An email-first alternative to HelpCrunch.
HelpCrunch puts live chat and email in one widget, and that is a real strength. Solves takes a different bet: if your support actually lives in email, you want owned tickets, private notes, SLAs and multi-brand more than a chat box. This page is an honest comparison, including where HelpCrunch is the better choice.
Email-first by design. Solves does not do live chat, social or phone.
The short answer
Two tools, two different jobs
HelpCrunch is a chat-first customer communication tool: a website widget that brings live chat, email and a small knowledge base together so you can catch visitors in the moment. Solves is an email-first support desk: it turns your shared inboxes into owned, timed, multi-brand tickets, and it leaves chat alone on purpose.
That is the whole decision in one line. If the heart of your support is a chat bubble on your website, HelpCrunch is built for that and you should weigh it on its own terms. If the heart of your support is a busy support@ address, or several of them across brands, then a chat-led tool asks you to pay for and manage a channel you may not really use, while the email side is rarely the star of the show.
Solves goes the other way. Email is the product, not a tab. Every message becomes a ticket with an owner, a state, a priority and an audit trail; replies and private notes are kept strictly apart; first-response and resolution SLA timers surface a breaching view of overdue tickets; and one queue can carry several brands at once. We would rather do that one job properly than be a thinner version of an everything-widget.
Why teams pick Solves
What you get when email is the point
Owned email tickets
Shared inbox messages become tickets with a single clear owner, a state and a priority, so nothing is half-answered by two people or quietly dropped.
Notes kept off the wire
Public replies and private notes are hard-separated, with a stale-reply guard and a wrong-brand check, so an internal aside can never reach the customer.
SLA timers
First-response and resolution timers, with per-brand targets and a breaching view that surfaces overdue tickets, so targets stay honest.
Multi-brand in one queue
Run several brands with their own mailboxes and signatures from one login, with brand-locked sending so a reply always goes out as the right brand.
Saved replies
Reusable replies scoped to a brand or the whole organisation, so the right wording and tone reach the right customers without retyping.
Private by design
Customer content is encrypted at rest with per-organisation keys, access is authorised-only, and logs hold metadata, never message bodies or addresses.
Pricing, plainly
Per-agent versus GBP team bands
HelpCrunch prices by agent. According to third-party pricing trackers checked on 13 June 2026, entry sits around USD 12 to 15 per agent each month and rises to roughly USD 43 on higher editions, with a 14-day trial as the usual way in and no forever-free plan. Those figures are lower confidence because they come from aggregators rather than a single official table, so re-check the HelpCrunch pricing page on the day you decide.
Solves prices by team band in GBP, ex VAT. There is a Starter at GBP 29 for three users, one brand, one mailbox and 1,000 tickets a month, which is paid rather than being free forever. Paid plans are Starter at GBP 29, Team at GBP 79, Growth at GBP 149 and Agency or MSP at GBP 299 a month, and annual billing is priced as twelve months for ten.
The practical difference is the helper problem. With per-agent pricing, the colleague who picks up overflow on a busy Monday can cost a full seat. With team bands, you size the plan to the team and let occasional helpers help without a per-seat penalty. The first twenty pilot customers also get Team at GBP 49 for six months, then GBP 79, with setup help and guided mailbox setup.
Honest comparison
Solves and HelpCrunch, side by side
Where each tool is the better fit. Solves is email-first; HelpCrunch is chat-first. We do not claim feature parity, and we do not claim Solves wins for everyone.
| Solves | HelpCrunch | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary channel | Email-first support desk | Chat-first: live chat plus email in one widget |
| Live chat widget | Not offered, by design | Yes, this is a core strength |
| Forever-free plan | Paid Starter at GBP 29 | No forever-free; 14-day trial |
| Pricing model | GBP team bands, ex VAT | Per agent, around USD 12 to 15 entry (lower confidence) |
| Multi-brand in one queue | Yes, with brand-locked sending | Varies; weigh against your own needs |
| SLA timers | First-response and resolution targets, per-brand, with a breaching view | Varies; check current plan |
Competitor facts last verified 13 June 2026. Re-check the vendor's current plans before deciding.
HelpCrunch pricing figures are from third-party trackers and are lower confidence; re-verify on the HelpCrunch pricing page before deciding. Solves is email-first and does not provide live chat, social or phone.
When HelpCrunch is the better choice
If a live chat widget on your website is central to how you support customers, with chat and email side by side in one bubble, HelpCrunch is built for that and is the more sensible pick. Solves does not do live chat, so it cannot and will not pretend to replace that part. Choose Solves when email is where your support really happens.
Switching
Moving from HelpCrunch to email-first
Getting started on Solves does not need a big migration project. The shipped path is guided, forwarding-first mailbox setup: you point a support address at Solves, follow the plain-English checks, and start handling email as owned tickets straight away. Moving off a chat-led tool back onto clean email workflows is a switch we can make smooth.
Be clear-eyed about history, though. A full automated import of past HelpCrunch conversations is not a live feature today. For pilot customers we help with assisted migration by hand rather than promising a one-click transfer, so plan the move as a fresh, well-organised start on email that we guide you through, not an instant copy of everything that came before.
What stays honest about Solves
We keep the security wording tight on purpose. Customer support content is encrypted at rest with per-organisation keys, access is authorised-only, and logs carry metadata rather than message bodies or addresses. Solves is built for UK SMEs and targets WCAG 2.2 AA. We do not claim certifications, uptime numbers or zero-knowledge guarantees we have not earned, and several bigger items such as automations, a customer portal and CSV export are on the roadmap rather than shipped.
FAQ
HelpCrunch alternative questions
Is Solves a like-for-like HelpCrunch replacement?
Not exactly, and that matters. HelpCrunch is chat-first: its strength is a website widget that puts live chat and email together in one place. Solves is email-first. It turns shared support addresses into owned tickets with assignment, private notes, SLAs and multi-brand, and it does not run live chat, social or phone. If live chat is central to how you support customers, HelpCrunch fits that job better. If email is where your support actually happens, Solves is built for exactly that.
Does HelpCrunch have a free plan?
No. Based on third-party pricing trackers checked on 13 June 2026, HelpCrunch has no forever-free plan; the standard way in is a 14-day free trial, with paid editions billed per agent. Solves has a Starter at GBP 29 for three users, one brand, one mailbox and 1,000 tickets a month, but we are honest that it is paid rather than free forever.
How much does HelpCrunch cost compared with Solves?
HelpCrunch is agent-based, with an entry point around USD 12 to 15 per agent each month rising to roughly USD 43 on higher editions, though these figures come from third-party trackers and are lower confidence, so re-check the HelpCrunch pricing page before you decide. Solves uses GBP team bands rather than per-agent pricing: Starter at GBP 29, Starter at GBP 29, Team at GBP 79, Growth at GBP 149 and Agency or MSP at GBP 299 a month, all ex VAT, with annual billing priced as twelve months for ten.
Can Solves do live chat like HelpCrunch?
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Solves does not offer live chat, social inboxes or phone. It is deliberately email-first, so a small team can run support across several brands from one queue without juggling channels. If a chat widget on your website is a must-have, HelpCrunch or another chat-first tool is the honest recommendation.
Can I move from HelpCrunch to Solves today?
You can sign up and start handling email straight away by pointing a support address at Solves with our guided, forwarding-first mailbox setup, which is shipped and works now. A full automated import of historic HelpCrunch conversations is not a live feature yet; assisted migration is something we help pilot customers with by hand. So treat the move as a fresh start on email that we will guide, not a one-click transfer.
See if email-first suits your team
Start at £29 in minutes, or let us walk you through brands and mailbox setup.