams that need deeply customizable ticket fields beyond what Help Scout exposes
Common questions
- Is Close cheaper than Help Scout?
- At the entry tier, Help Scout starts at Free versus Close at $9/mo. Help Scout is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Close or Help Scout have a free plan?
- Only Help Scout has a permanent free plan. Close only offers a free trial.
- Are Close and Help Scout in the same category?
- No. Close is primarily a crm tool; Help Scout is primarily a help desk tool. They overlap on use case but sit in different primary categories, so the comparison is between adjacent tools rather than direct competitors.
- Which has more plans, Close or Help Scout?
- Close ships 5 plans; Help Scout ships 4. Close's longer ladder gives more granular upgrade steps, which can mean smoother price escalation as your team scales.
- Where can I see alternatives to Close or Help Scout?
- Each tool has a dedicated alternatives page on TierGauge with ranked options and verified pricing: /alternatives/close for Close and /alternatives/help-scout for Help Scout. Alternatives are derived from each tool's editor-flagged competitors plus same-category tools we track.
Close: https://www.close.com/pricing · Help Scout: https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.