Help Scout vs MailerLite
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Help Scout and MailerLite, verified . Help Scout is primarily help desk; MailerLite is primarily email marketing.
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.
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
MailerLite
- Free
Up to 500 subscribers, 12,000 sends/month
Free - Growing Business
Most popular paid tier, starts at 500 subscribers
$10/mo - Advanced
Power features for active senders
$20/mo - Enterprise
100,000+ subscribers, custom contracting
Custom
Limits at the entry paid tier
Compares Standard (Help Scout) against Growing Business (MailerLite). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Help Scout | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | · | 500 subscribers (anchor; scales up) |
| Emails / month | · | Unlimited |
| Team seats | 25 users (max) | 3 |
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
When MailerLite wins
- Solo creators and small businesses replacing Mailchimp
- Teams that want one tool for emails, landing pages, and a small website
- Nonprofits (30% discount on paid plans)
Where MailerLite is the wrong fit
- B2B teams needing deep CRM and pipeline workflows (use HubSpot or ActiveCampaign)
- Operators wanting native ad network or paid subscriptions (use beehiiv)
- API-first transactional senders (use Postmark or Resend)
Common questions
- Is Help Scout cheaper than MailerLite?
- Both Help Scout and MailerLite have free or custom entry pricing, so a direct entry-tier price comparison is not meaningful.
- Does Help Scout or MailerLite have a free plan?
- Both have free plans. Help Scout: Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site. MailerLite: Up to 500 subscribers, 12,000 sends/month.
- Are Help Scout and MailerLite in the same category?
- No. Help Scout is primarily a help desk tool; MailerLite is primarily a email marketing 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, Help Scout or MailerLite?
- Both Help Scout and MailerLite ship 4 plans. Tier counts match; the differentiation is in features and pricing structure rather than tier ladder depth.
- Where can I see alternatives to Help Scout or MailerLite?
- Each tool has a dedicated alternatives page on TierGauge with ranked options and verified pricing: /alternatives/help-scout for Help Scout and /alternatives/mailerlite for MailerLite. Alternatives are derived from each tool's editor-flagged competitors plus same-category tools we track.
Help Scout: https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/ · MailerLite: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.