User Based Billing and Plans Guide

Help Scout offers several different plans with different features and limits, as well as add-ons that are available to specific plans, allowing you to choose the plan and extras that meet your needs.

This guide is for active Help Scout account holders on user based billing accounts to help you find where to view or change your current account plan or billing information, as well as answer some general billing questions you might have.

Note that this article is for accounts that are on our user based billing and will not accurately reflect details for the new contact based billing accounts. Check the Contact Based Billing and Plans Guide for help with that billing.

If you haven't started a Help Scout account yet, check our Pricing page for currently available plans and details on those plans, and sign up for a free trial while you're there!

All amounts shown in Help Scout and our documentation are in U.S. Dollars (USD). Note that the images shown in this article are for illustrative purposes only — your plan details will be specific to your account and available plans may vary.

View Your Plan Details

The Account Owner, Administrators, and any Users that have been given the Manage Account: Billing and plan changes permission are able to view your current plan details in app any time. Light Users are not able to view this page.

Click on your avatar or initials in the top right corner of the top menu in Help Scout, then choose Your Plan to see all of the details. Users without the correct permission and Light Users will not see this option.

You can also just head directly to this link: https://secure.helpscout.net/members/plan/

You will only be able to edit the information here if you have the appropriate permissions to do so. Only Account Owners have that permission by default.

Take a look at User Roles and Permissions for more on permission settings and contact your Help Scout Account Owner if you need permission changes in your account.

Next Billing

Your current account plan is shown at the top of this page (for example, Help Scout Plus), and a breakdown of your upcoming billing for that plan is detailed below.

Note that the image shown below is for illustrative purposes only — your plan details will be specific to your account.

Legacy Plans

See a legacy badge next to your plan? This means that the plan you're on is no longer being offered to new accounts, and will not be available for you to go back to if you switch plans. For more on how this process works, see Legacy Plan Changes.

Payment Details

Scroll down on the Your Plan page to change the credit card that your account is billed to and switch between monthly or annual payments.

Available Plans and Change Your Plan

From Your Plan, click Plans in the left navigation menu to see the currently available plans, along with the details of what each plan includes. Click the Monthly or Annual toggle to see your per user per month price for each plan update in real-time. More on annual payments here: About Annual Payments.

Note that the image shown below is for illustrative purposes only — available plans may vary from what you see here.

Included in all plans

Outstanding 24x6 support
Unlimited email volume and storage
Help Scout mobile apps (iOS and Android)
Beacon, our help widget with live chat and proactive messaging

Still have questions about your plan? Let our support team know what questions you have, and we'll get you answers!

Subscription Questions

What's a User? Am I paying for all of my customers who need help?
A User in Help Scout is anyone who needs a login to manage or view conversations as a part of your team. Your customers don't have access to log in to Help Scout, and you can provide support for as many customers as you'd like on each plan.

All user based plans are billed on a per User per month basis. Current Plus and Pro plans also include 25 Light Users. See User Roles and Permissions for more on that.

Can I add new Users during the billing cycle?
Help Scout is billed for the month in advance, but you can add new Users to your account whenever you need to. If you add a new User between your billing dates, we charge a prorated amount at your next billing based on the number of days left in the billing cycle.

For example, if you're on our Standard plan paying $25/month and you add a new User 15 days through a 30 day billing cycle, you will be charged $12 at your next billing for the 15 days of use.

The only exception are Users that are added and then deleted within 24 hours; those count as temporary Users and are not subject to proration.

Is the Account Owner a billable role?
Yes. One user account must be the Account Owner and all user accounts count for billing. The current Account Owner is able to transfer the ownership to any other user at any time — see Transfer Account Ownership for the steps to do that.

What types of payment do you accept?
We accept all major credit cards in-app for monthly and annual payments for all accounts. Alternate payment options are available when payment due is more than $2500 and are prepaying annually. See Payments and Invoices for more detail on those options.

Do you offer non-profit or education discounts?
We offer a 10% discount to non-profit organizations and educational institutions, which can be combined with the annual payment discount. For the non-profit discount, send us an email with government documentation showing your organization is non-profit. For example, if you're US-based, we'll need to see proof of your 501(c)(3) status.

If you are in the United States and have been granted sales tax exemption by your state, you'll also need to provide a copy of your state sales tax exemption documentation. Non-profits are not automatically tax exempt in all states.

We offer a more significant discount on Help Scout (up to 100%) for organizations that focus on human rights, environmental sustainability, or underrepresentation in tech. Are these issues a part of your core mission? Check out Help Scout for Good to learn more and apply.

Why did I receive a Failed Payment Error email?
We were unable to charge the credit card you have on file or you have not provided a card for payment. If you are simply at the end of a trial account and do not wish to add a card for payment, you can Cancel Your Help Scout Account to put a halt to these notifications.

If you are a current customer with a card on file, contact your credit card issuer to inquire as to why your card was declined or change the credit card on your account.

Your Account Owner and any other users who have the Manage Account permission can head to Your Plan to update the billing information. Click on the Edit link next to your card details, double check that it's all correct, and we'll give it another go at the next billing run.

If you've been locked out of your account, send us a quick email and we'll work with you to get it sorted.

Can I get a refund?
If for any reason you are unhappy with your Help Scout purchase, we offer a 30-day money back guarantee on your first payment.

If you decide not to use Help Scout in your business within 30 days from your first payment, you may request a full refund. This applies to both annual and monthly subscriptions.

Docs Knowledge Base

How much does Docs cost?
All plans include at least one Docs site. Account Owners and Administrators can see the number of included Docs sites at Your Plan in-app. There is no limit to the number of collections, categories, or articles you can add to any single Docs site.

Can I have more Inboxes?
Sure thing! Just head to Manage > Inbox(es) and click New Inbox. Each additional Inbox is $10 per Inbox, per month.

Can I add more Docs sites?
Add more sites for $20 per site, per month on any plan. Just head to Manage > Docs and click New Site to add as many as you need! Delete any extra Docs sites if you no longer need them to immediately halt billing for them.

Can I just pay for Docs and not use the help desk or Beacon?
Docs is not offered a stand alone product. You are welcome to sign up for our lowest priced plan and only use Docs though!

Annual Subscriptions

Check out About Annual Payments for all you need to know!

If you still have questions about your plan or billing that isn't covered here, reach out to our team with any questions, and we'll be happy to help!