For companies that deal with sensitive information, HIPAA compliance is an absolute requirement when selecting a customer support platform. However, compliance is not sufficient—usability, flexibility, and scalability also contribute significantly. Two of the most popular HIPAA-compliant solutions, Help Scout vs Freshdesk, provide distinctly different approaches to customer support.
User Interfaces: Simplicity vs Feature-Rich Design
Help Scout offers an intuitive and minimalistic user interface. When logging in, users are greeted by a clean dashboard that works to maintain focus on communication. The interface includes one-click access to mailboxes, knowledge base, customer messages, performance reports, and administrative tools like team settings and integrations.
The top right corner of a dashboard is where you can access notifications, a help button, search, availability chat status, and personal profile settings.
Freshdesk, on the other hand, provides a dashboard that is rich in features and tools. Upon logging in, you're welcomed with a broad ticketing overview that organizes tickets into categories. The interface provides immediate access to creating new tickets, emails, contacts, or companies. There are other features, such as search, notifications, news, and scheduling. The left sidebar grants users access to core modules such as tickets, contacts, company management, knowledge base, chatbots, analytics, and settings.
Functionality Face-Off: Streamlined Efficiency vs. Advanced Customization
Help Scout vs Freshdesk both accommodate key help desk functionality, including multi-channel support, integration with the mobile app, notification, collision detection, knowledge base, and reporting.
Help Scout greatly emphasizes real-time performance metrics across conversations, emails, live chat, and documentation. It provides for automation workflows, bulk reply sending, and organizational features like custom folders. Help Scout’s Beacon centralizes all your support options in one widget, offering email support, knowledge base articles, and enabling live chat, all within a single interface.
Freshdesk further leverages its abilities through customizable reports, forums, and more automation capabilities based on time or events. It encompasses advanced ticket features like internal conversation using Team Huddle, joint ticket ownership, as well as linking related tickets. The platform features proactive messaging through the website or app and AI chatbots to quickly solve issues. It also features SLA and business hours support, email server configuration, and SSL customization, areas where Help Scout is lacking.
Pricing
With Help Scout, you can select from three pricing plans tailored to different team sizes and support needs. Here’s a breakdown of each:
1. Standard Plan – $20 per user/month (billed annually)
This plan is ideal for small to medium-sized teams that need core customer support tools. It includes:
- 3 Mailboxes
- 1 Docs site
- Beacon with live chat
- Proactive Messages (with separate pricing)
- Customer Properties
- Reports
- Automated Workflows
- API and 50+ integrations
2. Plus Plan – $35 per user/month (billed annually)
Designed for growing teams that require more advanced functionality and scalability, the Plus plan includes everything in the Standard plan, plus:
- 10 Mailboxes
- 1 Docs site
- Custom Fields
- Teams
- Integration with Salesforce, Jira, HubSpot
- HIPAA Compliance
- SSO/SAML Authentication (as an add-on)
- Advanced Permissions
3. Company Plan – Custom pricing
This plan is aimed at larger organizations with 25+ users that need tailored onboarding and enterprise-level support. It includes all Plus plan features, as well as:
- Unlimited Mailboxes
- Unlimited Docs sites
- Flexible user pricing
- Concierge onboarding services
- Dedicated account manager
- Enterprise security and SSO
Freshdesk proposes a range of pricing plans designed to accommodate businesses of various sizes and support needs. All plans are billed per agent per month, with discounts available for annual billing.
1. Free Plan – $0 per agent/month
Ideal for small teams or startups, this plan includes:
- Email and social ticketing
- Knowledge base
- Team collaboration tools
- Ticket trend reports
- Basic data security
2. Growth Plan – $15 per agent/month (billed annually)
Suited for growing businesses:
- All features in the Free Plan
- Automation capabilities
- Access to marketplace apps
- Helpdesk reports
- Customer satisfaction surveys
3. Pro Plan – $49 per agent/month (billed annually)
Designed for larger teams with advanced needs, this plan includes:
- All features in the Growth Plan
- Multiple time zones support
- Custom roles and permissions
- Custom reports and dashboards
- SLA management
- Multilingual knowledge base
4. Enterprise Plan – $79 per agent/month (billed annually)
Tailored for enterprises requiring extensive customization and security:
- All features in the Pro Plan
- Skill-based ticket assignment
- Sandbox environment for testing
- Agent shift management
- Custom agent roles
- IP whitelisting for enhanced security
Integrations
Help Scout allows integration with around 80 third-party systems within CRM, e-commerce, analytics, and marketing. Freshdesk, with around 500 integrations using the Freshworks Marketplace, has more flexibility with agent productivity, issue handling, workflows, and bots, and is best for multiplexed support environments.
Let’s take a look at what kind of companies and industries choose Help Scout or Freshdesk.
Help Scout
1. Basecamp – Project Management / SaaS
Basecamp uses Help Scout to provide personal, human-centered support without the overhead of a traditional help desk.
2. Litmus – Email Marketing / SaaS
Litmus chose Help Scout for its simplicity and clean integration with their workflow, supporting email testing and design customers efficiently.
3. Buffer – Social Media Management / Tech
Buffer uses Help Scout to deliver transparent, friendly support, aligning with their brand's focus on openness and remote-first operations.
Freshdesk
1. HP (Hewlett-Packard) – Technology / Enterprise IT
HP uses Freshdesk to manage large-scale support operations, benefiting from its automation, multi-channel support, and analytics.
2. Bridgestone – Automotive / Manufacturing
Bridgestone uses Freshdesk to streamline internal IT and customer support across regions and departments.
3. Decathlon– Retail / Sporting Goods
The global sports retailer Decathlon uses Freshdesk to handle multilingual customer service across online and physical store operations.
Pros & Cons: Simplicity vs Scalability in Support Platforms
Every platform has its pros and cons. Help Scout is notable for how simple and easy it is to use, making it ideal for small- to medium-sized teams that don't require an overbearing support system.
Help Scout's advantages:
- Easy-to-use UI
- Powerful workflows
- Highly customizable Docs
- Streamlined communication with clients
It provides solid core features with low friction. But it doesn't have some of the more advanced customization and control over operation that's available in more feature-heavy tools.
Freshdesk packs more features and actively scales alongside growing businesses. Its comprehensive toolset is ideal for enterprise-level organizations that require multi-layered workflows, collaborative support teams, and advanced analytics and automation capabilities.
Freshdesk’s advantages:
- Advanced analytics
- Automations
- Gamification features
- Reliable technical support
The catch is that it takes longer to set up and onboard, and its heavy UI might be overwhelming for users seeking a more minimalistic experience.
Help Scout vs Freshdesk are both top-shelf, HIPAA-compliant help desks. Help Scout is ideal for teams that value simplicity and must-haves, whereas Freshdesk is ideal for teams that require a flexible support framework. Your decision basically boils down to team size, complexity, and the degree of control you wish to have over your support processes. Help Desk Migration makes transitioning platforms seamless and secure, with minimal effort.