# FreeScout vs Help Scout API + MCP (slim)

> Help Scout scores 60.7 (C) to FreeScout's 27.9 (F) for support tickets. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-help-scout.md (~4,600 tokens) · this version ~2,380 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-help-scout.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freescout-vs-help-scout
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Help Scout API + MCP scores 60.7 (C) on agent readiness against FreeScout's 27.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. FreeScout leads on maintenance & community. Both do support tickets.

- FreeScout: F 27.9, rank #1431 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/freescout.min.md
- Help Scout API + MCP: C 60.7, rank #642 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/help-scout.min.md
- FreeScout, good for Small teams that want a free, self-hosted Help Scout alternative and can run PHP. Ahead on Maintenance & community, 70 against 61. Also Open source.
- Help Scout API + MCP, good for Research, summaries and reporting over a live inbox where nobody wants an agent able to write. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 59 against 35; Agent ergonomics, 58 against 50; Security & auth, 63 against 30; Payments & pricing, 30 against 0; Transparency & trust, 75 against 36. Also A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install; No incidents deducted, where FreeScout loses 15 points for them.

| Category | FreeScout | Help Scout API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 73 | 75 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 35 | 59 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 50 | 58 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 30 | 63 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 0 | 30 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 70 | 61 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 36 | 75 |

| Fact (where they differ) | FreeScout | Help Scout API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | FreeScout | Help Scout |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.helpscout.net/v2` |
| Transports |  | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-06-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-05-27 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |

Why the edge:
- Transparency & trust, Help Scout API + MCP +39: FreeScout 36 (AGPL-3.0 core, and the module page says the module is AGPL-3.0 too (30). The software keeps data on the operator's server; the site's privacy policy was not read and no data-handling statement for the API was found (10 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices (0). No telemetry statement or opt-out found (5 of 20, since self-hosted data stays with the operator). 30 + 10 + 0 + 5 = 45.); Help Scout API + MCP 75 (Closed service with published terms, effective June 2026 (15). Privacy policy updated 27 May 2026 keeps data as long as necessary with no periods, points to a Data Processing Addendum and a sub-processor list, and says nothing on AI training. The MCP article states that retrieved data falls under the AI provider's terms and that HIPAA customers need a separate BAA with that provider (16, per the 1 October check). The backward-compatibility page says breaking changes get a new version prefix, and the changelog dates its notices, such as the web attachment link marked deprecated on 29 January 2026 with removal set for 31 May and removed on 10 June, and V2 webhook payloads deprecated on 20 May. No notice period is stated, so this sits below a written deprecation policy with notice periods (15). Sub-processor list published and processing in the US on AWS (16).)
- Security & auth, Help Scout API + MCP +33: FreeScout 30 (A global API key and personal keys that act with a user's permissions, sent in a header or Basic auth, with no scopes. The docs list an `api_key` query parameter as a way to authenticate, so 10 off (20 less 10, 10). Personal keys follow user roles, with no read-only key and no confirmation step for deletes (5 of 20). Conversations carry customer email, the security policy notes that external images in received email load by default, and no prompt-injection guidance was found (0). No API audit log found (0). SECURITY.md routes core reports through GitHub security advisories, CVEs are requested after fixes, and advisories are published, with no bug bounty or certification (15 of 20). 10 + 5 + 0 + 0 + 15 = 30.); Help Scout API + MCP 63 (Inbox API uses OAuth 2.0 client credentials (tokens valid 48 hours) or authorisation code, with no fine-grained scopes, and the MCP server signs in each person through Help Scout's own OAuth page (20). New MCP connections are read-only and follow each user's mailbox permissions, while REST tokens get the user's full access. There's no account-wide switch to turn MCP off (15). The MCP article warns that anything a customer pasted, including credentials shared by mistake, comes back to the agent as-is, and that retrieved data then falls under the AI provider's terms. That's guidance, not a mitigation (8). Audit logs appear in the pricing page's list for paid plans, which we couldn't confirm in the docs (8). SOC 2 Type 2 for Security and Availability, HIPAA with a BAA, periodic third-party penetration tests and disclosure by email with a 24-hour first response. No security.txt and no bug bounty found (12).)
- Payments & pricing, Help Scout API + MCP +30: FreeScout 0 (Self-hosted rule, with pricing scored on the paid module the API needs. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The module's price is drawn by the store's script and could not be read, so it scores as not found (0). The core is free, but no free route to the API exists (0). A person buys the module in a browser and installs it (0). 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0.); Help Scout API + MCP 30 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices public ($25, $45 and $75 a user a month, 16 per cent off yearly) and AI Answers at $0.75 a resolution, nothing per API call (10). 15-day trial of Standard or Plus with no card, and a Free plan without API access (20). A person signs up, creates an app in My Apps or signs in through OAuth (0).)
- Schema & documentation, Help Scout API + MCP +24: FreeScout 35 (No OpenAPI, Postman collection or other machine-readable contract found (0). No llms.txt (404) or Markdown docs (0). Each endpoint has a short description and parameter notes such as what `imported` and `embed` do (10 of 20). Parameters are marked required or optional with types, and few enums (8 of 15). curl, JavaScript and PHP examples for each endpoint, and a status-code table with an `errorCode` and `errors` body (12 of 15). Module versions and core releases are tagged, with no dated API changelog (5 of 15). 0 + 0 + 10 + 8 + 12 + 5 = 35.); Help Scout API + MCP 59 (No OpenAPI file, and the MCP tool schemas need a sign-in to read (0). developer.helpscout.com/llms.txt serves the API docs as Markdown for agents (10). The Inbox API reference describes each endpoint (12). Fields and types documented per endpoint (10). An errors section and request and response examples (12). The API is versioned (v2, with v3 list and search endpoints since 23 September 2026) under a backward-compatibility page, and the developer changelog at developer.helpscout.com/mailbox-api/changelog/ has dated entries from 2025 to 29 October 2026 (15).)
- Maintenance & community, FreeScout +9: FreeScout 70 (Core v1.8.249 tagged on 31 October 2026 (30). Twelve tags from 30 August to 31 October (20). Issue responsiveness was not read because the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (10 of 25, unchecked). No official SDK, and no MCP server from the project (0). CI with tests on MySQL and PostgreSQL, and a Laravel dependency advisory taken on 31 October (10). 30 + 20 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 70.); Help Scout API + MCP 61 (The developer changelog's latest entry is dated 29 October 2026, 6 days before this check (30). Six dated entries since 6 August, on 24 August, 23 September, 5, 15, 20 and 29 October (20). Support answers through the product, no public tracker (6, partly met, kept). One official SDK, for PHP, last tagged 3.10.3 on 15 June 2026 (5, partly met, kept). No package to assess (0).)
- Agent ergonomics, Help Scout API + MCP +8: FreeScout 50 (Responses can be sized with `embed` (threads, timelogs, tags) and `pageSize` (12 of 25). Page and pageSize paging, with conversation filters by mailbox, folder, status, state, type, assignee, customer email and phone (16 of 20). Errors return a status code, an `errorCode` and a list of messages, with each code explained (14 of 20). The docs say a timed-out call is safe to retry; no idempotency keys for creates (3 of 20). No official SDK; few required parameters on most calls (5 of 15). 12 + 16 + 14 + 3 + 5 = 50.); Help Scout API + MCP 58 (The MCP tool list isn't published (the help article lists 15 or more across conversations, customers, inboxes, users, workflows, reports and Docs). REST responses embed resources and page through links (12). Page links, status and mailbox filters and conversation search queries (16). Documented error responses (14). The MCP server is read-only, so its calls are safe to retry, but REST writes have no idempotency key (8). One official SDK, for PHP, plus a Laravel adapter (8).)