Help Scout vs Gist

Zendesk Suite

Freshdesk

ActiveCampaign

Intercom

HelpCrunch

Crisp

Compare Help Scout and Gist based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more on GetApp. Find out which software is best for your business in 2026.

Zendesk's fully customizable help desk solution makes things easy on your customers, sets your teams up for success, and keeps your business in sync. Reach customers on any channel and equip your agents with a full history of all interactions, including those tracked from various app integrations.

Intercom is the only complete AI-first customer service platform, enhancing the customer experience, improving operational efficiency, and scaling with your business every step of the way. 

Freshdesk is a cloud-based, omnichannel customer service software for businesses of all sizes, with solutions that increase agent productivity and improve customer satisfaction.

Help Scout is a shared inbox, help center, and live chat software that gives your team the tools needed to easily manage customer communications. The platform offers a range of features, including AI-powered tools, integrations, and analytics, to empower both your team and your customers.

Access Controls/Permissions

Alerts/Notifications

Archiving & Retention

Automated Routing

Autoresponders

Canned Responses

Catalog Management

Chat/Messaging

Chatbot

Collaboration Tools

Communication Management

Configurable Workflow

Contact Database

Contact Management

Customer Communication

Customer Database

Customer History

Customizable Branding

Customizable Fields

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Dashboard

Data Import/Export

Document Management

Document Storage

Email Management

Email Monitoring

Email Templates

Event Triggered Actions

Feedback Management

For Startups

Full Text Search

Help Desk Management

Inbox Management

Interaction Tracking

Knowledge Base Management

Knowledge Management

Lead Management

Live Chat

Macros/Templated Responses

Mobile Access

Mobile App

Multi-Channel Communication

Multi-Language

Multiple User Accounts

Performance Metrics

Prioritization

Process/Workflow Automation

Queue Management

Real-Time Chat

Real-time Consumer-facing Chat

Real-Time Monitoring

Real-Time Notifications

Real-Time Reporting

Reporting & Statistics

Reporting/Analytics

Response Management

Routing

Search

Search/Filter

Self Service Portal

Shared Inboxes

Signature Management

Single Sign On

Spam Blocker

SSL Security

Support Ticket Management

Support Ticket Tracking

Surveys & Feedback

Tagging

Text Editing

Third-Party Integrations

Widgets

Workflow Management

Help Scout

Android

Web-based

iPad

iPhone

Developer

In my 20 years I've never come across such an elegant solution as Help Scout. Everything works good, looks good.

Its ease of use, great search with keywords in the help guide area of clients. The ticketing system is great and integrates with Infusinsoft and Trello so we can transfer information between teams.

Founder and CEO at PhraseExpander

The product is very well designed, easy and natural to use. On top of that, their support is excellent and they reply very quickly.

Rep Communications Manager

Help Scout serves its purpose well. And I like the fun congratulatory messages it gives anytime a folder is cleared out.

CEO & co-founder

It was great that we could have used it without having to spend money on it, but it's soo good that it's definitely worth every penny.

Donor Support Associate

Escalating and de-escalating issues was pretty easy. Help Scout is a huge help for customer service, people oriented folks like me.

Office Lead

Due to the automated change of tickets after leaving notes or replying on some of them, I ended up replying or closing the wrong ones, and in a delicate work, this was frustrating.

Director of Operations

Help Scout integrates seamlessly with any workflow due to its options for integrations and ease of use.

The only real problem I've had is that the attachment system gets stuck whenever I try to upload by dragging files into the window.

R&D Specialist

The biggest advantage is that it is easy to use and low cost. Plus, they are very Startup friendly company.

Great security too and functional system. The BI features are well appreciated.

Email management is no longer a source of frustration.

Web Designer

They were even nice enough to extend my trial because I hadn't gone through all of the features in depth yet.

Cloud consultant

Help Scout is a very user intuitive and helpful tool to keep all your customer support interactions gathered and managed in a single place.

Nice integration with E-commerce platform Woocommerce.

Operations

Very positive, it's what we were looking for. It has all the core features a support team needs but without countless extras that end up being noise.

The reporting is also useful for creating guides based on real search terms.

IT Help Desk

They also made some changes to the reporting which at least made our lives a little more difficult for the type of reporting we were doing.

Help Scout screenshot: Manage all your team email inboxes, like support@, sales@, and finance@, in one tool.

Help Scout screenshot: Whether you have a team of 5 or 500, Help Scout keeps everyone on the same page so nothing slips through the cracks.

Help Scout screenshot: With Help Scout's familiar interface, your team can start responding to emails in minutes. Plus, get access to organization, automation, and collaboration tools to make your job easier.

Help Scout screenshot: Reduce your support volume by at least 30% with a knowledge base that's designed for customer self-service.

Help Scout screenshot: Reports let you evaluate your team's volume by channel, busiest hours, and trending topics among your customers.

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Non Profit

Small Business

ActiveCampaign is the AI-first marketing platform built to transform how marketers, agencies, and entrepreneurs work. Use Active Intelligence to power goal-aware automations and orchestrate personalized experiences across email, SMS, and WhatsApp. 

HelpCrunch is a top-rated customer communication platform for your Support, Marketing & Sales.
Increase conversions and sales, improve support, and grow faster with HelpCrunch.
Features:
- Live Chat
- Chatbot
- Email Marketing
- Help Desk
- Knowledge Base
- Popups
Try HelpCrunch for free!

Crisp is an all-in-one multi-channel customer platform for interacting with customers via Live Chat, email, messenger, Twitter, & SMS and other tools like drip campaigns, knowledge base or even chatbots.

Gist is a customer communication platform that effortlessly combines the power of AI with a personal touch. With most queries auto-resolved, the team can focus on vital interactions. With Gist, users get efficient, top-notch service that benefits your business and customers.

Alerts/Escalation

Social Media Integration

Gist

Marketing Manager

Very positive experience. All contacts with the company have been exemplary and their support is fantastic, very helpful.

Owner

So far I have been very happy with Gist. It has made marketing fun again because it is so easy to use and try thing without going through a thousand steps to make it happen.

Director

Email count time timers, API integration, and did I mention the excellent form builder. The price is very reasonable for all the love, care and attention to development the Gist team put in.

Founder

The live view helps us upsell & gain more confidence for customers who are visiting our site = more sales. Their customer service is brilliant, nothing more to ask for.

Customer Success Manager

As a Digital Marketer and Customer Success Manager, I love it when a platform replaces multiple tools - it helps me to keep things organized by focusing on that matter the most.

I love the clean look and the wide variety of options. It is very good that you have all communication with your users in one place.

Digital Marketing Consultant

The iOS app integration is good and sends you a notification whenever someone engages with you. The live chat widget is excellent.

Cofounder

Overall, it has been pleasant experience using Gist. They have built many exciting functionality over a period of last one year and that has made it worthwhile.

SEO Specialist

So far I'm very happy with Gist and their support team was outstanding.

All in one feature is amazing. Love chat, email automations, funnels, email templates, integration and the list goes on.

Online Instructor

But here is no option to reply customer comments like ladesk. I missed this feature badly in gist.

The team is very responsive and helped me out with multiple questions or remarks in the past. Today, we are using it only for the knowledge base solution it has on offer - which works as you expect.

owner

If you entered your email there, it would send you out something very specific for a hiring event I was trying to do. This flagged my email again as spam.

Gist is well suited to build relationships with leads and customers, to offer better support.

No webhooks and integromat for my plan available. And they block workflows in my plan.

Head of Acquisition

Easy to use and really easy to implement. If you can load up a script to google tag manager you'll be fine with Gist.

Now we reduced 3 apps to just one. That's a huge money saver, also their support channel is excellent.

Even some of the Gist communication emails land in spam. Founder's attitude on going back on his words underhandedly.

Help Scout vs Gist Comparison (2026)

Help Scout

Gist

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives