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Help Scout vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Help Scout

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/AHelp Scout is help desk software. The vendor’s value proposition is that that their solution reduces time spent on training users because Help Scout is simple to use and set up and scales like any enterprise product. This solution includes multiple mailboxes to support as many email addresses as needed in order to work collaboratively across teams, and manage several products or brands from one account. Reports on conversation trends, team performance, productivity, and customer happiness are…

    $30

    per month starts with 100 contacts

    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds Web Help Desk is ticketing and IT asset management software. It is designed to simplify help desk management. This solution includes built-in ticketing management, asset management, change management, and knowledge base capabilities.

    $533

    per year per user

    Pricing
    Help ScoutSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Editions & Modules
    Standard
    $30
    per month starts with 100 contacts
    Plus
    $90
    per month starts with 200 contacts
    Company
    Contact sales team
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Help ScoutSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsSolarWinds also offers Perpetual licensing starting at $1129 per technician.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Help ScoutSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Considered Both Products
    Help Scout
    No answer on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    88%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    88%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    75%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    Help ScoutSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Incident and problem management
    Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Help Scout and SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Feature
    Help Scout
    8.8
    19 Ratings
    9% above category average
    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    9.8
    19 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Organize and prioritize service tickets9.019 Ratings9.819 Ratings
    Subscription-based notifications10.010 Ratings9.817 Ratings
    Ticket creation and submission8.118 Ratings9.99 Ratings
    Ticket response8.119 Ratings9.99 Ratings
    Expert directory00 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
    Self Help Community
    Comparison of Self Help Community features of Help Scout and SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Feature
    Help Scout
    8.5
    17 Ratings
    8% above category average
    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    9.4
    8 Ratings
    18% above category average
    External knowledge base9.016 Ratings9.46 Ratings
    Internal knowledge base8.015 Ratings9.48 Ratings
    Multi-Channel Help
    Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Help Scout and SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Feature
    Help Scout
    8.0
    19 Ratings
    3% above category average
    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    9.4
    9 Ratings
    19% above category average
    Email support8.019 Ratings9.99 Ratings
    Help Desk CRM integration8.011 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Customer portal00 Ratings9.78 Ratings
    Social integration00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    User Ratings
    Help ScoutSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.1
    (19 ratings)
    8.5
    (19 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Help ScoutSolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Help Scout
    Small businesses that want a conversational type of customer support experience. Nothing wrong with support tickets, but it does make you feel like a number. Also, we needed to get up and running quickly so the "inbox" feel of the dashboard was already familiar with the team so they could adopt the new software quickly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    SolarWinds WHD is well suited if you have a limited budget, as it costs less than many help desk software packages that are more full featured and modern in their design. It is not well suited to an environment where you want to manage inventory, users, purchases and tickets all in one package. It has an asset feature that we don't use but that looks quite limited. We track our assets and users separately from this.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Help Scout
    • Extremely simple to use and understand as a user - treats communications like human beings and provides a much more personal feel to communication (as opposed to making people feel like numbers).
    • The email newsletter.
    • They are super responsive. They are pretty rad and transparent: if something goes wrong on their end they are not afraid of admitting fault. Which leads me to trust them because I can believe them. I know that tells you very little about the product, but as leadership, that's something that I really need
    • Help Scout does exactly what it needs to (facilitate organized, efficient conversations between customers and support people) without getting in the way.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Customized reporting allows us to track our service and support better, and find where we need improvements. This allows us to constantly upgrade our service levels and keep the customers happy.
    • Detailed tracking and response to the end users have led to quicker remediation of tickets. We are able to see where we need a better response or where to add additional resources for support.
    • Overall metrics allow us to staff properly for our tickets by location and remote users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Help Scout
    • Trying to group tickets is a bit unflexible. You can create folders which can be part of a workflow (automatic trigger) but you can't create a folder based on tags. This needs to be improved because there's a need to create smarter segments and mix them.
    • Metrics are useful but there needs to be more details about them. You can drill down in some but others are still not very actionable or visible (ok, that number went down, but what was the cause? what's the criteria with what you measure that?)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Because of AD integration, users sometimes try logging in with their email address and not AD credentials. The user then calls stating they can't put a ticket in, it would be nice if there was a method of matching the AD Email field with a login.
    • Setting up new techs with the building they are responsible for can be a little messy
    • I would like to see the UI updated. It looks old, even in the latest releases.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Help Scout
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    We are definitely going to be sticking with Web Help Desk for the foreseeable future since the product is very inexpensive for the features that it provides, the integration that it has with our existing systems, and the ease for managing users, assets, locations, and tickets. Web Help Desk is a great product that is backed by even better support, which is well worth looking into if you are considering moving to a new ticketing system.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Help Scout
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    It's not cloud based so users have to be on the network to submit a ticket. It doesn't plug into Google or Microsoft Azure so all inventory has to be manually entered. It seems like solar winds is allowing the product to slow fall into obsolescence
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Help Scout
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Help Scout
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    Take the time to roll out a test VM to configure and make changes to before doing a live deployment, this way you don't end up with a VM that has been tweaked and re-tweaked until it's perfect and instead end up with a final, polished product. I would also recommend taking the time to read through the support forums for figuring out minor issues that may pop up, chances are that you aren't going to be the first one to encounter them. When all is said and done, SolarWinds Support is VERY responsive and you shouldn't hesitate to contact them.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Help Scout
    Only have minimal experience with G-Suite for a much smaller company. This worked well for that organization but did not have similar specialization functions that suite our larger organization very well. Help Scout's pricing makes sense, and continues to service our needs well. Minimal usage of other programs, but have no need to explore alternatives at this time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Web Help Desk is definitely lacking in the UI/UX department compared to most other ticketing systems I have used int he past. It's very utilitarian; however, what it lacks in UI it makes up for in extensibility and customization. The main issue that the developers need to address is the use of a Web Objects back-end.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Help Scout
    • We are able to retain our customer base due to the outstanding customer service our Customer Experience department provides. Without an organized tool like Help Scout, this would not be possible. We pride ourselves in quick response times to customers and are able to do so by effectively routing tickets to the right agents.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Amazing impact on our Organization, we are much more organized since we implemented SolarWinds Web Help Desk
    • The ROI is in the statistics! The application cost pennies to run compared to what the product will do for your organization.
    • I challenge you to find a better product for the price!
    • Our documentation has improved since we implemented SolarWinds Web Help Desk
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Help Scout Screenshots

    Screenshot of Build better relationships with your customers, and work together better as a teamScreenshot of Tools designed specifically for team collaboration on customer supportScreenshot of Docs Knowledge Base provides self-service that sets your customers up for successScreenshot of The conversation report can change the conversation with your customers from problems to praise by pinpointing what they write in about and when.Screenshot of Productivity Reports track your team's customer-helping velocity and identify sticking points to push through with even greater momentum.Screenshot of Happiness Reports are the closest you can get to your customer's true feelings without hiring a telepath.

    SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot