AI Resolutions for $0.49, Not $0.75
Help Scout charges $0.75 every time AI Answers resolves a conversation, with none included once the trial ends. Docent Messenger answers from your docs and hands off to your team for $0.49 a resolution, with resolutions included in every plan.
30-day free trial · no credit card · price calculator
$0.49 Per Resolution
Help Scout's AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution, with none included after its 3-month free trial.
Resolutions Included Monthly
250 / 1,000 a month by plan, every month, before you pay anything per resolution.
AI Drafting on Every Plan
Draft with AI writes replies from your docs. Help Scout's AI Drafts start on Plus, at $45 per user.
Pay Less for Every Answer
Both products bill the AI only when it resolves a conversation. Docent charges less for each one and includes a monthly allowance.
$0.49 Instead of $0.75
Docent charges $0.49 for each conversation the AI resolves beyond your plan's allowance, and every plan includes resolutions each month: 250 / 1,000 a month.
Help Scout's AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution on every plan. New accounts get three months free, and after that every resolution is billed. You can set a monthly spending cap, after which AI Answers turns off until the next cycle.
Docent
- ✓ $0.49 per AI resolution beyond your allowance
- ✓ 250 / 1,000 a month resolutions included
- ✓ Unresolved conversations and handoffs never billed
- ✓ Plans from $79 a month with 2 editors included
Help Scout
- ✗ $0.75 per AI Answers resolution
- ✗ None included after the 3-month trial
- ✓ Monthly spending cap you can set
- ~ Users from $25 a month (Standard)
AI Drafting on Every Plan
On Help Scout, AI Drafts start on the Plus plan. AI Assist, which can translate what you write, is on every paid plan.
Draft With AI and Automatic Translation
Draft with AI writes a reply from your docs, with sources, for your teammate to edit and send — on every plan.
Translation is automatic in both directions: Docent detects each customer's language, shows your team every message in its own language and translates replies back before they're sent.
Docent
- ✓ Draft with AI on every plan
- ✓ Customer language detected automatically
- ✓ Incoming messages and replies translated for you
- ✓ Proactive messages in the visitor's language
Help Scout
- ~ AI Drafts on Plus ($45 per user) and Pro
- ✓ AI Assist on every paid plan, including translation
- ~ Translation through AI Assist when you write
Your Help Center, Built for AI Search
Your chat is only as good as the docs behind it. Docent is a full documentation platform — the same articles that power your chat are structured for ChatGPT, Claude and Google.
One Source of Truth for Your Chat and AI Search
Every article is published with a Markdown version, llms.txt, structured data and an MCP server, so AI assistants read and cite the same answers your chat gives.
Write in a block editor or Markdown with working copies and version history, or import from WordPress, HubSpot, HelpDocs or HTML.
AI Answers and a Live Inbox
Like Help Scout's Beacon, Docent puts a chat and your help articles on your website, and hands conversations to your team. Docent answers only from your published articles, links to its sources and says so when it doesn't know.
Your team watches answers stream in and can take over at any moment. Handoffs arrive with an AI summary, the page the visitor is on and who they are.
Your monthly bill, side by side
A Founder Answering Chats
- Docent Starter
- $103.50
- Help Scout
- $250
A Small Support Team
- Docent Growth
- $249
- Help Scout
- $825
A Larger Support Team
- Docent Growth
- $2,404
- Help Scout
- $4,000
List prices, per month, assuming the AI resolves about 60% of its conversations. Help Scout: Standard users at $25 and every AI Answers resolution at $0.75, after its 3-month free trial; without the Plus plan that AI Drafts need. Docent: the cheaper of Starter ($79 with 2 editors and 250 resolutions) and Growth ($249 with 5 editors and 1,000 resolutions) for the team size, with $39 per additional editor and resolutions beyond the allowance at $0.49. Try your own numbers →
Docent and Help Scout, feature by feature
Including where Help Scout does more. Checked against Help Scout's published pricing and help pages on October 20, 2026.
| Docent | Help Scout | |
|---|---|---|
| AI agent pricing | ✓ $0.49 per resolution | ✗ $0.75 per resolution |
| AI resolutions included | ✓ 250 / 1,000 a month | ⚠ None after a 3-month free trial |
| Plan price | ✓ From $79 a month with 2 editors and 250 AI resolutions | ✓ From $25 a user a month (Standard) |
| Each additional team member | ⚠ $39 a month per editor beyond the 2 included | ✓ $25 per user (Standard) |
| Free plan | ✗ 30-day free trial instead | ✓ 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site |
| Free trial | ✓ 30 days, no card | ⚠ 15 days, no card |
| AI reply drafting | ✓ Built in | ⚠ AI Drafts on Plus and up |
| Conversation translation | ✓ Automatic, both ways | ⚠ AI Assist translation when you write |
| Knowledge base | ✓ Unlimited projects on every plan | ⚠ Docs: 2 sites on Standard, $20 per extra site |
| Live inbox with AI takeover | ✓ Yes | ✓ Shared inbox |
| Email help desk | ✗ Not available | ✓ Shared email inboxes |
| Integrations | ⚠ Slack, DailyStory, REST actions | ✓ Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot on Plus |
When Help Scout is the better choice
We'd rather you pick the right tool. Help Scout does more if:
- Most of your support happens by email, in shared inboxes
- You want a free plan for a small team
- You need HIPAA compliance (Help Scout Pro)
- You rely on Help Scout's Salesforce, Jira or HubSpot integrations
- You have a big team and few AI conversations: at $25 a seat, Help Scout can cost less than our platform price and $39 per additional editor
Docent vs Help Scout: common questions
Is Docent cheaper than Help Scout?
For AI answers, yes. Docent charges $0.49 per AI resolution beyond your plan's monthly allowance; Help Scout charges $0.75 per AI Answers resolution, with none included after its 3-month free trial. Docent plans start at $79 a month with 2 editors included, plus $39 per additional editor; Help Scout Standard is $25 a user, so a large team with few AI conversations can pay less there.
How do the two count a resolution?
Much the same way: both bill only conversations the AI resolves without a person, once per conversation. Docent counts one when the customer says it helped, or doesn't need anything more and doesn't ask for a person within 24 hours.
Does Docent have a free plan like Help Scout?
No. Docent has a 30-day free trial with no credit card, and plans start at $79 a month with 2 editors and AI resolutions included. Help Scout's free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site.
Does Docent handle email support like Help Scout?
Not as a help desk. Docent Messenger is a website chat, and your team's replies reach customers who have left by email. If most of your support happens in shared email inboxes, Help Scout is the better fit today.
How long is the free trial?
30 days, with no credit card. Help Scout's trial is 15 days on Standard and Plus.
Help Scout details are from its public pricing and help pages, checked on October 20, 2026: Help Scout pricing.Prices and features change, so check their site for the latest. Help Scout and Beacon are trademarks of their respective owners. Docent isn't affiliated with or endorsed by them. All comparisons →
Ready to Pay Less for Every AI Answer?
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