Drip vs Help Scout
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Drip and Help Scout, verified . Drip is primarily email marketing; 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.
Drip
- Standard
Most popular: $39/mo at 2.5k contacts
$39/mo
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 Standard (Drip) against Standard (Help Scout). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Drip | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | 2,500 contacts (entry tier; scales) | · |
| Team seats | · | 25 users (max) |
| Workflows | 50 | · |
When Drip wins
- E-commerce stores on Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce running flows on customer behavior
- Small to mid stores graduating from Mailchimp's e-commerce features
Where Drip is the wrong fit
- B2B marketers (use ActiveCampaign or Customer.io)
- Creators running newsletters (use Kit or beehiiv)
- Buyers who need to know full pricing before signup
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 Drip cheaper than Help Scout?
- At the entry tier, Help Scout starts at Free versus Drip at $39/mo. Help Scout is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Drip or Help Scout have a free plan?
- Only Help Scout has a permanent free plan. Drip only offers a free trial.
Drip: https://www.drip.com/pricing · Help Scout: https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.