The short answer
- Zendesk Suite Team costs $55/agent/mo billed yearly, Help Scout Standard $25/agent/mo billed yearly and Intercom Essential $29/agent/mo billed yearly. The table multiplies them out for your team. zendesk.com
- Free plans that fit 3 people: Help Scout's (up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 100 contacts a month). Chatwoot's free cloud plan stops at 2 agents. the math
- If one person answers most of the email, an agent skill that drafts replies passed 12 of 12 test tickets in our test (Stackcut's own test, not a customer). our test
- Think about leaving before you join: Zendesk exports need Support to enable them first, and you need 30 days' notice before the term ends. support.zendesk.com
The economics
List prices per agent from each vendor's pricing page, billed yearly where offered.
Monthly cost for 1, 3 and 5 agents
| Option | List price | 1 agent | 3 agents | 5 agents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk Support Team | $19/agent/mobilled yearly | $19 | $57 | $95 |
| Zendesk Suite Team | $55/agent/mobilled yearly | $55 | $165 | $275 |
| Intercom Essential | $29/agent/mobilled yearly | $29 | $87 | $145 |
| Help Scout Standard | $25/agent/mobilled yearly | $25 | $75 | $125 |
| Front Starter | $25/agent/mobilled yearly | $25 | $75 | $125 |
| Chatwoot Startups (cloud) | $19/agent/mobilling not stated | $19 | $57 | $95 |
| Help Scout Free | $0/agent/mo1 inbox, 100 contacts a month | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Chatwoot Hacker (free cloud) | $0/agent/mofree, 500 conversations a month | $0 | up to 2 users | up to 2 users |
| Agent skill that drafts repliesdrafts only; a person sends | $0/moruns in the agent you already pay for | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Chatwoot community (self-hosted) | $0 licensecommunity and paid editions differ | $0+ your server | $0+ your server | $0+ your server |
Pick by situation
- 1 person answers support email: an agent skill that drafts replies from your own reference files, with a person sending every reply. our test
- 3 people, 1 shared inbox, low volume: Help Scout's free plan, if 100 contacts a month covers you. the math
- Email plus website chat and a help center: Chatwoot Startups at $19/agent/mo. the math
- SLAs, satisfaction surveys and reporting from day one: a full help desk, and plan your exit before you sign. support.zendesk.com
A real workflow: ask your agent
- Ask your agent for the recipe: it returns every path with costs, the checks to run before switching, how to leave Zendesk and Help Scout, and our test notes. recipe
get_recipe({"id": "support-inbox"})Evidence
Stackcut's own tests, not customers.
Help desk seat → an agent skill that drafts support replies
Question. Can a skill folder (SKILL.md plus reference files) draft support replies good enough to send after a quick human check, without a help desk subscription?
Numbers
- 12 test tickets, strict independent grader
- Pass rate by round: 9, 9, 11, 11, 12 of 12
- Longest passing draft: 136 words
- About 6.5 minutes of agent time per test round
Verdict
Good replacement for a low-volume help desk if a person reviews every draft before sending. Budget a few hours to write the reference files and a test set, and re-test after every change.
Good fit when
- Under ~20 tickets a day
- Your answers live in a few pages of facts and policies
- One or two people answer email
Not a fit when
- You need SLAs, ticket assignment, reporting or a shared inbox for a team
- Replies must go out without a person checking them
- You handle regulated data (health, payments) in tickets
Fit
A good fit if
Questions
Can an agent skill replace a help desk for 3 people?
Only for drafting. It has no ticket queue, assignment, SLAs, reporting, live chat or help center, and a person must check and send every reply. Stackcut's own test, not a customer. our test
What goes into a support skill?
How long does testing a skill take?
How do I leave Help Scout later?
Export conversations with the Inbox API and Docs articles with the Docs API, then Your Plan → Delete Account. Access ends as soon as you delete, so export first. docs.helpscout.com
Next steps
Check your own stack
Get your free stack audit
Stackcut finds every software subscription in your inbox and shows what to cancel, what to pay per use, and what AI can replace, with a spec and a cost for each. Your stack audit is free and takes about 2 minutes.
Or ask your agent
Connect the Stackcut MCP server (https://stackcut.io/mcp, no API key) and ask: “We're 3 people and answer about 10 support emails a day. What should we use?”
get_recipe({"id": "support-inbox"})