Help Desk Software · reliability comparison
Freshdesk vs Help Scout: which is more reliable? (2026)
Help Scout is more reliable than Freshdesk, scoring 89.2 vs 61.8 out of 100. Over the last 90 days Freshdesk reported 19 incidents and Help Scout reported 6, with effective uptime of 99.42% and 99.91% respectively. Help Scout resolves incidents faster on average (2h).
Data updated Nov 1, 2026 · How we score
| Metric | Freshdesk | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Reliability score | 61.8 | 89.2 |
| Rank (help desk platforms) | #11 | #7 |
| Uptime (90 days) | 99.42% | 99.91% |
| Incidents (90 days) | 19 | 6 |
| Partial / major outages | 1 | 0 |
| Avg time to resolve | 4h 22m | 2h |
| Outages we detected | 0 | 0 |
| Transparency score | 100/100 | 100/100 |
Where Freshdesk and Help Scout differ
- Freshdesk reported 3.2× as many incidents as Help Scout over the last 90 days (19 vs 6).
- Freshdesk had 1 partial or major outage, compared with 0 for Help Scout.
- Help Scout fixes problems faster: 2h on average, against 4h 22m for Freshdesk (2.2× quicker).
- Freshdesk's longest outage on record lasted 3d (Mar 2, 2026); Help Scout's lasted 6h 44m (Jul 14, 2026).
90-day uptime
Freshdesk
Help Scout
- No incidents
- Degraded
- Partial outage
- Major outage
- No data
Recent Freshdesk incidents
- Degraded performanceOct 30, 2026 · resolved in 10m
- Degraded performanceOct 28, 2026 · resolved in 1h 2m
- Degraded performanceOct 23, 2026 · resolved in 3h 10m
- Degraded performanceOct 19, 2026 · resolved in 1h 6m
- Degraded performanceOct 16, 2026 · resolved in 3h 18m
- Degraded performanceOct 15, 2026 · resolved in 2h 51m
Recent Help Scout incidents
- Degraded performanceSep 22, 2026 · resolved in 36m
Mailbox counts, folders, reports, search results
Affected: Mailbox counts, folders, reports, search results
- Degraded performanceAug 31, 2026 · resolved in 3h 57m
Affected: Mailbox counts, folders, reports, search results
- Degraded performanceAug 18, 2026 · resolved in 3h 12m
Affected: AI Drafts, AI Answers, AI Summarize, AI Assist
- Degraded performanceAug 14, 2026 · resolved in 1h 18m
Affected: Beacon
- Degraded performanceAug 13, 2026 · resolved in 1h 42m
Affected: Web App
- Degraded performanceAug 6, 2026 · resolved in 1h 13m
Affected: Mailbox counts, folders, reports, search results
Other help desk platforms to consider
- Hiver · #1 · 99.99% uptime
- HubSpot Service Hub · #2 · 100% uptime
- Kustomer · #3 · 99.99% uptime
- Tidio · #4 · 99.98% uptime