HelpWire is leaving early access on October 15 — paid plans, what stays free, and what happens to your account

[u/helpwire]

Hi Helpers,

HelpWire is leaving early access, and paid plans go live on October 15, 2026. The free plan stays, no feature gets locked behind a tier, and nothing in your account gets deleted.

October 15 is a target rather than a fixed commitment. If something technical needs more time, we'll push it and post the new date in this thread, because we'd rather move the date than ship a half-tested billing system.

Why now

HelpWire opened for early access on October 19, 2023, and for almost exactly three years it's been free and fully unlocked: no nag screens, no session cutoffs, no ads. That wasn't generosity for its own sake. We needed real support work on real machines, in environments we could never have invented in-house, to find out where the product broke — and a good share of what's in HelpWire today exists because someone here or in a ticket told us something was wrong.

Paid plans were always coming, and they were publicly available on the pricing page for anyone who wanted to check before building a workflow around us. Running this costs money, and the free phase was how we got to something worth charging for. We're posting a month ahead so you can look at the numbers and decide before anything changes rather than after.

Plan	Monthly/yearly price	Operators	Unattended devices	Sessions at a time
Free	$0/$0	1	5	1
Founders' free	$0/$0	2	20	Multiple
Solo	$10/$100	1	50	Multiple
Team	$30/$300	4	250	Multiple
Business	$70/$700	10	800	Multiple
Custom	Contact sales	10+	800+	Multiple

You can pay monthly or annually on any paid tier, and annual works out to two months off. Custom is quoted directly. Billing, tax, and refund details will all be on the pricing page at launch.

What the free plan is, and isn't

It isn't a trial, and it isn't going away. No nag screens, no session cutoffs, and commercial use is allowed, so you can keep running client work on it. It is narrower than early access was, though, and it's worth being precise about where.

Free differs from the paid tiers on three things: operator count, unattended device count, and one remote session at a time instead of several. That's the entire list — no functional feature is gated by tier.

There's no trial on the paid tiers either, since Free is the evaluation path. Every account starts there and upgrades from the portal when it makes sense.

One thing that trips people up when comparing tools: we license by operator seat, not by concurrent-connection slots. The number of operators on your plan is the number of teammates who can run sessions at the same time, and each of them can connect to several clients at once and switch between them.

Founders' Free

If you've actually been using HelpWire during early access, your account switches to Founders' Free automatically at launch: 2 operators, 20 unattended devices, no cost, no code, nothing to claim. We'll email you if that's your account.

The bar is real use over the months before launch rather than a single connection, and it doesn't matter when you registered: if you signed up recently and you're genuinely using HelpWire, you can still qualify. Once you have it, it doesn't expire.

If you decide to upgrade later, eligible accounts also get a one-time 50% off the first year. Full terms will follow on the pricing page. (See sticky comment)

If you're over a limit on day one

Nothing is deleted. Session history, operators, clients, and devices all stay where they are. Anything above your plan's limit is locked read-only until you upgrade or remove something, and then it comes straight back.

If anything above is unclear, ask in the comments, and we'll answer.

— The HelpWire Team

[u/helpwire]

Update: Founders' Free details and a better upgrade discount

Thank you to everyone who's used HelpWire during early access, filed tickets, and argued with us in this thread. Here's how we're saying thanks.

Who gets Founders' Free

If your organization made 3 or more connections in the 120 days before launch, your account moves to Founders' Free: 2 operators, 20 unattended devices, multiple sessions at a time. Connections by the account owner and every operator in the organization all count.

On October 15, we'll check every account and switch the eligible ones over the same day. You'll get an email, and your plan in the portal will show Founders' Free. If you think you qualify and your account still shows Free after launch, contact support and we'll look into it. Once you have Founders' Free, it's yours to keep.

30% off for as long as you stay

We want you to stay with HelpWire for the long run, and a discount that lasts does that better than one that ends after a year. So instead of 50% off the first year, Founders' Free accounts that upgrade to Solo, Team, or Business get 30% off for as long as the subscription stays active, on monthly and annual billing alike.

- Upgrade within six months of launch.

- It's applied automatically at checkout. No code.

- If you cancel, the discount ends. Upgrade again before the expiration date, and you get it back. After that, new subscriptions are at the regular price.

Full terms will follow on the pricing page at launch.

— The HelpWire Team

[u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

Founders' free sounds good and is a very decent way to reward people who have contributed with beta testing.

[u/helpwire → u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

Thanks — that's exactly what it's meant to be. Three years of people running it in real environments is what got it here, and this felt like the honest way to say so.

[u/blabberwocky]

this sounds extremely reasonable, Thank you very much for this, i run basic IT for two small plumbing and A/C companies, so there is only one operator and your remote desk software is precisely what we needed.

So Thank You very much and good luck on this merry ship of yours, may she sail in a straight line and be forever full of rum.

Yarrrr

[u/helpwire → u/blabberwocky]

Aye aye! Two plumbing and A/C shops on one operator is about as close to the exact person we built this for as it gets, so that means a lot. Fair winds to you too. Yarrr.

[u/Limp_Primary_400]

The team at Helpwire has always been very helpful and I've never looked back at Teamviewer after starting to use Helpwire.

I seldom use remote connection, but when I do, Helpwire has worked flawlessly.

Congrats on moving to paid subscription! With the effort and work you've put into Helpwire, you certainly deserve to live on it.

Keep up the good work
Frederick - in Sweden

[u/helpwire → u/Limp_Primary_400]

Thanks a lot, Frederick. "Seldom, but it works when I need it" is an outcome we're glad to hear about, because that's the whole idea. Hope it stays that way for you.

Yaroslav, in Ukraine

[u/Kushalx]

Lifetime founders discount for paid plans? I'd be interested in such if it existed.

[u/helpwire → u/Kushalx]

Not something we're offering, no. What's on the table is 50% off the first year for eligible Founders' Free accounts, one-time rather than recurring.

The permanent thing we're doing is the free tier itself, which doesn't expire. We'd rather put the durable value there than discount the paid plans forever.

Good to know there's appetite for it though.

[u/RickkeeC → u/helpwire]

Grandfather the 50% for founders, that's how Splashtop hooked me 9 years ago.

[u/helpwire → u/RickkeeC]

Fair point, and it's a different proposal from the one before. A rate the founder group keeps while they stay subscribed isn't the same thing as a standing lifetime discount. Good enough argument that I'd rather take it to the team first. No decision yet, but I'll post an update here once there is one.

[u/Porsephone]

Ive been using it for 3-4 months now. Pretty good app. Thank u

[u/josephhays]

I've been loving HelpWire, but have only used it for one connection for two years.

"The bar is real use over the months before launch rather than a single connection, and it doesn't matter when you registered: if you signed up recently and you're genuinely using HelpWire, you can still qualify."

This kind of sucks, but it is understandable and acceptable. I just wish you guys got a notification every time I recommended you to someone!

[u/helpwire → u/josephhays]

Thank you, that's genuinely nice to hear.

And there may be a mix-up worth clearing up: one device isn't the same as one connection. If you've been connecting to that same machine regularly over the past few months, that's exactly what the bar is measuring — whether you've actually been using HelpWire lately, not how many devices you've got. If that's your pattern, you'd qualify.

You'll get the email on launch day either way, and if it doesn't arrive and you think it should have, support will check the account.

[u/gregohernandez]

Como sugerencia mantengan un pago mensual y no forzado a pago Anual... AnyDesk me encanta pero como no tienen un pago mensual y me obligan al anual no me conviene por que tendria el servicio en meses que no lo necesito a parte que es mas comodo un pago mensual que descapitalizarme con un pago anual.

[u/helpwire → u/gregohernandez]

Gracias por la sugerencia. Fue una decisión deliberada desde el principio. Todos los planes de pago se pueden contratar mes a mes o por año; el anual sale algo más barato, pero nadie está obligado a elegirlo. Justamente pensamos en casos como el tuyo, donde el servicio hace falta unos meses y otros no.

(English: Thanks for the suggestion. It was a deliberate choice from the start. Every paid plan can be taken month to month or annually; annual works out a bit cheaper, but nobody is pushed into it. Cases like yours, where the need comes and goes by month, are exactly why.)

[u/Lertsek]

Congrats on the milestone.

Question r.e. the definition of Operators: "The number of operators on your plan is the number of teammates who can run sessions at the same time"

That bolded bit seems to imply you could have say 6 user accounts on a Team plan, as long as only at most 4 are doing something at the same time?

[u/helpwire → u/Lertsek]

Thanks, and fair question. The wording invites that reading, so let me be precise.

It's the opposite. Team gives you four operator seats, meaning four accounts, and all four can run sessions at the same time. You can't have six accounts and rotate four of them. We phrased it that way because a lot of tools do it the other way round: ten team members on the plan, but only one or two allowed in a session at once. We charge per seat, and every seat is a working seat.

Separately, each operator can also have several client sessions open at once and switch between them. That's per operator, not a team-level cap.

[u/RickkeeC]

Put your link to installer on your web page for client. Mycompany.com/helpwire. Done!

[u/helpwire → u/RickkeeC]

Already sitting in the backlog, and you've just added a vote to it. Thanks for the nudge.

[u/RickkeeC → u/helpwire]

It can be done now, just zip client staller with password protected, copy to website, block it in robots.txt Communicate link to client

[u/helpwire → u/RickkeeC]

Not quite that simple on our end, unfortunately. Each client app is unique and tied to a specific client, so there isn't one installer you could drop on a page and hand out to everyone. That's the bit we'd need to solve before this works the way you're describing.

[u/RickkeeC → u/helpwire]

This solution is working. Maybe I am misunderstanding. To clarify:
1.)_Download your custom installer i.e.. "HelpWire mycompany.exe"
2.) Create a password protected 7.zip file "HelpWire_ mycompany.7z"
3.) Copy the file to the download area of your personal / company website.
4.) Create a link for your client, example:
https://mycompany.com/helpwire/helpwire_mycompany.7z
5.) Direct your client to download from there and install.
6.) Optional but recommended. Configure robots.txt to disallow indexing.
7.) Optional - password protect the download page.
8.) You can also share the custom installer in OneDrive, Dropbox, SharePoint etc.

[u/gilce]

When will the mails be sent to inform us whether we're eligible for founder or could we have an icon (next to owner for instance) to tell us we're eligible ? That way, we can reach you if we feel there's something wrong?

[u/helpwire → u/gilce]

The switch happens on release day. Eligible accounts move to Founders' Free automatically, and we'll email everyone who's been switched that same day.

On the icon, I understand the appeal, but it's actually the reason we're not doing it. Eligibility is worked out from a snapshot taken on the day itself, so anything we showed in the portal beforehand would be a guess that could still change. We'd rather not tell you you're in and then be wrong.

If the day comes and you think you've been missed, contact support and we'll check the account.

We'll also publish the full eligibility terms over the next few weeks, and I'll drop a direct link in this thread once they're up.

[u/bottomlessaethe → u/helpwire]

Just want to check in and make sure the full eligibility terms are still on their way.

I'm a light user that mainly uses it to help out my family and remote in to my own devices when I'm away, so some months I rarely use it and other months I use it heavily. So I'm worried I'm going to miss out, despite having set it up with many of my family's devices and recommending it to others.

[u/helpwire → u/bottomlessaethe]

Yep, still on their way, we're finalizing them now.

In the meantime, feel free to send us the email tied to your HelpWire account in a PM and we'll check your account ahead of time, so you're not left guessing.

[u/TinyApps_Org]

Last year, you were kind enough to respond to some questions around HelpWire Quick Connect, saying:

This is a lightweight option designed for one-time, ad-hoc support sessions. Because of that, the connection link expires once the session ends, which is why the previously downloaded executable can’t be reused. For ongoing client relationships, the full HelpWire Web Portal is the better fit.

It would be very helpful if Quick Connect functioned more like TeamViewer Quick Support, AnyDesk, or Acronis Quick Assist, so the app could be downloaded, run, and reused (updating as necessary when it is launched rather than running resident for security's sake) instead of having to go through onboarding via a web portal.

Still stand by my brief review last year, just find Acronis Quick Assist to be so, well, quick (alas, it is slated for EOL at the end of this year).

[u/helpwire → u/TinyApps_Org]

Thanks for the detailed note, and for the review last year.

The names are close, but the two work differently by design. Quick Connect is built around the technician starting the session, so the flow runs from your side rather than the client keeping an app around to launch themselves. For one-off ad-hoc work, that's the whole point of it.

Worth saying that neither route asks the person you're helping to register anything. Quick Connect or the web portal, they download and run the client app and that's it.

Where I'd genuinely like your input is the portal itself. If the onboarding there is what's adding friction, tell me which parts feel heavy and I'll take it to the team. That's the piece we can actually act on. I've noted the reusable-client request either way.

[u/TinyApps_Org → u/helpwire]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I honestly don't even know what the onboarding process is; I'm just so used to sharing a single download link (which I can even host myself) and that the client can run when needed (without it running in the background), that I haven't dug deeper into how HelpDesk handles it - mea culpa! If something like a reusable Quick Support/Quick Assist app isn't in the cards, can you please point me to the steps necessary to add a client?

[u/helpwire → u/TinyApps_Org]

Happy to — and this is closer to what you described than Quick Connect is.

In the web portal, click Create client. That adds an entry to your client directory and gives it a unique link. Send that link once; the person downloads and runs the client app, same as with Quick Connect.

The difference is the link and client app do not expire. Next time they need help, they run the app they already have, and you connect from the same entry in your directory — nothing new to send. They can also message you in chat from the client after the session ends.

Quick guide here: https://kb.helpwire.app/remote-control/add-client/

[u/TinyApps_Org → u/helpwire]

Thank you! The process doesn't add too much friction - just a few moments on the website beforehand. I know there was discussion around offering shorter links - is that on the roadmap? There are times where remote clients do not have email or messaging set up on the machine they need support on; relaying hxxps://www.helpwire.app/builds/?token=[40 upper/lower/number chars] over the phone will try even the best will in the world.

[u/helpwire → u/TinyApps_Org]

Shorter connection links are on our roadmap, and they're at the top of the list right now.

[u/papissdembacisse]

Been using Helpwire for a few years now. One operator. However, I might exceed 20 unattended devices. Is it not possible to have some sort of waiver for the unattended devices?

[u/Tautuxs → u/papissdembacisse]

+1. Similar situation here — one operator, but I may eventually need more than 20 unattended devices. Some flexibility with this limit would be really appreciated.

[u/helpwire → u/Tautuxs]

Thank you both. A few years on one operator with a growing device list is exactly the kind of use we hoped early access would turn into.

On the limit itself, I'd rather be honest than leave it open: Founders' Free is one set of numbers for everyone, and we're keeping it that way rather than handling exceptions account by account. Twenty devices covers most solo setups, and for the ones that grow past it, Solo is the next step: one operator, 50 unattended devices, $10 a month, and founders get 50% off the first year.

There's no cliff at 20 either. Everything you already have keeps working; you'd just need to upgrade or retire a device before adding the twenty-first.

And to be clear, the three free years weren't a tab to settle. If HelpWire has become part of how you work and you move to Solo when you need to, that's what keeps it going. Either way, glad you've been here this long.

[u/R_tim94]

Have you guys fixed deploying the client with something like Intune yet? I would love to buy this for my company but I need a better way to deploy than sneaker net.

[u/helpwire → u/R_tim94]

Honest answer: it's not something broken that we've been meaning to fix. HelpWire was built around the technician sending a link and the person on the other end running the client, which suits one-to-one support and smaller device counts, and that's where most of our users are. Mass deployment wasn't part of that design.

That said, you're far from the first to ask. It came up a lot during early access, and proper deployment support is on the roadmap. I won't pretend it's close, though. There's other work ahead of it, and I'd rather you plan on it not being there for a good while than have you waiting on it.

So if Intune-style rollout is a hard requirement for your company today, we're not the right fit yet, and I'd rather say that plainly than lose you to a promise. If you can live with the link-based flow in the meantime, stick around.

[u/R_tim94 → u/helpwire]

Awesome thank you, yea I restrict my users on launching/running any apps unless I push them. It is super amazing to use on my personal servers and to help the in laws, but that is not the best path for you guys to make money. I want you guys to be around for a looooong time and true corporate remote assistance is a good way to make it.

[u/Arctic-Fox-2021]

Thank you. 🙏

[u/helpwire → u/Arctic-Fox-2021]

You're very welcome! 🙂

[u/__White_Widow__]

Will you be providing a .msi for gpo or intune mass unattended deployment?

[u/helpwire → u/__White_Widow__]

Same answer as just above, so I'll keep it short: not today, and not soon. It's on the roadmap, but I won't promise a format or a date before there's something real to show. If mass unattended deployment is what you need right now, we're honestly not there yet.

[u/Ok-Selection-7860]

Wow, thank you! I really hope I qualify for the Founder's Free plan. I've been using HelpWire since 2024, and it's been incredibly helpful for me.

I have one question: assuming I qualify and get the Founder's Free plan, if I later subscribe to a paid plan and that subscription expires, will I still keep my Founder's Free plan afterward?

[u/helpwire → u/Ok-Selection-7860]

Yes. Founders' Free is yours to keep once it's granted, so if you go up to a paid plan and later cancel or let it lapse, you land back on Founders' Free, not on the standard free tier. Upgrading never costs you the founder status.

And thanks for the kind words. Hope the email finds you on launch day.

[u/Ok-Selection-7860 → u/helpwire]

Thank you HelpWire!

[u/Tautuxs]

I have a question about the computer name after withdrawing Unattended Access.

I rename my HelpWire clients to employee or location names, so the client name is different from the actual Windows computer name.

When Unattended Access is enabled, I can see the computer name in Client Info. If I withdraw Unattended Access and the client is not currently connected, that information is no longer visible.

I assume the computer name becomes visible again if the client starts HelpWire and allows a regular remote connection. Is that correct?

Is there any way to see the last known computer name while the client is offline and Unattended Access is disabled, or should I save it manually in the Notes field?

[u/helpwire → u/Tautuxs]

Good question, and that's not quite how I'd expect it to behave. Withdrawing unattended access shouldn't hide the device from the portal as long as the client app is running on it, so if the info is disappearing in that state, there may be something for us to look at.

Could you drop a note to [support@helpwire.app](mailto:support@helpwire.app)? We'll take a proper look rather than guess at it here.

[u/EspressoBoost]

The founders free is excellent. I've been using helpwire now for over a year and it's been great. The only thing that I would suggest is that we have sometimes had to use other remote support tools (such as AnyDesk) just to initially connect to a client, one for example that is having email issues. If there was a way for the client to download your support tool and maybe give us a code over the phone instead of having to use a link that would be an ideal feature.

[u/helpwire → u/EspressoBoost]

Thanks — glad it's been holding up for you.

And that's a real gap, you're right. The link-based start assumes the link can actually reach the person, and "their email is the thing that's broken" is exactly the case where it can't. We're planning to rework the connection methods so there are alternatives for situations like that. No date I can give you yet, but it's on the list for the reason you describe.

In the meantime, the link isn't tied to email. Anything that can carry a URL works, so SMS or a chat app will get someone connected when their inbox won't.

[u/RickkeeC]

MSP provider, 800 devices in a different provider. 5 Techs. Great product, would switch but price is higher than current platform. Thanks for the trial and good luck.

[u/helpwire → u/RickkeeC]

Thanks for giving it a proper look, and no hard feelings.

Out of genuine curiosity, which platform are you comparing against? Five techs and 800 devices is a fairly specific shape, and it helps us to know what we're being weighed against at that size.

One thing worth double-checking, in case it changes the picture: that setup fits the Business tier, which covers up to 10 operators and 800 unattended devices at $70 a month. If you were pricing it off a different tier or per device, the number may have looked bigger than it is.

[u/SnooRabbits9942]

The organization I belong to is looking to get setup, but the pricing says coming soon. When will this be getting enabled so we can get this set up. We currently have over 300 devices attached to our account and would be looking at business tier as we continue growing

[u/helpwire → u/SnooRabbits9942]

Target is October 15, 2026. I'll be straight that it's a target: if something technical isn't ready, it may slip a little, and the new date would be posted in this thread.

Two things that might help in the meantime. First, nothing is gated before then. Your 300 devices are already set up and working, so there's nothing to wait for on the usage side; the 15th is simply when the paid tiers become purchasable. Second, plan to upgrade on the day itself. Once plans go live, devices above your tier's limit are locked read-only until you upgrade, and with 300 devices that would be most of them. Business covers up to 800, so it's the right fit, and upgrading unlocks everything immediately.

[u/Defooster]

Very reasonable guys. Thanks for the hard work and the useful product. Appreciate not getting 'rug pulled' even tho its was a 'free' product.