# Orka vs Help Scout (2026): Pricing & Projects Canonical: https://orka.chat/orka-vs-helpscout Updated: 2026-10-19 [← The comparison library](/compare) Orka × Help Scout THE COMPARISON · 19 OCTOBER 2026 # Orka vs Help Scout. in 2026 ## A familiar shared inbox. A portfolio with room to grow. One decision. Clear differences. Find the right home for your customers, your crew and every product you run. [Try Orka free ↗](http://dashboard.orka.chat/signup)[Compare your cost ↓](#cost) By Orka · Revised 19 October 2026 DIFFERENT COURSES. YOUR CALL. [Price calculator](#cost)[At a glance](#overview)[Compare features](#comparison)[Project costs](#project-pricing)[FAQs](#faq)[Sources](#sources) COMPARE THE WHOLE BILL ## Your team. Your projects. The total. Choose the same team on each distinct project. Orka includes unlimited projects; other providers bill by workspace, seat, store allowance or usage. People answering 3 Just me A crew of 20 Distinct projects 3 One project Ten projects Help Scout plan Free · 100 contacts, 1 Docs site Standard · 2 inboxes & 2 Docs sites Plus · 5 inboxes & 3 Docs sites Pro · minimum 10 paid users Your monthly estimate for ALL projects (USD) Orka Pro €29.00 / month · EUR · AI separate 3 projects · one subscription · no extra project fee Help Scout $126.00 / month · base only 3 inboxes + 3 Docs sites · $90.00 team base + $36.00 project add-ons / month Base subscriptions only, before taxes, AI, usage and discounts. A shared widget across several domains is not the same as separately configured projects. Seat fit is not feature parity. Check the plan’s limits above and [Orka’s included features](/pricing). Orka prices are in EUR; competitor prices are in USD. No currency conversion or automatic savings claim. Billing rules & official sources + One account can contain several inboxes and Docs sites. This estimate allocates one inbox, one Docs site and one Beacon to each project: extra inboxes are $12/month and extra Docs sites $24/month on monthly billing. Sharing them lowers that cost. Standard allows five Beacons; Pro has a ten-user minimum. [Project billing ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) USD monthly Standard $30/user, Plus $54/user, Pro $90/user (minimum 10). Annual equivalents are $25/$45/$75. The calculator assumes one inbox and one Docs site per project; monthly extras are $12/inbox and $24/Docs site beyond included allowances. AI Answers is extra. [Official source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) THE SHORT VERSION ## Two good tools. Different reasons to choose them. Orka ### Every product you run. One support inbox. A small team running several independent products and wanting one predictable project allowance. Unlimited projects, on every plan Free multilingual help center + custom domain Reply yourself, review a draft, or let Orky help [Explore the Orka toolkit ↗](/features) Help Scout ### Shared email, Docs and Beacon. A support team that values Help Scout’s established email workflow and an integrated Docs-and-Beacon experience. Established email collaboration and channel integrations Docs articles inside Beacon and available to AI A free plan for five users, one inbox and one Docs site [Explore the documented offer ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) THE DETAILS THAT CHANGE THE DECISION ## Same question. Two clear answers. Plan names and billing units stay attached to each feature. Follow the source for the full conditions. What matters Orka Help Scout The working day One crew supporting several SaaS products, apps and stores. Shared email, Docs and Beacon. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) Multiple projects Unlimited projects on every plan. See conversations together or filter by project; set teammate access. Several inboxes and Docs sites can share an account. Standard includes two of each; monthly extras are $12 per inbox and $24 per Docs site. The calculator assumes one of each per project. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) Price per project No extra project fee. Unlimited projects included in every Orka subscription. One account can contain several inboxes and Docs sites. This estimate allocates one inbox, one Docs site and one Beacon to each project: extra inboxes are $12/month and extra Docs sites $24/month on monthly billing. Sharing them lowers that cost. Standard allows five Beacons; Pro has a ten-user minimum. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) Subscription Free €0 / 1 person · Light €9 / 2 · Pro €29 / 3 · Max €99 / 12. Monthly EUR; extra Max members €8 each. AI separate. $30 / user. Standard · monthly · add-ons depend on setup. USD monthly Standard $30/user, Plus $54/user, Pro $90/user (minimum 10). Annual equivalents are $25/$45/$75. The calculator assumes one inbox and one Docs site per project; monthly extras are $12/inbox and $24/Docs site beyond included allowances. AI Answers is extra. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) Knowledge & self-service Public help center, own domain, Markdown articles, collections and in-widget search on all plans. Docs publishes a branded searchable help center and connects to Beacon and AI knowledge. Paid plans include different numbers of Docs sites. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/knowledge-base/) AI budget On Pro and Max: Orka-managed AI with no key to connect, or your OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter key with no Orka markup. Managed usage uses named model rates ×2. AI Answers is listed at $0.75 per resolution. Writing assistance and drafts depend on the plan; the resolution budget is separate. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) A reason to choose it A mixed portfolio, a shared team and human support with optional AI. A support team that values Help Scout’s established email workflow and an integrated Docs-and-Beacon experience. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) Check before buying Free is one person; search, image sharing and analytics start on Light. Branding removal and Orky renaming are Max features. Multiply paid seats, not entire subscriptions, by your team. Count extra inboxes and Docs sites for separate products. Automatic Beacon chat translation is documented on Pro. [Read the source ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) Related to an orca? Very much so. Meet Orky. No orca connection claimed. Our only non-scientific comparison. Need the full Orka checklist? [Explore every feature](/features), including collaboration, visitor context, translation, availability and customization. COUNT PROJECTS, TOO ## Three products. How many subscriptions? The same three people answering for three distinct projects. Base subscription only; AI, usage, taxes and discounts stay separate. ORKA PRO · UNLIMITED PROJECTS €29 / month total 3 people. 3 projects. One subscription. Launch a fourth project: still €29. HELP SCOUT · Standard · 2 inboxes & 2 Docs sites $126 / month base total 3 inboxes + 3 Docs sites · $90.00 team base + $36.00 project add-ons / month One account can contain several inboxes and Docs sites. This estimate allocates one inbox, one Docs site and one Beacon to each project: extra inboxes are $12/month and extra Docs sites $24/month on monthly billing. Sharing them lowers that cost. Standard allows five Beacons; Pro has a ten-user minimum. [How project billing works ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) Updated 18 October 2026. Orka in EUR; competitor in USD. No currency conversion or automatic savings claim. BUILT FOR YOUR NEXT LAUNCH, TOO ## Your ideas multiply. Your inbox doesn’t have to. A tiny SaaS. An app you shipped last weekend. A Shopify store. Orka gives the people behind them one place to answer, with each project’s context still attached. [See how the projects fit together ↗](/live-chat-for-multiple-websites) All projects 3 conversations ◈ My SaaS Can you help me upgrade? ● ▧ My store I’d like to return my cap. ● ⌘ My new app Could I speak to a person? ● One inbox. Unlimited projects. ↗ INSIDE ORKA ## An answer. Before another message. Your published articles are searchable inside the chat widget. The same knowledge can help Orky answer when you enable AI. [Explore the help center ↗](/help-center) GO A LITTLE DEEPER ## The reasoning, in bite-sized chapters. Open the questions that matter to your team. The full analysis is here whenever you want it. 01 ### Look beyond the chat bubble. + Help Scout is especially relevant when email conversations are a substantial part of your work. Its channel documentation connects email, Beacon chat and social conversations to the support inbox. If your team already relies on that process, evaluate the steps around the reply as carefully as the widget on your website. Orka’s emphasis is a shared support home for the same people across several products. An app question, a store question and a documentation request can remain identifiable by project. Neither approach automatically replaces the other. List where requests arrive, how you assign them and how a teammate finds previous context. A migration should improve a specific part of that daily work, not merely produce a cleaner screenshot. [Help Scout support channels ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/blog/help-scout-channels/) 02 ### The per-user rate is only the first part of the calculation. + On monthly billing, Help Scout lists Standard at $30 per user, Plus at $54 and Pro at $90. Pro has a ten-user minimum. Annual billing lowers the displayed equivalents to $25, $45 and $75. Standard includes two inboxes and two Docs sites; the calculator budgets one of each for every distinct project. Three people supporting three projects on Standard therefore cost $90 for users plus $12 for another inbox and $24 for another Docs site: $126/month before AI and other charges. Orka Pro is €29/month for three people and unlimited projects. If you share one inbox or article site across products, your Help Scout total can be lower. That assumption is visible because a fair comparison should not charge you for resources you do not need. [Help Scout pricing and project allowances ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/)[Help Scout billing and plans guide ↗](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/596-billing-and-plans-guide) 03 ### Docs and Beacon are real reasons to stay. + Help Scout’s Docs publishes a searchable knowledge base with branding options. Beacon brings those articles into the website experience, and the knowledge can support AI answers. Help Scout also provides article reports and information about searches that did not find an answer. If your team uses this feedback to improve documentation, include it in the decision. Orka includes its public help center and custom domain from Free, with Markdown, collections, translations and widget search. To compare the maintenance workflow, pick an article with a screenshot and a link to another policy. Change the underlying rule, revise the article and inspect the public result. Then have a teammate who did not write it answer a related question. This exercise tells you more than simply checking whether both tools have a knowledge-base icon. [Help Scout Docs knowledge base ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/knowledge-base/) 04 ### Distinguish writing assistance from automatic answers. + Help Scout offers AI assistance for writing and an AI Answers product billed per resolution. Its explanation of resolution billing excludes conversations where the visitor still needs more help under the documented rules. People can escalate from the automated exchange, and teams can inspect the conversation. Those conditions matter when estimating a month’s usage. Orka can also keep a person in control of a suggested draft or let Orky answer from connected knowledge. A useful evaluation separates those two jobs. First measure whether the draft saves editing time; then test whether an automatic answer handles an exception safely. Review quality and cost together. Paying for a resolved conversation and paying for model tokens are different commercial models, not interchangeable labels for a message. [Help Scout AI capabilities and resolution rules ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/ai-features/) 05 ### Test languages in the actual plan you would buy. + Help Scout documents automatic, two-way Beacon chat translation on Pro. That is stronger evidence than assuming its AI writing tools provide the same experience on every tier. Docs also has AI-assisted editing and translation tools, which should be evaluated separately from translating a live conversation. Orka includes two-way chat translation on Pro and Max and supports a multilingual help center. Try an incoming question in a language your team does not speak, read the original alongside the translated text and send a reply back. Check technical terms, names and links rather than judging only the greeting. If translation is a core requirement, use the price of the plan that includes the required workflow in your final comparison. [Help Scout automatic conversation translations ↗](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/1764-automatic-translations)[Help Scout Docs knowledge base ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/knowledge-base/) 06 ### Start the migration with the public help-center link. + Help Scout is one of Orka’s supported help-center import sources. During account creation or in the Help center tab, provide the public Docs URL. Orka imports the articles automatically. You can then review their organization, check links and prepare the new help center before switching your public entry points. Keep the scope clear: this is an article import, not a claim that inbox history, every workflow or a connected social account migrates automatically. Preserve any history you need, test a handful of real questions and confirm the teammate permissions on the first project. A gradual move lets you compare the day-to-day experience without making the entire support operation depend on a rushed cutover. 07 ### Let the support pattern decide. + Help Scout deserves consideration when its email-oriented collaboration, Docs and Beacon fit the way your team already works. It also offers a free plan, so Orka is not the only route to trying support software without a paid subscription. Compare the limits and feature access you need, rather than treating every free plan as equivalent. Orka is appealing when several independent projects should share a small team and a consistent knowledge workflow. Price the actual number of people, inboxes and article sites, then run one handover between colleagues. Our view is that the most useful choice is the workspace the whole team understands on a busy day. Lower base pricing is valuable when it also leaves you with the channels and routines your customers rely on. [Help Scout pricing and project allowances ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) 08 ### What the Orka subscription actually includes. + Orka Free is €0 for one person. Light is €9/month for two people, Pro is €29/month for three, and Max is €99/month for 12. Additional Max members are €8/month each. Unlimited projects and the help center are included across the plans. Message search, image sharing and analytics are paid-plan features. Max adds removal of Orka branding and a custom name and image for Orky. AI usage is a separate budget; using a provider key does not create an Orka markup. The support toolkit includes live chat, live typing, saved replies, attachments, read receipts and email continuation. Your team can assign conversations, add private notes and mentions, use tags and filters, mark work resolved and set reminders. Visitor tools include a live map, a visitor list, profile information, recent page context, custom attributes and cart context when connected. Availability, reply-time expectations and night, break-day and panic banners explain when a human is around. On Light and above, team chat for two or more people, project permissions, saved replies, conversation search, file sharing, reminders, availability schedules, offline forms and analytics help organize the support day. On Pro and Max, Orky can use your help center, website, uploaded files and business instructions for drafts and automatic replies. Human handoff includes custom keyword triggers, a confidence threshold, team notifications, assignment and the full conversation history. Orky also translates chats and help articles, summarizes conversations and scores urgency. Max adds satisfaction scores, teammate performance reports, the MCP server and higher API rate limits. Widget branding, layout choices and seasonal themes sit alongside mobile apps, installation tools and an SDK. Our linked feature catalogue covers the full toolkit, including help-center publishing and translation maintenance. Features that depend on a plan or connected data are labeled. The comparison table concentrates on the documented differences that are most likely to affect your choice. 09 ### How to read this comparison. + This guide is published by Orka, not an independent review site. This guide was updated on 18 October 2026. Competitor facts are supported by the linked official product pages, documentation and developer-maintained listings; the update date describes this editorial revision, not a claim that every source was published or fully rechecked on that day. Our recommendations and trial ideas are our analysis. Pricing can change, and a negotiated offer or annual commitment may differ from the monthly examples shown here. The comparison table uses documented product and pricing facts, with links to the original sources. Similar names are not treated as equivalent workflows: a typing indicator differs from a preview of unsent text, training knowledge differs from a public article site, and viewing a cart differs from changing an order. The accompanying trial checklist helps you test the tasks that matter to your own team. We compare published capabilities without making claims about certifications, ownership structure or data location that the evidence does not establish. The only deliberately unserious category is the orca connection. For everything else, bring a real support example, use the right plan and check the result. A fair comparison should help you choose well, even when the right choice is not Orka. YOUR BEARINGS, BEFORE YOU DIVE IN ## Orka vs Help Scout. Your questions, answered. Still wondering about something? [Ask a human at Orka ↗](mailto:hello@orka.chat) What do three people and three projects cost on Help Scout? + With monthly Standard and one inbox plus one Docs site per project: 3 × $30 for people + $12 for a third inbox + $24 for a third Docs site = $126/month before AI. Sharing inboxes or Docs sites can reduce that amount. Who should choose Orka over Help Scout? + A small team running several independent products and wanting one predictable project allowance. Orka is especially useful when the same people answer for several different products. Test project filtering, teammate access and a handover between products before deciding. When might Help Scout be the better fit? + A support team that values Help Scout’s established email workflow and an integrated Docs-and-Beacon experience. Established email collaboration and channel integrations. Docs articles inside Beacon and available to AI. A free plan for five users, one inbox and one Docs site. How do Help Scout and Orka handle several websites? + Several inboxes and Docs sites can share an account. Standard includes two of each; monthly extras are $12 per inbox and $24 per Docs site. The calculator assumes one of each per project. Orka includes unlimited projects from Free, with all conversations together or filtered by project. What about the help center? + Docs publishes a branded searchable help center and connects to Beacon and AI knowledge. Paid plans include different numbers of Docs sites. Orka includes its public help center, custom domain, multilingual publishing and widget search on every plan. Can I compare AI cost per conversation? + AI Answers is listed at $0.75 per resolution. Writing assistance and drafts depend on the plan; the resolution budget is separate. Orka bills managed AI by the named model’s input and output tokens at standard API rates ×2, or, on Pro and Max, you can connect your own OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter key with no Orka markup. Our AI pricing calculator provides a planning estimate for ten customer messages and ten AI replies, including repeated context. Actual token use varies with message length and knowledge. Can I move from Help Scout to Orka? + Paste your public Help Scout help-center URL during account creation or in the Help center tab. Orka imports the articles automatically. Review links, formatting and translations, then test one project before switching the widget. Article import is not a promise that conversation history, automations or every integration transfers automatically. How current is this comparison? + Revised 19 October 2026, with pricing references dated 18 October 2026 and linked official pricing, product and project-billing references. Orka publishes this comparison and has a commercial interest in it. If a fact is wrong or a plan changes, please email hello@orka.chat so we can update it. Your question for Orka ↗ Ask Orky · AI answers from our website, with sources. Your question is sent to OpenAI; please leave out personal information. [Privacy](/privacy) [Email your question ↗](mailto:hello@orka.chat) CHECK OUR WORK ## Good comparisons leave a paper trail. Editorial revision: 19 October 2026 . Pricing references: 18 October 2026. Pricing and project-billing references are linked below. Published by Orka, so this is our analysis, not an independent endorsement or a hands-on benchmark. USD prices exclude taxes and use monthly billing unless stated otherwise. Open the official sources + [Help Scout: projects and plan details ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) [Help Scout billing and plans guide ↗](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/596-billing-and-plans-guide) [Help Scout Docs knowledge base ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/knowledge-base/) [Help Scout AI capabilities and resolution rules ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/ai-features/) [Help Scout automatic conversation translations ↗](https://docs.helpscout.com/article/1764-automatic-translations) [Help Scout support channels ↗](https://www.helpscout.com/blog/help-scout-channels/) Spotted a mistake, or something changed? Please email [hello@orka.chat](mailto:hello@orka.chat) so we can correct it. [Read our editorial standards ↗](/resources#editorial-standards) FROM SHORTLIST TO FIRST CONVERSATION ## Ready to try it with your own product? [ 01 / Check the complete budget Compare 1, 3 and 10 projects, with the same team and explicit plan limits. ](/live-chat-pricing)[ 02 / Bring your Help Scout articles Paste the public help-center link during signup or in Help center. Orka imports the articles automatically. ](/migrate-help-scout-help-center-to-orka)[ 03 / Install on one real site Choose your platform, add the widget and send a test conversation before switching the rest. ](/installation) KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN ## Three ways to explore Help Scout. [ The side-by-side ### Orka vs Help Scout Explore ↗ ](/orka-vs-helpscout)[ The shortlist ### Help Scout alternatives Explore ↗ ](/helpscout-alternatives)[ The closer look ### Help Scout review Explore ↗ ](/helpscout-review) YOUR NEXT CONVERSATION STARTS HERE ## Every product you run. One support inbox. Live chat. Shared knowledge. An AI teammate. And a little room for the rest of your life. [Try Orka for free ↗ ](http://dashboard.orka.chat/signup)