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Helply
Helply is an AI support agent designed to resolve customer service tickets end-to-end rather than just deflecting them. It distinguishes itself in the crowded AI support market with a specific performance guarantee: it promises to achieve a minimum 65% AI resolution rate within 90 days, or the customer pays nothing. It functions as an overlay to existing help desks, executing actions and syncing data while a dedicated engineer helps optimize the system.
Core Features
- 65% Resolution Guarantee: A contractually backed promise that the AI will fully resolve (not just deflect) at least 65% of tickets within 90 days, or the service is free.
- Gap Finder: A proprietary tool that analyzes ticket transcripts to identify missing information in your documentation and generates a prioritized list of articles to write.
- Dedicated AI Support Engineer: Every account is assigned a human engineer who works 1-on-1 with the team to tune prompts, actions, and workflows to hit the resolution target.
- Action Automation: The agent can authenticate users and perform backend tasks—such as issuing refunds, updating subscriptions, or checking order status—integrated via API.
- Helpdesk Sync: Deep 2-way integration with platforms like Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout, Front, and Groove to ensure ticket status and tags are always updated.
- Safe Escalations: When the AI cannot resolve an issue with high confidence, it hands off to a human agent with a full summary, transcript, and citations, ensuring no context is lost.
How It Works
Helply connects to a company’s existing helpdesk and ingests historical tickets and public knowledge bases (FAQs, Help Center). When a new ticket arrives, the AI determines the intent. If it is a known issue, the AI drafts a response or performs an action (e.g., “Reset Password”). If the documentation is insufficient, the Gap Finder flags this specific topic, prompting the dedicated engineer and the customer to update the knowledge base. This creates a feedback loop where the AI rapidly “learns” from its own failures to increase its resolution rate week over week.
Use Cases
- Tier 1 Support Automation: Handling repetitive queries like “Where is my order?” or “How do I update my billing info?” without human involvement.
- Knowledge Base Optimization: Using the Gap Finder to audit support docs and discover what customers are asking that isn’t currently documented.
- E-commerce Operations: Automating returns, exchange eligibility checks, and shipping status lookups via API integrations.
- SaaS Account Management: allowing users to self-serve on seat provisioning, plan upgrades, or invoice requests through the chat interface.
Pros & Cons
- Pros: Risk-Free Guarantee aligns incentives (vendor only gets paid if it works); Dedicated Human Engineer removes the burden of “prompt engineering” from the customer support team; Gap Finder provides actionable insights for content teams; Transparent Citations build trust by showing exactly which help article was used.
- Cons: Credit-Based Pricing (message credits) can be harder to predict than “per resolution” pricing; Integration Depth varies by helpdesk (Zendesk/Freshdesk are deeper than others); Minimum Volume required to make the machine learning effective (typically 500+ tickets/mo); Newer Platform compared to established giants like Intercom.
Pricing
- Starter: ~$300-$500/month (Includes ~500 message credits).
- Growth: ~$1,000-$1,500/month (Includes ~12,000 message credits).
- Scale: ~$2,500-$3,500/month (Includes ~40,000 message credits).
- Guarantee: If the 65% resolution rate is not met in 90 days, the service fees are waived/refunded (subject to terms).
How Does It Compare?
Helply competes in the “AI Agent” layer that sits on top of traditional helpdesks.
- Intercom (Fin)
Intercom’s native AI “Fin” charges per successful resolution ($0.99/ticket). Helply charges based on message credits and tiers but offers the 65% outcome guarantee. Fin is easier to turn on if you already use Intercom, but Helply offers more “white-glove” setup support for complex workflows across different helpdesks. - Zendesk AI
Zendesk’s native AI features are powerful but often require upgrading to expensive “Advanced AI” tiers. Helply works with Zendesk but can often achieve higher automation rates for specific “action-based” tasks (like refunds) faster than configuring Zendesk’s native flows manually. Decagon
Decagon is a major enterprise competitor focusing on “generative agents” that handle complex enterprise workflows. Decagon targets large-scale enterprise (TaskRabbit, Eventbrite), while Helply is more aggressive in the mid-market with its “pay nothing if we fail” performance guarantee.Sierra
Sierra (co-founded by Bret Taylor) is the high-end “Agent OS” for large brands. It focuses on being a voice and chat platform that prevents hallucinations. Helply is a more accessible alternative for SaaS companies that want similar “agentic” capabilities without an enterprise-grade procurement process.
Final Thoughts
Helply addresses the biggest fear companies have about AI support: “What if I pay for it and it doesn’t work?” By anchoring their entire business model on the 65% resolution guarantee, they de-risk the adoption process significantly. It is an excellent choice for mid-sized support teams (500-50,000 tickets/month) who want to automate without hiring a dedicated AI Ops manager, as Helply effectively bundles the software with the human service of optimizing it.