Help Scout vs LiveChat
Converge Team
Side-by-side comparison for 2026
| Feature | Help Scout | LiveChat |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $45/seat/mo | From $49/seat/mo |
| Best For | Small-medium businesses wanting simple, email-focused support | E-commerce teams needing visitor tracking with WhatsApp support |
| Standout Feature | Clean, intuitive interface with excellent knowledge base | Detailed visitor tracking with real-time website analytics |
| Free Plan | ✓ | ✗ |
| G2 Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.5/5 |
Help Scout and LiveChat represent different support philosophies. Help Scout excels as an email-first help desk with comprehensive ticket management, while LiveChat specializes in real-time customer engagement through chat and messaging.
Help Scout (G2 4.4/5) serves teams needing structured support workflows, whereas LiveChat (G2 4.5/5) focuses on immediate customer interaction and sales support through live chat.
Feature Comparison
Help Scout provides excellent email management with shared inboxes, customer timelines, and collision detection. Its knowledge base, automation rules, and detailed reporting make complex support workflows manageable.
LiveChat excels with its chat widget, visitor tracking, and proactive chat invitations. Features like chat transcripts, file sharing, and integration with ChatBot make it powerful for real-time engagement.
The core difference: Help Scout organizes asynchronous support efficiently, while LiveChat optimizes for synchronous customer interactions and lead generation.
Pricing Comparison
Help Scout offers a free plan (1 user, 25 conversations) scaling to $75/user/month for advanced features. Most teams operate in the $20-$40/user/month range.
LiveChat starts at $20/agent/month for basic chat functionality, reaching $149/agent/month for enterprise features. No free tier, but includes comprehensive chat tools from the start.
For chat-focused teams, LiveChat's pricing is competitive. For mixed email/chat support, Help Scout may offer better value depending on team size.
Help Scout
Pros
- ✓ Clean, intuitive interface
- ✓ Excellent for email-based support
- ✓ Strong knowledge base features
Cons
- ✗ No native WhatsApp or Telegram
- ✗ Live chat (Beacon) is basic
- ✗ Limited automation capabilities
LiveChat
Pros
- ✓ Excellent visitor tracking and analytics
- ✓ Strong integration ecosystem (200+ apps)
- ✓ Reliable WhatsApp Business API support
Cons
- ✗ Per-agent pricing model
- ✗ ChatBot automation is separate product
- ✗ No native Telegram or Zalo support
Verdict
Choose Help Scout if email support and ticket management are central to your workflow. Choose LiveChat if real-time engagement and chat-based support are priorities.
Choose Help Scout if: You handle primarily email support, need robust ticket management, or require detailed customer history and reporting capabilities.
Choose LiveChat if: Real-time chat is your main channel, you focus on lead generation through chat, or need advanced visitor tracking and engagement tools.
Consider Converge at $49/month flat rate for teams wanting both email and chat capabilities without per-agent pricing complexity.
Looking for more options? Browse all 750+ platform comparisons, or see all Help Scout comparisons and all LiveChat comparisons.