Optlo: the Help Scout alternative
Both give you a shared inbox and an AI agent. Optlo puts the AI on your own provider account, at your prices.
Last updated July 2026
Help Scout is a polished help desk built around a shared inbox, a knowledge base (Docs), and the Beacon chat widget. Its AI Answers agent resolves customer questions autonomously, and AI Assist and AI Drafts help your team reply faster.
Help Scout charges per seat, and its AI Answers agent is billed per resolution. Optlo runs on your own AI provider account (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google Gemini), so you pay for tokens directly with no markup and no per-resolution fee, and you see what each conversation costs.
If you want a per-seat help desk with Docs and omnichannel support, Help Scout is a great choice. If you want to own your AI and its cost, and shape the agent's prompt and workflow, Optlo is built for that.
Choose Optlo if…
You want to own your AI, pay providers directly with no per-resolution AI markup, choose your models, and shape the prompt and workflow.
Try Optlo freeStick with Help Scout if…
You want a per-seat shared-inbox help desk with Docs and omnichannel support across chat, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and prefer AI managed for you.
Optlo vs Help Scout at a glance
| Feature | Optlo | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Bring your own AI key (pay your provider directly) | OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini | AI is managed |
| No markup / no per-resolution AI billing | Yes | $0.75 per AI resolution |
| Predictable cost at high volume | Plan + your AI at cost | Per seat + per resolution |
| Choose from multiple AI models | Yes | One managed model |
| Edit the system prompt | Full control | Config + knowledge |
| Custom conversation workflows | Yes | Workflows & automations |
| Shared inbox & human handoff | Yes | Yes |
| Trained on your content (site, docs, help center) | Yes | Yes |
| Support channels | Email & web | Adds chat, Messenger, IG, WhatsApp |
| Free plan | 7-day trial | Free up to 5 users |
| Starting price | From $16/mo, billed annually | From $25/user/mo |
Help Scout pricing and features were read from Help Scout's pricing page in July 2026 and may have changed since. Check the current terms there before you decide.
01Pricing model
Per-resolution AI on top of per-seat pricing
Help Scout bills per user, from $25/user/mo on Standard. AI Assist and AI Drafts are included, but AI Answers, the autonomous agent, is an add-on at $0.75 per resolution. Both costs climb as your team and volume grow, and the underlying model cost is baked in rather than shown.
Optlo separates those costs. You pay an Optlo plan from $16/mo billed annually, and your AI provider bills you directly for the tokens used. There's no per-resolution markup, and you can watch usage in your provider dashboard and tune it. At volume this usually lands well below per-resolution pricing.
9.7×more expensive on Help Scout, $573 more every month at the same volume
- Plus seats$114
- AI Answers resolutions$525
- Optlo Growth plan$49
- Your AI tokens, at cost$17
How this is calculated
1,000 conversations a month, 70% resolved by AI, 3 seats, billed annually, with OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini on your own key.
Estimate only. Help Scout figures use public list prices; Optlo's AI line is your provider's token cost, not a markup.
Run your own numbers02Model choice
AI Answers runs one model. Optlo runs eleven.
Help Scout's AI runs on a model it manages for you. Simple questions and hard ones get the same model, and new releases reach you when Help Scout adopts them.
17 modelsfrom OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, running on your key rather than Help Scout's
With Optlo the key is yours, so the model is your call and you can vary it step by step: cheap and quick for triage, stronger for the questions that earn it. When a better model lands at OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google, you switch without waiting on a vendor.
03Control
Configuring AI Answers vs authoring the prompt
Help Scout lets you configure AI Answers with your content and settings, and build workflows and automations. That handles most cases, though you configure within what Help Scout exposes rather than authoring the prompt yourself.
Optlo gives you the same head start without the ceiling. Presets get you running, then the system prompt is yours to rewrite and every workflow step (the questions, the lookups, the handoff) is yours to reorder.
04Trade-offs
Where Help Scout is the stronger choice
Help Scout is a well-rounded help desk. If you want a polished shared inbox, a strong Docs knowledge base, and omnichannel support across email, chat, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp with a familiar per-seat model, it's an excellent fit. Optlo covers email and web with a shared inbox and human handoff. It competes on what the AI costs and who owns it, not on being the fuller help desk.
Optlo is stronger at
- Owning the AI account and paying providers at cost
- Predictable cost as conversation volume grows
- Choosing and mixing models per workflow step
- Editing the system prompt and every workflow step
Help Scout is stronger at
- A polished shared inbox
- A strong Docs knowledge base
- Omnichannel across email, chat, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp
- A familiar per-seat model with AI Assist included
05Switching
Switching from Help Scout to Optlo
Your Docs site carries over, and it's the same content AI Answers uses today, so the first step reuses work you've already done.
Point Optlo at your Docs site
Optlo crawls your public Docs knowledge base and site, following your sitemap, so the same articles behind AI Answers train your Optlo agent. Add notes for the answers that only live in saved replies.
Connect your AI provider key
Create a key in OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google, paste it in, and pick your model. The AI bill moves onto your provider account, so deflection stops costing $0.75 a resolution and starts costing tokens.
Rebuild deflection as a workflow
Start from a preset, then set what the agent answers on its own, when it asks a clarifying question, and when it hands to a person. Your Help Scout workflows and automations describe most of this already.
Move web and email over
Optlo installs as a script tag, so it can sit on a staging site next to Beacon while you compare answers. When it holds up, point web chat and support email at Optlo and work the shared inbox there.
What doesn't come across: Help Scout conversation history, saved replies, and the Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp channels stay where they are. Optlo covers email and web chat.
Start a free trialFrequently asked questions
Is Optlo cheaper than Help Scout?
It depends on your team size and volume. Help Scout charges per seat plus $0.75 per AI resolution, which adds up. Optlo's plan plus paying your provider directly is often cheaper at volume. Work out what you would pay at your volume.
Can I bring my own OpenAI or Anthropic key to Help Scout?
No. Help Scout manages the AI behind AI Answers, AI Assist, and AI Drafts. Optlo is built around bringing your own provider key, so you pay OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini directly with no markup.
Is Help Scout a full help desk?
Yes. Help Scout is a shared-inbox help desk with Docs and omnichannel support. Optlo is lighter, focused on an AI agent across email and web with a shared inbox and human handoff, and on owning your AI.
Does Optlo have a shared inbox and knowledge base?
Yes. Optlo includes a shared inbox, human handoff, and a knowledge base your agent trains on. The main difference from Help Scout is AI ownership and pricing.
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