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Hobson vs Help Scout: AI drafting for Shopify stores

Help Scout is a simple, well-liked shared inbox with a free plan for up to 5 users and a Docs knowledge base. Its AI agent costs $0.75 per resolution.

Hobson is built for Shopify stores, with order actions proposed by the AI and approved with the reply, and auto-send earned per category, for a flat price with unlimited seats.

Choose Help Scout for a free or simple inbox with public docs. Choose Hobson if you want a draft on every conversation with no per-user or per-resolution fees.

14-day free trial. Hobson starts in shadow mode, so nothing reaches your customers until you choose. Hobson is opening to new stores soon, so for now you join the waitlist.

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Updated 11 October 2026. Competitor prices checked on each vendor’s own site.

At a glance

FeatureHobsonHelp Scout
Pricing modelFlat monthly plans by conversations, every feature on every planPer user, plus $0.75 for each AI resolution
Starting price£59 a month for 300 conversations (£590 a year billed annually)Free for up to 5 users. Standard $25, Plus $45 and Pro $75 per user a month, billed annually
AI feeNone. Drafting and auto-send are included in the plan$0.75 per resolution by Envoy, Help Scout’s AI agent, with an optional spending cap
Over the limitNo overage charges. At the limit Hobson stops drafting new conversations until you upgrade or the next period startsAn optional spending cap on AI resolutions
SeatsUnlimited seats on every planCharged per user, with a free plan for up to 5
AI draftingA draft on every conversation, includedAI Drafts included on Plus and Pro

Prices as listed on each vendor’s own pricing page, checked on the dates under Sources. Prices exclude VAT.

What it costs in practice

Three example stores on monthly billing at list prices. Each competitor figure counts its seats and its fee for each conversation its AI resolves, on the plan shown. Drafting add-ons are left out, which favours the competitors. US dollar prices are converted at £1 = $1.33. Hobson’s AI drafting pauses at your plan limit, and you’re never billed overage.

Small store

300 conversations, 2 agents, 30% (90) resolved by AI

Hobson Starter
£59
Help Scout Standard
≈ £88.35
  • 2 users × $25US$50
  • 90 AI resolutions × $0.75US$67.50
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Growing store

1,000 conversations, 3 agents, 40% (400) resolved by AI

Hobson Growth
£179
Help Scout Standard
≈ £282
  • 3 users × $25US$75
  • 400 AI resolutions × $0.75US$300
Change the numbers

Busy store

3,000 conversations, 8 agents, 50% (1,500) resolved by AI

Hobson Scale
£399
Help Scout Standard
≈ £996
  • 8 users × $25US$200
  • 1,500 AI resolutions × $0.75US$1,125
Change the numbers

How the AI works

Hobson drafts every conversation and a person approves it. It recommends auto-send for a category, such as order status or returns, once it has at least 20 reviewed outcomes, a 95% confidence lower bound of 70% or more acceptable, and facts changed in no more than 10% of replies. Policy categories like refunds stay locked until your policy is in the knowledge base. Every auto-send waits a minute so you can undo it, and a category goes back to asking first if corrections rise.

Help Scout charges for its AI by usage, so the bill rises as it does more. Hobson’s price stays the same.

Where Help Scout is better

  • A free plan for up to 5 users.
  • Docs, a public knowledge base. Hobson has no help centre.
  • A simple, long-established shared inbox.
  • An optional spending cap on AI resolutions.

Where Hobson is better

  • Shopify order actions (refund, cancel, address change, replacement, discount code) proposed by the AI with the draft and approved in one step.
  • Triage built for ecommerce questions like order status, returns and damaged items.
  • Auto-send earned per category on measured accuracy.
  • No per-user or per-resolution fees.

Switching

Connect Gmail in two clicks or forward your support email, and Hobson starts in shadow mode: it drafts every reply and sends nothing until you choose. Your history in Help Scout stays where it is.

Questions

One customer’s thread on any channel, however many messages go back and forth. Imported history and spam don’t count.

Hobson tells the owner at 80% and 100% of the plan’s conversations. At the limit it stops drafting replies to new conversations until you upgrade or the next period starts. Messages still arrive and your team can still reply. There are no overage charges.

Yes. Hobson can propose a refund, cancellation, address change, replacement order or discount code with its reply. Nothing runs until a person approves it, and agents have a money limit above which an owner or admin must approve.

No. Hobson has no public help centre or self-service portal. Your documents and policies are used as knowledge for drafting.

Attachments and raw inbound email are stored in AWS in Ireland (eu-west-1). Conversation text is stored in our database on Neon. AI drafting uses providers in the US under standard contractual clauses. OAuth tokens and API keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, each with its own key, wrapped by a master key held outside the database.

Sources

  1. Help Scout pricing, checked 14 November 2026

Prices are list prices excluding VAT, voice, SMS and add-ons unless shown, and can change at any time. Check the vendor’s own page before you decide. Help Scout is a trade mark of its owner. Hobson is not affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@hobson.support and we’ll correct it.

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