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Helpwise Zapier integrationAutomate Helpwise with Zapier.

The Helpwise Zapier integration gives you 15 triggers and 8 actions, with no search step. Every trigger is checked on a timer, so this page tells you how long a Zap waits, what each run costs and which shared-inbox moves are worth automating first.

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Overview

What the Helpwise Zapier integration actually does

Helpwise is a shared inbox for support teams: email, SMS, WhatsApp and Facebook messages land in one place. Connecting it to Zapier lets a Helpwise event start an automation, or lets another tool write into Helpwise, without anyone copying a message, a contact or a tag by hand.

Three results come up again and again. An escalation that does not depend on someone watching the clock: SLA Breach or Near SLA Breach starts the Zap, and Assign Conversation or Add Note makes the problem visible to the right person. A contact base that fills itself: a signup or a form elsewhere feeds Create Contact, so the agent who opens the next ticket already knows who is writing. Outbound messages sent from the inbox your customers already reply to: Send an Email, Send SMS Message and Send WhatsApp Message go out through a Helpwise mailbox or number rather than someone's personal tool.

Now the limits. Every one of the 15 triggers is a polling trigger: none of them reacts the second something happens, and on the free plan a Zap can wait up to 15 minutes before it moves. There is no search step either, so a Zap cannot look up an existing Helpwise contact or conversation before acting. Several actions also ask for a mailbox id or a thread id, which has to come from an earlier step. If those gaps matter for your use case, the Helpwise Make integration page is the place to compare, and the Make vs Zapier comparison covers the platforms side by side.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Eight words carry the whole page. Each one is defined here once, then used as is.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap, such as a new email reaching a Helpwise mailbox. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does once it has started: the step that writes, sends or moves something for you, like tagging a thread.
Task
The unit Zapier bills. One task is one action that your Zap completed successfully; your plan is a count of those.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer: it asks Helpwise for recent items at a fixed interval and keeps only what it has not seen yet.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself, the moment the event happens. Helpwise has none on Zapier, which is why waiting times matter here.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when what arrived meets a condition you set, and stops it quietly otherwise.
Multi-step Zap
Any Zap beyond one trigger and one action. A second action or a filter makes one, and it then needs a paid plan.
Cost

What a Helpwise Zap really costs

Zapier bills tasks, and only actions that succeed become tasks. Watching Helpwise is free, however often Zapier checks.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps
  • Free plan stepsOne trigger and one action
  • Helpwise on the free planYes, it is not a premium app
  • Trigger checksNever billed

The trigger never costs anything, and an action that fails is not counted. Each successful action counts on its own, so a Zap that assigns a conversation and then adds a note spends two tasks per run. Helpwise is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan, but that plan stops at two steps: one trigger, one action. A filter or a second action makes the Zap multi-step, which needs a paid plan. A few apps and actions use more than one task per run.

Connect

Connect your Helpwise account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

    In your Zapier account, go to Apps and click + Add connection. A connection is your Helpwise account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every step that needs it.

  2. 02

    Pick Helpwise

    Type Helpwise in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. A new tab opens on the Helpwise side for you to sign in with the account the Zaps should act for.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Allow Zapier to access the account. You need a Helpwise account, plus read or write rights on any mailbox you do not own yourself but want a Zap to read from or post into.

First Zap

Your first Helpwise Zap: escalate a breached SLA

GoalWhen a conversation breaks its SLA, hand it to a person and leave a note explaining why.

  1. 01

    Start building

    In the Zap editor, the Build stage is where you choose apps and events. Pick Helpwise as the trigger app and SLA Breach as the event, then select your Helpwise connection.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the trigger test. Zapier brings back the three most recent matching items from your account, so you can work with a real breached conversation instead of guessing what the data looks like.

  3. 03

    Add the assignment

    Add Helpwise again as an action with Assign Conversation. Fill the mailbox id and thread id from what the trigger test returned, so the step always targets the conversation that broke its SLA.

  4. 04

    Leave a trace

    Add a third step with Add Note and write the reason in the message. This makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan, and each run spends two tasks.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Use Test on each action and check the result in Helpwise. When both steps look right, click Publish to switch the Zap on. From then on it only reacts to new breaches.

Triggers

Helpwise triggers on Zapier

15 events start a Zap when something happens in Helpwise. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

Assigned in a Conversation

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when your team member assigned you in a conversation.”

Starts the Zap when a teammate hands you a conversation in Helpwise, so your own workload can show up somewhere else without you checking the inbox.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a freelance support agent who juggles several clients and wants each new assignment pushed into the personal tool where the day is planned.
Watch out
it reports assignments made to the connected account, so connect the account of the person who should be notified.
2

Note Added

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new note added by the user in the Helpwise conversation.”

Fires each time a user leaves an internal note in a Helpwise conversation. Notes are where agents talk to each other, so this trigger turns private discussion into a signal another tool can act on.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a team lead who wants every note on a sensitive account copied into the account manager's follow-up list.
Watch out
it has no mailbox setting, so pairing it with the Add Note action, on any mailbox, makes the Zap set itself off again and again.
3

Contact Is Created

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when new contact is created”

Picks up every new contact created in Helpwise, whether an agent typed it or another tool added it, and hands its details to the next step.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
keeping a newsletter or billing tool in step with the people your support team talks to, without an export every so often.
Watch out
a bulk import of contacts can arrive as one huge batch, which Zapier's flood protection may hold back.
4

CSAT Is Received

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new CSAT is received”

Runs whenever a customer answers a satisfaction survey (CSAT) in Helpwise. That makes the rating usable outside the help desk, where the rest of the business can see it.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a product manager who wants each rating logged next to the customer record in the team's CRM, so unhappy accounts surface before renewal talks.
Watch out
every rating starts the Zap; add a filter, on a paid plan, if only poor scores should go further.
5

Draft Is Created

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new draft is created”

Reacts when someone saves a new draft reply in Helpwise. It is the only trigger that catches work in progress rather than something already sent or received.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a support team where new hires write drafts that a senior agent reviews before anything leaves the inbox.
Watch out
every saved draft starts a run, and each action after it spends a task.
6

Inbound SMS Message

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when you receive a new SMS from your customer.”

Catches each SMS a customer sends to one of your Helpwise numbers and passes the message on to the next step of the Zap.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a home-services business whose customers text rather than email, and whose dispatcher wants every text logged in the job tracker.
Watch out
the trigger asks for the SMS number to watch, so that number has to exist in a Helpwise mailbox the connected account can reach.
7

Inbound WhatsApp Message

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when you receive a new WhatsApp inbound message from your customer.”

Sends each new WhatsApp message from a customer into your Zap, so chat conversations can feed the same workflows as email.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
an online shop that takes order questions on WhatsApp and wants each one recorded in its order sheet for the warehouse team.
Watch out
the WhatsApp number field is mandatory and must be written with the plus sign in front.
8

Mention in Note

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there's a new mention for you.”

Goes off when a colleague mentions you in a note. Narrower than Note Added, it only cares about the notes that call on the connected user.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a billing specialist who is pulled into support threads now and then and would rather get each mention as a task in a to-do app.
Watch out
it follows the connected user only, so a teammate who wants the same alert needs a Zap on their own connection.
9

Near SLA Breach

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when any conversation is near the SLA breach”

Warns you before a conversation misses its service-level target (SLA), while there is still time to answer, rather than after the fact.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a support lead covering a busy queue who wants an alert in the team chat when a ticket is about to slip.
Watch out
you must enter the warning interval yourself, and the polling delay adds to it, so leave a margin wider than your plan's check interval.
10

Inbound Email

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new email received in Helpwise.”

Takes every email that reaches a chosen Helpwise mailbox and makes it the starting point of the Zap. It is the most direct way to plug a shared address into other tools.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a recruiting team that receives applications on a jobs address and wants each one opened as a card in its hiring board.
Watch out
the mailbox email address is required, and only mail arriving after you publish is picked up.
11

Inbound Facebook Message

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when you receive a new Inbound Facebook message from your customer.”

Brings each new Facebook message from a customer into the Zap, so social conversations get the same follow-up as any other channel.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a local gym that answers questions on its Facebook page and wants every prospect who writes in added to its lead list.
Watch out
the step needs the id of the Facebook mailbox in Helpwise, not the name of the page, so find that id before you start.
12

Outbound Conversations

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers for new outbound conversations”

Watches the conversations your team starts, not the ones customers start. Each new outbound conversation in Helpwise becomes a run of the Zap.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
an account manager who reaches out to customers from Helpwise and wants each outreach logged as an activity in the sales tool.
Watch out
a Zap that uses Send an Email can feed this trigger and start a loop; Create New Conversation opens a conversation in the customer's name, so it is not the culprit here.
13

Rule Is Run

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a rule is run on any conversation”

Fires whenever one of your Helpwise rules runs on a conversation. It lets you extend the automation you already set up inside Helpwise instead of rebuilding it in Zapier.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
an operations team whose Helpwise rule already routes refund requests and now wants each routed request counted in a spreadsheet.
Watch out
it covers rules running on any conversation, so a broad rule can start far more Zaps, and spend far more tasks, than you expect.
14

SLA Breach

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when SLA is breached on any conversation”

Marks the moment a conversation has gone past its SLA and opens a run of the Zap. Where Near SLA Breach is a warning, this one records a promise to the customer that was missed.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a customer success manager who reports breaches to clients and wants each one logged in a shared report the client can see.
Watch out
on the free plan the alert may reach you a while after the breach itself, so treat it as a record, not a fire alarm.
15

Tag Added

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new tag added in a thread in Helpwise.”

Reacts each time a tag lands on a thread in a chosen mailbox. Tags are how a team sorts its inbox, so this turns a simple label into an instruction for another tool.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a SaaS team that tags bug reports and wants each tagged thread turned into a ticket for the developers.
Watch out
never pair it with Apply Tag on Thread on the same mailbox, or the Zap retriggers itself and burns tasks.
Actions

Helpwise actions on Zapier

Helpwise gives you 8 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Add Note

Action

In Zapier“Adds a Note in the Conversation”

Writes a note into a Helpwise conversation, the place where the team leaves context for each other.

When to use it
attaching context from another tool, such as the customer's plan or open invoices, to the ticket an agent is about to answer.
Watch out
it needs the mailbox id and the conversation id, so an earlier step has to supply both.
2

Apply Tag on Thread

Action

In Zapier“Apply tag on the Helpwise thread.”

Puts a tag on a Helpwise thread, which is how you sort the inbox automatically from outside it.

When to use it
marking every conversation from a high-value account as such, based on what your CRM knows.
Watch out
tag name, mailbox id and thread id are all mandatory, and this action can wake a Tag Added Zap on the same mailbox.
3

Assign Conversation

Action

In Zapier“Assign Conversation to User”

Gives a Helpwise conversation an owner, so it stops sitting in the shared queue where everyone assumes someone else will answer.

When to use it
handing escalated tickets straight to a senior agent instead of waiting for the next manual triage.
Watch out
the mailbox id and thread id are required, so the conversation must come from an earlier step.
4

Create Contact

Action

In Zapier“Create your contact in Helpwise from your favorite app.”

Adds a person to your Helpwise contacts from whatever tool knows about them first, so agents see a name and history instead of a bare address.

When to use it
every new paying customer in your checkout tool should exist in Helpwise before their first question arrives.
Watch out
a first name and an email are both required; map a fallback if the source sometimes leaves the name empty.
5

Create New Conversation

Action

In Zapier“Create a new conversation from your website form, Cron, CRM, etc.”

Opens a fresh conversation in a Helpwise mailbox, with a subject, a body and the customer's address as sender, as if the customer had written in.

When to use it
a website contact form whose submissions should land in the shared inbox and be handled like any other ticket.
Watch out
the mailbox id, subject, body and customer address are all mandatory, so the form must collect an email.
6

Send an Email

Action

In Zapier“This Action will send the Email from Helpwise.”

Sends an email out of a Helpwise mailbox, so it leaves from the shared address rather than someone's personal mail.

When to use it
confirming a booking made in a scheduling tool, from the support address customers already know.
Watch out
the sender must be a mailbox email address in Helpwise, and sender, recipient, subject and body are all required.
7

Send SMS Message

Action

In Zapier“Send SMS to your customer.”

Texts a customer from the SMS number attached to your Helpwise mailbox rather than from a personal phone.

When to use it
letting a client know their repair is ready the moment the job is closed in your field-service tool.
Watch out
you need an SMS number already used in a Helpwise mailbox, plus the customer's number and the message.
8

Send WhatsApp Message

Action

In Zapier“Send WhatsApp Message to your customer.”

Sends a WhatsApp message to a customer from the WhatsApp number you use in Helpwise.

When to use it
sending a delivery update to buyers who chose WhatsApp as their contact channel at checkout.
Watch out
your number, the customer's number and the message body are all required for each send.
When it breaks

When a Helpwise Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no Helpwise-specific help article and no documented rate limit to this app. What goes wrong comes from how Zapier itself works.

Four situations account for the surprises. None of them shows up as an obvious error, which is why they are worth knowing before you publish. For anything else, the Zapier troubleshooting guide is the next stop.

  • Nothing from before the Zap

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you publish it. Existing emails, contacts or ratings are never picked up; moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • A Zap that triggers itself

    Tag Added plus Apply Tag on Thread on the same mailbox, or Note Added plus Add Note anywhere: the Zap writes where it watches, starts again, and burns tasks fast.

  • A big import held back

    When a trigger suddenly returns a huge batch, after a contact import for instance, Zapier's flood protection can hold it back instead of running it.

  • It looks late, it is polling

    Every Helpwise trigger is checked on a timer: up to 15 minutes on the free plan. Zapier keeps track of what it has seen, so the same item never starts the Zap twice.
Need help

Need help automating Helpwise with Zapier?

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FAQ

Helpwise and Zapier: common questions

01Is the Helpwise Zapier integration free?
Yes, you can use it on the free Zapier plan, because Helpwise is not a premium app. That plan gives you 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, but each Zap is limited to two steps: one trigger and one action. As soon as you add a filter or a second action, for example assigning a conversation and then adding a note, the Zap becomes multi-step and you need a paid plan.
02How many tasks does a Helpwise Zap use?
One per successful action, per run. The trigger never counts, and neither do the checks Zapier makes to look for new Helpwise items, however frequent they are. A Zap with a single action, such as tagging a thread, spends one task each time it runs. A Zap that assigns a conversation and then adds a note spends two. An action that fails is not billed. A few apps and actions can take more than one task when they complete, so check the task history after your first runs.
03Does Helpwise trigger Zaps in real time?
No. All 15 Helpwise triggers are polling triggers, which means Zapier checks Helpwise for new items on a timer instead of being told the moment something happens. On the free plan the check runs every 15 minutes; on Professional it is every 2 minutes, and on Team or Enterprise every minute. Paid plans can also change how often a trigger checks, or run a check by hand from the editor. Plan your SLA alerts with that delay in mind.
04What does it take to connect Helpwise to Zapier?
A Helpwise account, and read or write rights on every mailbox you want a Zap to read from or post into, even ones you do not own. In Zapier you open the Apps page, click + Add connection, pick Helpwise, sign in to Helpwise in the tab that opens and allow access. Before building, gather the details steps will ask for: mailbox email addresses, the Facebook mailbox id, and your SMS or WhatsApp numbers, the WhatsApp one written with its plus sign.
05Why does a Helpwise Zap keep running on its own?
Because it probably writes into the same place its trigger watches. If a Zap starts on Tag Added and then uses Apply Tag on Thread on that mailbox, every tag it adds looks like a new event, so the Zap starts again. The same goes for Note Added with Add Note, which watches every mailbox, or Outbound Conversations with Send an Email. Each loop burns tasks. For tags, point the action at a different mailbox; otherwise add a filter, on a paid plan, on a condition the Zap's own writes do not meet.
06What if the Helpwise operation you need is not on Zapier?
Then you work with the 23 operations that exist: 15 triggers and 8 actions, with no search step. There is no way to look up an existing Helpwise contact or conversation from a Zap, so any action that needs a mailbox id or thread id must get it from the trigger. A filter can narrow what a trigger lets through, on a paid plan. If the gap remains, compare the Helpwise catalogue on other automation platforms before building a workaround.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Helpwise?
Decide on criteria rather than on a ranking. On Zapier, check that your scenario fits the 15 triggers and 8 actions listed here, that a check every 15 minutes on the free plan, or every 2 on Professional, is acceptable for your team, and how many tasks each run will spend. Then look at what each other platform offers for Helpwise and how it bills. The right choice is the one whose catalogue and pricing fit your workflow, not a general verdict.
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