{
  "id": "help-scout-vs-front",
  "ids": [
    "help-scout",
    "front"
  ],
  "title": "Help Scout vs Front: free contacts, channels and shared inbox costs",
  "kicker": "SHARED INBOX DECISIONS",
  "heading": "Help Scout vs Front:<br>build a queue your team can own.",
  "deck": "Compare Help Scout and Front by free helped-contact capacity, channel types, user limits, workflow rules and separate AI charges.",
  "answerHeading": "Start with the workflow.<br>Then select the retained plan.",
  "answer": "Help Scout offers a small continuing free support workspace with a helped-contact cap. Front Starter is a paid, single-channel-type package; Professional adds omnichannel support. Map who answers each channel, how work is assigned and which retained tier supports the process before pricing seats.",
  "researchTag": "SHARED INBOX DECISIONS",
  "researchLimit": "Worked capacity examples do not establish matching features, a negotiated invoice or measured productivity.",
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-14",
  "description": "Compare Help Scout and Front by free helped-contact capacity, channel types, user limits, workflow rules and separate AI charges.",
  "rows": [
    [
      "Free starting point",
      "Five users, one Inbox, one Docs site; 100 helped contacts per cycle",
      "14-day Professional trial; no permanent free package listed"
    ],
    [
      "What volume means",
      "A helped contact is distinct from a conversation count",
      "Channel and seat allowances do not establish equal workload capacity"
    ],
    [
      "Paid user capacity",
      "Standard up to 25; Plus up to 50; Pro minimum ten",
      "Starter up to ten; Professional up to fifty"
    ],
    [
      "Channel scope",
      "Check the required channel on the chosen paid tier",
      "Starter one type; Professional and Enterprise multi-channel"
    ],
    [
      "Automation scope",
      "Basic versus advanced workflows by plan",
      "Starter ten rules; Professional twenty; Enterprise unlimited"
    ],
    [
      "Additional resources",
      "Extra inboxes and Docs sites may carry fees",
      "Workspaces, service packages and integrations affect scope"
    ],
    [
      "AI charging unit",
      "AI Answers charged per resolution",
      "Autopilot starting fee per conversation; Copilot separate on lower tiers"
    ]
  ],
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Five agents helping 90 contacts in one Inbox",
      "question": "Can a continuing free workspace fit the basic queue?",
      "left": "These three checked Free limits fit; required features still need review.",
      "right": "A trial can evaluate the work, but does not create continuing free production access.",
      "note": "Count helped contacts for the actual monthly cycle, not the total address book."
    },
    {
      "name": "Five agents helping 101 contacts in one Inbox",
      "question": "Which constraint changes first?",
      "left": "101 exceeds the 100-contact Free allowance, even though five users fit.",
      "right": "The seat count alone fits Starter; its one-channel-type rule remains.",
      "note": "A reply-volume estimate cannot replace the helped-contact counter."
    },
    {
      "name": "Eleven agents working only email",
      "question": "Does the first paid seat range fit?",
      "left": "Eleven is within Standard’s 25-user ceiling; check the needed workflow and inbox scope.",
      "right": "Eleven exceeds Starter’s ten-seat maximum; examine Professional.",
      "note": "Do not treat light users, guests or read-only collaborators as equivalent full agents."
    },
    {
      "name": "Eight agents answering email and SMS",
      "question": "Can one entry package handle two channel types?",
      "left": "Check the retained paid channel arrangement and any integration fee.",
      "right": "Starter’s single channel type does not fit; Professional supports multiple types.",
      "note": "Eight seats alone fit Starter, but the second channel type changes the shortlist."
    }
  ],
  "exampleTable": {
    "caption": "Hypothetical Help Scout Free capacity; assignment, channels and content limits separate",
    "headers": [
      "Full users",
      "Helped contacts / cycle",
      "Inboxes",
      "Checked numerical result"
    ],
    "rows": [
      [
        "5",
        "90",
        "1",
        "Fits these caps"
      ],
      [
        "5",
        "100",
        "1",
        "Fits exactly"
      ],
      [
        "5",
        "101",
        "1",
        "Contact cap exceeded"
      ],
      [
        "6",
        "90",
        "1",
        "User cap exceeded"
      ]
    ]
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "capacity",
      "navLabel": "Queue volume",
      "title": "Count the people helped, not just message traffic",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Help Scout’s Free contact counter represents people who receive a reply or have a question resolved by AI. Repeated conversations with the same person can count as one contact. A queue with 250 messages therefore cannot be assigned a Free fit from message count alone.",
        "Track staffed users, helped contacts, inboxes and retained help articles separately. Decide which queue owns a repeat enquiry and who can reassign it. A cap fit does not prove the team has sufficient working capacity."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "billing",
      "navLabel": "Seat budget",
      "title": "Compare the bill for the required package",
      "paragraphs": [
        "The checked annual USD monthly equivalents are Help Scout Standard US$25 and Plus US$45 per user, and Front Starter US$25 and Professional US$65 per seat. At five unchanged paid users, those isolated annual bases are US$1,500, US$2,700, US$1,500 and US$3,900 respectively. They buy different capabilities.",
        "Help Scout’s Pro has a ten-user minimum, and extra resources can add charges. Front’s onboarding policy requires a package for contracts above US$25,000. Confirm taxes, term, minimums and the complete resource scope; these examples are not GBP quotes or complete invoices."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "ai",
      "navLabel": "AI units",
      "title": "A resolution and a conversation are different billing units",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Help Scout AI Answers lists US$0.75 per resolution on eligible paid packages after any applicable trial or offer. Front Autopilot starts at US$0.05 per conversation; its Copilot is a separate US$20 per seat/month add-on on Starter and Professional and included on Enterprise. A starting rate is not a complete negotiated schedule.",
        "Define the vendor’s qualifying event, human handover, failed answer, reopened ticket and quota treatment before calculating usage. No equal AI quality, resolution rate, staffing saving or total-price winner is established from the unit prices."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "trial",
      "navLabel": "Queue evaluation",
      "title": "Run one enquiry through ownership and escalation",
      "paragraphs": [
        "In an authorised test account, create a synthetic enquiry, assign it, leave an internal note and hand it to a second agent. Add an overdue-response rule and check whether the original customer receives duplicate or conflicting replies.",
        "Test the chosen channel, phone layout, knowledge-base search and an export. Observe actual counters and the retained plan after the trial. This comparison provides an evaluation brief; no account trial or customer conversation was performed."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "question": "Does Help Scout Free include unlimited support contacts?",
      "answer": "No. The checked Free allowance is 100 helped contacts per monthly cycle, with five users and one Inbox."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can Front Starter combine email and SMS?",
      "answer": "Starter supports a single channel type. Professional and Enterprise support multiple channel types."
    },
    {
      "question": "Do Help Scout and Front charge for AI in the same way?",
      "answer": "No. AI Answers lists a resolution-based charge, while Autopilot lists a starting conversation rate. Assistance, usage definitions and package scope must be compared separately."
    }
  ],
  "type": "sales-support-buying",
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/",
      "facts": "Current paid user scope, resources, annual/monthly displays and AI fee"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.helpscout.com/article/1597-free-plan",
      "facts": "Free limits and helped-contact counting"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://front.com/pricing",
      "facts": "Seat/channel ranges, rules, annual USD fees, AI add-ons and onboarding threshold"
    }
  ],
  "relatedLinks": [
    {
      "path": "/guides/shared-inbox-buying-checklist/",
      "title": "Build a shared inbox evaluation brief →"
    },
    {
      "path": "/compare/zendesk-vs-freshdesk/",
      "title": "Compare ticketing packages and AI allowances →"
    },
    {
      "path": "/compare/crisp-vs-tawk-to/",
      "title": "Compare live-chat staffing and workspace costs →"
    }
  ],
  "datasetDescription": "Compare Help Scout and Front by free helped-contact capacity, channel types, user limits, workflow rules and separate AI charges. Four hypothetical buying briefs retain units, plan boundaries and cost exclusions. No account trial, live campaign, support conversation or measured performance result is implied.",
  "limits": {
    "helpScoutFree": {
      "users": 5,
      "helpedContactsPerMonthlyCycle": 100,
      "inboxes": 1,
      "docsSites": 1
    },
    "helpScoutPaidUserMaximum": {
      "Standard": 25,
      "Plus": 50
    },
    "helpScoutProMinimumUsers": 10,
    "frontStarterMaximumSeats": 10,
    "frontProfessionalMaximumSeats": 50,
    "frontRules": {
      "Starter": 10,
      "Professional": 20
    }
  },
  "pricing": {
    "currency": "USD",
    "annualBillingMonthlyEquivalent": {
      "Help Scout Standard": 25,
      "Help Scout Plus": 45,
      "Front Starter": 25,
      "Front Professional": 65
    },
    "qualifiedAiFeeUnits": {
      "helpScoutAnswersUsdPerResolution": 0.75,
      "frontAutopilotStartingUsdPerConversation": 0.05
    },
    "taxAddonsAndServicesExcluded": true
  }
}