# Help Scout API + MCP vs HelpDesk (slim)

> Help Scout scores 56.1 (C) to HelpDesk's 50.3 (D) for support tickets. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/help-scout-vs-helpdesk.md (~2,550 tokens) · this version ~630 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/help-scout-vs-helpdesk.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/help-scout-vs-helpdesk
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

Help Scout API + MCP scores 56.1 (C) on agent readiness against HelpDesk's 50.3 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. HelpDesk leads on schema & documentation, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do support tickets.

- Help Scout API + MCP: C 56.1, rank #638 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/help-scout.min.md
- HelpDesk: D 50.3, rank #774 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/helpdesk.min.md
- Help Scout API + MCP, good for Research, summaries and reporting over a live inbox where nobody wants an agent able to write. Ahead on Reliability, 77 against 60; Agent ergonomics, 58 against 47; Security & auth, 63 against 50.
- HelpDesk, good for A team already on HelpDesk or Text that wants an agent to read queues, draft replies, add private notes and change status over REST. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 63 against 49; Payments & pricing, 35 against 30; Maintenance & community, 39 against 31.

| Category | Help Scout API + MCP | HelpDesk |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 77 | 60 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 49 | 63 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 58 | 47 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 63 | 50 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 30 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 31 | 39 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 66 | 67 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Help Scout API + MCP | HelpDesk |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Help Scout | Text, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.helpscout.net/v2` | `https://api.helpdesk.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under Text's Terms of Use |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-07-28 | none |
| Terms last updated | 2026-06-01 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-27 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |