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Cliedesk vs Help Scout

Cliedesk vs Help Scout: a Help Scout alternative for WordPress.

Help Scout is a hosted shared inbox and help center with plans priced by number of users, and AI resolutions billed per resolution. Cliedesk is a help desk plugin inside your WordPress site, with unlimited agents and AI on your own provider key. Both aim for a simple, human inbox. The main difference is where it runs and how you pay.

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Which one fits you?

Choose Cliedesk if…

  • Your site or store runs on WordPress or WooCommerce
  • Your team is growing and you don’t want to pay per user
  • You want WooCommerce orders and order actions inside the help desk
  • You want AI on your own key, with no fee per resolution
  • You want support data in your own database

Choose Help Scout if…

  • You don’t run WordPress
  • You want a hosted inbox the vendor operates for you
  • A team of up to 5 users fits Help Scout’s free plan
  • You want support fully separate from your website

Key differences

  • Where it runs

    Cliedesk
    Inside your WordPress site; data in your site’s database
    Help Scout
    Help Scout’s cloud service

  • How you pay

    Cliedesk
    Free plugin; Pro by number of sites (from $49 a year), unlimited agents
    Help Scout
    Free (up to 5 users); Standard $25 (up to 25 users); Plus $45 (up to 50 users); Pro $75 (unlimited users, 10 minimum) — per user a month

  • AI for customers

    Cliedesk
    AI agent on your own AI provider key; no fee per resolution †
    Help Scout
    Envoy AI: $0.75 per resolution, first 3 months of AI resolutions free

  • WooCommerce

    Cliedesk
    Orders next to every conversation in the free plugin; AI and agents prepare refunds, cancellations and edits with approval †
    Help Scout
    Third-party extension ($99 a year, needs a Help Scout plan): order contact forms and conversations in My Account

  • Help center

    Cliedesk
    WordPress pages on your own domain, with your theme and SEO plugin
    Help Scout
    Help Scout Docs

  • Migration

    Cliedesk
    Help Scout importer with preview and rollback †
    Help Scout
    —

† with Cliedesk Pro. Help Scout prices are as listed on its pricing page; it offers a 16% discount for annual billing.

Last checked 26 October 2026.

Sources: Help Scout pricing · Help Scout for WooCommerce

What a year costs

User or licence cost for one support site, before AI usage.

  • 3 agents

    Cliedesk Pro (Agent plan, 1 site)
    $49
    Help Scout Standard ($25 per user a month)
    $900

  • 10 agents

    Cliedesk Pro (Agent plan, 1 site)
    $49
    Help Scout Standard ($25 per user a month)
    $3,000

  • 25 agents

    Cliedesk Pro (Agent plan, 1 site)
    $49
    Help Scout Standard ($25 per user a month)
    $7,500

Formula: Help Scout = users × $25 × 12, at the listed price before the annual discount. Standard allows up to 25 users. For 3 users, Help Scout’s free plan costs $0, and so does the free Cliedesk plugin. Cliedesk Pro is priced per site, so the agent count doesn’t change it. AI is extra on both: Envoy costs $0.75 per resolution; on Cliedesk you pay your AI provider’s token cost directly.

Last checked 26 October 2026.

Sources: Help Scout pricing · Cliedesk pricing

When Help Scout is the better choice

If your business doesn’t run on WordPress, Help Scout is a clean, hosted option and Cliedesk isn’t the right tool.

For a small team of up to 5 users that only needs a shared inbox, Help Scout’s free plan is hosted and maintained for you.

Help Scout runs separately from your website, so a problem on your site never affects your inbox. With Cliedesk, the help desk shares your WordPress hosting.

Using Help Scout with WordPress?

Help Scout’s WordPress plugin adds the Beacon widget and a contact form that creates conversations. The form needs a Help Scout API key, so it works with paid plans. For WooCommerce, a third-party extension adds order-related contact forms and shows conversations in My Account for $99 a year, on top of a Help Scout plan.

In Cliedesk, the WooCommerce connection is built in: the free plugin shows each customer’s orders next to the conversation, and Cliedesk Pro lets the AI agent and your agents prepare refunds, cancellations and order changes.

Migration

Moving from Help Scout

Cliedesk Pro includes a Help Scout importer. A preview shows counts and sample conversations before anything is imported, the import runs in the background, and you can roll it back. A delta sync keeps new Help Scout conversations coming in while you switch.

How switching works

Explore Cliedesk

In the free plugin: unlimited agents, the shared inbox, live chat, request forms, the customer portal, the help center and WooCommerce order context. Cliedesk Pro adds: the AI agent and copilot on your own key, incoming email, more channels, SLAs, WooCommerce order actions and the Help Scout importer.

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Frequently asked questions

Can’t find your answer? Search the docs or ask us.

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Is Cliedesk as simple as Help Scout?

Cliedesk is built around a shared inbox too, with saved replies, notes, assignment and collision detection. Because it runs in WordPress, agents work in a full-screen app on your own site, at /desk.

Does Cliedesk charge per user?

No. Both the free plugin and Cliedesk Pro have unlimited agents. Pro is priced by the number of sites.

Can I import from Help Scout?

Yes, with Cliedesk Pro. Contacts, conversations, notes, attachments, tags, fields and saved replies come over, with a preview first and rollback afterwards.

Can I receive support email in Cliedesk?

Yes, with Cliedesk Pro, which connects your support mailboxes so email becomes conversations in the shared inbox.

A shared inbox that grows without per-user fees.

Start with the free help desk, or get Cliedesk Pro for email, the AI agent and the Help Scout importer.

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