Ghost vs Help Scout
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Ghost and Help Scout, verified . Ghost is primarily content 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.
Ghost
- Starter
Personal publishing on Ghost(Pro), billed yearly
$18/mo - Publisher
Paid subscriptions, custom themes, integrations
$29/mo - Business
Higher limits, priority support, early access
$199/mo - Custom
Enterprise: unlimited members, dedicated IP, SLA
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 Starter (Ghost) against Standard (Help Scout). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Ghost | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | 1,000 members | · |
| Emails / month | Unlimited | · |
| Team seats | 1 | 25 users (max) |
When Ghost wins
- Independent publishers who want to own their stack and keep migration optionality
- Paid-newsletter operators trying to avoid Substack's 10% revenue share at scale
- Publications that need staff seats, custom themes, and a real CMS rather than just an email tool
Where Ghost is the wrong fit
- Hobbyists who refuse to pay anything ever; Substack or Buttondown's free tiers fit better
- Podcast-first creators; Ghost is text and email native, not an audio platform
- Teams that need deep CRM, lead scoring, or marketing automation; this is a publishing tool, not a marketing-automation suite
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 Ghost cheaper than Help Scout?
- At the entry tier, Help Scout starts at Free versus Ghost at $18/mo. Help Scout is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Ghost or Help Scout have a free plan?
- Only Help Scout has a permanent free plan. Ghost only offers a free trial.
Ghost: https://ghost.org/pricing/ · Help Scout: https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.