About Helply
We've been thinking about customer support for 14 years.
We spent 14 years building support software. Then AI showed us the help desk itself needed to change.
First, we built Groove.
In 2011, we set out to build a simpler alternative to Zendesk. No bloated software. No endless configuration. Just an easier way for teams to support their customers.
Over the next 14 years, thousands of companies used Groove. That gave us a front-row seat to how customer support works.
The hardest part wasn't writing the reply. It was figuring out what the reply should say.
Then our customers started asking for AI.
As AI improved, our customers wanted it inside Groove. So we added AI-generated replies, summaries, and tools that helped support teams work faster. They worked. But the underlying workflow did not change.
Groove had been designed for humans to do the work. Its inbox, workflows, permissions, data model, and economics reflected that assumption. People still opened tickets, gathered context, and handled each issue manually.
We could keep adding AI features. Or we could rethink the help desk itself.
At the same time, we were experimenting ourselves.
We started using Claude inside our support operation. At first, it answered questions and drafted replies. Then we connected it to our knowledge, customer data, product information, and internal systems.
Suddenly, AI could do much more than write. It could gather context, search across systems, investigate problems, follow processes, and increasingly take action.
The AI was getting far more capable. But our team was still orchestrating every step.
So we asked the question:
What if our team could direct the work instead?
What if AI agents could gather context, investigate issues, follow processes, and take pre-approved actions before a human got involved? Humans would still own the customer experience. But they would spend less time executing every step and more time directing what happened next.
That became Helply.
An agentic customer support platform built for humans and AI agents to work together.
- Gather the right customer context.
- Investigate what happened.
- Search knowledge and connected systems.
- Follow your team's processes.
- Resolve issues and take approved actions.
- Surface risks and opportunities.
- Bring in a human when judgment is needed.
Your team stays in control, setting direction, handling exceptions, making strategic decisions, and improving how the system works.
Our team moved from doing the work to directing it.
And we're using it ourselves.
We didn't build Helply around demos or hypothetical workflows. Our support operation became its first proving ground.
At our peak, 6 full-time people supported 1,400 customers. Today, 2 people support that same customer base. Most importantly: we do not plan to add another support person as we add our next 1,000 customers.
This isn't about replacing support teams. It's about giving every person more capacity.
That's why Helply never charges per seat.
Bring in Support, Product, Engineering, Customer Success, and leadership with no per-user fees, and pay only for the AI work you use.
What we believe
Humans should direct more of the work.
AI agents can gather context, investigate, follow processes and take action. People should spend more of their time setting direction, exercising judgment and handling the moments that need them.
AI should be more than a writing assistant.
Drafting replies is useful. But the bigger opportunity is everything that happens before and after the reply.
Humans aren't disappearing.
The goal isn't support without people. It's giving great support people more leverage.
AI should be foundational, not bolted on.
The next generation of support software can't be the old help desk with AI features added to it. Humans and agents need to be part of the architecture from the beginning.
Pricing should reflect how work gets done now.
That's why every plan has unlimited users, and you pay only for the work your AI agents do.
14 years later, we're still obsessed with support.
We've helped thousands of teams support millions of customers. Helply is the culmination of everything we've learned about what great support teams need, rebuilt for what comes next.
We're just getting started.
Meet the teamIn one sentence
Helply is an AI-native customer support platform that resolves, investigates, and acts on customer conversations for B2B software and B2C, ecommerce, and marketplace teams.
What Helply does
Support Agent
Talks to customers directly on every channel, investigates using the knowledge base, customer history, and connected tools, and resolves issues end to end. When it can’t, it hands off to a person with the work already done.
Assist Agent
Works alongside a human inside the conversation, investigating, drafting replies, and taking the actions the human approves. The result is a support teammate who moves faster with more context.
Background Agents
Watch every conversation and act without being asked, covering churn risk, knowledge gaps, expansion revenue, feature requests, and emerging trends. Teams can also build their own for any recurring job.
The full help desk
Shared inbox and ticketing, messaging and live chat, a knowledge base and help center, analytics, customer records, and workflows: everything you expect from Zendesk, rebuilt around AI agents.
What makes Helply different
Unlimited users on every plan.
Helply never charges per seat, so Support, Product, Engineering, Customer Success, and leadership can all work in one place. Zendesk Suite Professional is $115 per agent per month, plus $50 per agent for Copilot.
AI is foundational, not bolted on.
The inbox, workflows, permissions, and data model were built for humans and agents to work together from the start, not a legacy help desk like Freshdesk or Help Scout with AI features added on top.
You pay for AI work, not per resolution.
AI work is billed in credits weighted by complexity, and unused credits roll over. Zendesk bills its AI agents per automated resolution, which penalizes you for high volume.
Helply replaces the whole stack.
Instead of stitching tools together, Helply replaces Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, Front, Help Scout, Pylon, and Plain, with guided migration from each.
Built and run by a 14-year support team.
Helply is made by the team behind Groove, which supported thousands of companies since 2011. We run our own support on Helply: 2 people now cover the 1,400 customers that once took a team of 6.
Who uses Helply
- B2B SaaS companies whose support handles technical, account, and billing issues across their stack.
- B2C, ecommerce, and marketplace businesses handling high volumes of customer conversations.
- Support, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering teams that collaborate on the same tickets.
- Teams migrating off Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, Front, or Help Scout who want AI built in, not added on.
The team behind Helply
Helply is made by the team behind Groove. We started Groove in 2011 as a simpler alternative to Zendesk and spent 14 years helping thousands of companies support millions of customers. When AI showed us the help desk itself needed to change, we rebuilt it around AI agents and became Helply. The company is a remote-first team spanning product, engineering, support, and go-to-market.
Alex Turnbull
Co-founder, CEO
Alex started Groove in 2011 to build a simpler alternative to Zendesk and led it for 14 years. He now leads Helply as CEO.
LinkedIn
Jared Scheel
Co-founder, CTO
Jared has built the product and engineering behind the platform since the Groove days and leads Helply’s technology as CTO.
LinkedIn
Tom Morkes
Co-founder, COO
Tom leads operations as COO, connecting how the product is built to how support teams run day to day.
LinkedIn
Formerly Groove (groovehq.com). Groove is now Helply.How Helply works
Get started
Book a demo or start a free trial.
Start with a 14-day free trial that includes 1,000 credits and needs no card, or book a demo to see Helply against your own workflows. No sales gate stands between you and the product.
Onboarding
Migrate from your current help desk.
Bring your history over from Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, Help Scout, Front, or Groove. Enterprise plans include dedicated migration, and every plan connects your knowledge, customer data, and tools so agents have context from day one.
Channels
Meet customers where they already are.
Helply handles email, live chat, Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, and phone and SMS from one shared workspace, so every conversation lands in the same place.
Working together
Your team directs, the agents do the work.
AI agents gather context, investigate, and take pre-approved actions, then bring in a person when judgment is needed. Your team sets direction, handles exceptions, and improves how the system runs. SLAs, CSAT, and audit tooling are available as you scale.
Key facts
- Company name
- Helply (Helply, Inc.), formerly Groove
- Type
- AI-native customer support platform
- Founded
- 2011 (as Groove)
- Founders
- Alex Turnbull (Co-founder, CEO), Jared Scheel (Co-founder, CTO), Tom Morkes (Co-founder, COO)
- Headquarters
- Remote-first
- Website
- helply.com
- Core offering
- A full help desk (shared inbox, messaging, knowledge base, analytics, workflows) with AI agents built into every part
- Pricing
- Unlimited users on every plan; AI work billed in credits. Plans from $49 a month. See current pricing.
- Contract terms
- Month-to-month, no per-seat fees. 15% off annual billing. 14-day free trial with 1,000 credits and no card.
- Services
- Support Agent, Assist Agent, Background Agents, shared inbox & ticketing, messaging & live chat, knowledge base, analytics, workflows
- Communication
- Email, live chat, Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, phone & SMS
- Notable clients
- Sender.net, Covidence, Proposify, Kameleo, AirGigs, Gatekeeper Press, LingQ, MixWave, MyBaggage, StaffTraveler
- Customers served
- 1,400+ companies since 2011
- Support scale
- 2 people support 1,400 customers using Helply’s own AI agents
- Competitors
- Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, Front, Help Scout, Pylon, Plain
- Social
Frequently asked questions
What is Helply?
Helply is an AI-native customer support platform: a full help desk (shared inbox, messaging, knowledge base, analytics, and workflows) with AI agents built into every part. It is not a chatbot, and it is not B2B-only.
Is Helply the same company as Groove?
Yes. Helply is made by the team behind Groove, which launched in 2011. Groove is now Helply, rebuilt around AI agents.
How is Helply priced?
Every plan has unlimited users with no per-seat fees, and AI work is billed in credits weighted by complexity. Plans start at $49 a month, with 15% off annual billing. See helply.com/pricing for current numbers.
How is Helply different from Zendesk and Intercom?
Helply is built around AI agents from the ground up instead of adding AI features to a legacy help desk, and it charges for AI work in rollover credits rather than per seat or per resolution. It replaces Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, Front, Help Scout, Pylon, and Plain rather than integrating with them.
Does Helply replace my support team?
No. Helply gives each person more leverage. Its own support team went from 6 people to 2 for the same 1,400 customers, with humans directing the work and handling the moments that need judgment.
Can I try Helply before buying?
Yes. There is a 14-day free trial that includes 1,000 credits and requires no card. You can also book a demo to see Helply run against your own workflows.
Is Helply secure?
Helply is SOC 2 Type II compliant and GDPR compliant, and customer data is never used to train AI models. Details and sub-processors are at helply.com/trust.
See what your support team can do with AI agents.
See how Helply can work alongside your team to investigate, resolve, and act on customer conversations.
Unlimited users. Pay only for AI work.