CrestaEnterprise
Contact center AI that runs human and AI agents on one platform — autonomous agents, real-time assist, QA, and conversation intelligence.
Customer Support comparison
Cresta vs Help Scout
Pricing, pros, cons, and ideal use cases — side by side.
Help ScoutFreemium
An email-first shared inbox and Docs knowledge base for small support teams, with AI Answers billed per resolution instead of bundled into a seat.
At a glance
| Cresta | Help Scout | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | EnterpriseNot published — enterprise contracts quoted after a demo, typically scoped by agent seats and conversation volume. Ask how autonomous AI Agent conversations are priced relative to human seats, since that ratio decides the economics as deflection rises. | FreemiumFree $0 for up to 5 users, 1 Inbox, and 1 Docs site; Standard $25 per user/mo; Plus $45 per user/mo; Pro $75 per user/mo. Standard is capped at 25 users; Pro has a 10-user minimum; Free is capped at 100 contacts/month. AI Answers add-on $0.75 per resolution with a 3-month free trial. As read on the vendor's pricing page in early October 2026. |
| Category | Customer Support | Customer Support |
| Ideal for | Enterprise contact centers with hundreds of human agentsCX organisations running quality management at scaleTravel, financial services, telecom, and insurance support operationsTeams that want AI deflection and human coaching from one system | Small SaaS and ecommerce support teams working mostly from emailService businesses that need a shared inbox and a help center, not a contact centerTeams that want AI priced per resolution rather than per seatStartups that can begin on a free five-user plan and grow into Standard |
Pros & cons
Cresta
Pros
- One platform for autonomous agents and human agent assist
- Real-time guidance during live calls, not just post-call review
- Automated QA across every conversation instead of a sample
- Strong Fortune 500 reference base
- Handoff between AI and human is designed in, not bolted on
Cons
- No published pricing and a long enterprise sales cycle
- Overbuilt for contact centers below roughly 100 agents
- Real-time assist needs change management or agents ignore it
- Deflection savings and seat costs can work against each other — model the ratio
- Deep integration with your CCaaS platform is a prerequisite, not a detail
Help Scout
Pros
- Onboarding in minutes; ratings around 4.6/5 (third-party)
- AI Answers priced per resolution, with a 3-month free trial
- AI Assist drafting unlimited on paid plans
- Free plan for up to 5 users
- Full price ladder published
Cons
- Shallow reporting on lower tiers
- No autonomous chatbot builder and thin native social channels
- The 26th agent on Standard forces the whole team to Plus
- Per-resolution AI billing is unpredictable at scale
- Not a fit for phone-heavy or enterprise-scale support
Which should you choose?
Help Scout is the lighter-weight option (Freemium), while Cresta sits higher on the pricing ladder (Enterprise). Cresta is built around enterprise contact centers with hundreds of human agents; Help Scout leans more toward small saas and ecommerce support teams working mostly from email. Shortlist the one whose strengths line up with your biggest constraint.
Still deciding between Cresta and Help Scout?
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