Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout – The BEST Tool Revealed (2023)
Helium 10 and Jungle Scout are two of the most popular Amazon seller tools on the market, but which one is truly best?
As long-time users of both tools at Brand Builder University, we understand that each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
So, in this exhaustive comparison, we’ll take both industry heavyweights through twelve rounds of comparison so you can decide for yourself which is best for your Amazon business!
Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout at a glance
Helium 10 | Jungle Scout | |
---|---|---|
Round 1: Chrome Extensions | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Round 2: Product Research | 9/10 | 10/10 |
Round 3: Keyword Research | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Round 4: Listing Optimization | 9/10 | 8/10 |
Round 5: Analytics | 9/10 | 9/10 |
Round 6: Marketing | 9/10 | 7/10 |
Round 7: Operations | 9/10 | 8/10 |
Round 8: Learning Resources | 8/10 | 8/10 |
Round 9: User Support | 9/10 | 8/10 |
Round 10: User Experience | 9/10 | 10/10 |
Round 11: Data Accuracy | 9/10 | 9/10 |
Round 12: Pricing | 8/10 | 9/10 |
FINAL RESULT | 108/120 | 104/120 |
Ready for a deeper dive to see if Jungle Scout or Helium 10 is the best fit for your business? Let’s dive in!
What is Helium 10?
Helium 10 is a suite of Amazon seller tools that together allow you to generate product ideas, analyze your competition, create highly optimized Amazon listings, monitor your inventory and automate your business.
Helium 10 also includes a very useful Chrome extension which allows you to access important data, assess profitability and speed up time-consuming tasks when carrying out research on Amazon.
Having been founded by Manny Coats back in 2015 as a personal project in an attempt to write better product listings, Helium 10 has since become one of the most popular Amazon seller tools in the world with over 1 million users and was acquired by eCommerce growth platform Assembly in 2019.
It’s a tool I personally use every day in growing our Amazon business and have spent thousands of hours using it over recent years.
Quick Take
Helium 10 is our number one recommended software for new and growing Amazon sellers. It offers a wide range of very useful tools that will help you increase sales and decrease the time spent carrying out essential tasks.
Best For | All-In-One Tool Suite |
Price | $0-$279/mo |
Discount | Up to 20% |
Promotion | 6 months or Lifetime |
What is Jungle Scout?
Jungle Scout is another comprehensive suite of Amazon seller tools which allows you to track products, and find profitable keywords and ideas for product launches.
It also offers a web app, Chrome extension and mobile app to access data-driven insights anytime and anywhere.
Founded by Greg Mercer in 2015, Jungle Scout is largely considered to be the original Amazon seller tool due to its rapid growth in its early years.
Quick Take
Jungle Scout is a highly respected player in the Amazon tool space for good reason. Offering high-quality tools with a great user experience and reliable data, Jungle Scout comes highly recommended for those that don’t need all the tools Helium 10 has to offer such as PPC automation.
Best For | Cost-Effective Tool Suite |
Price | $29/mo-$999/yr |
Discount | Up to 60% |
Promotion | Annual |
Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout: How do the features compare?
Both Helium 10 and Jungle Scout offer a wide range of features and tools to help Amazon sellers optimize their processes.
As both are comprehensive suites of tools available and cover a wide range of categories, we’ll compare the two tools in each of these twelve key areas:
- Chrome extension tools
- Product research tools
- Keyword research tools
- Listing optimization tools
- Analytics tools
- Marketing tools
- Operations tools
- Learning resources
- User support
- User experience
- Data accuracy
- Pricing
For each of the twelve sections, we’ll briefly summarize the features each tool has and highlight the unique aspects that each tool has that the other doesn’t.
We’ll give each tool a rating out of 10, declare the winner of each round (yes, just like a heavyweight bout!) and then finally see who is crowned the winner in the overall Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout debate!
Ding ding, round one!
Round 1: Chrome Extension Tools
Both the Helium 10 & Jungle Scout Chrome extensions help Amazon sellers save a huge amount of time with product research.
When installed, both Chrome extensions overlay helpful data such as BSR, estimated sales volume, and sales trends on both product pages and search results pages.
You can also load the Chrome extension on search results pages to see estimated monthly sales revenue, average price and other summarized sales data to help find profitable product niches quickly.
Each Chrome extension also provides a product evaluation score which attempts to quickly give the user an idea of how much potential there is within that particular market.
Of the two, Jungle Scout’s ‘Opportunity Score’ is a more robust and accurate measure of product opportunity, with Helium 10’s ‘Success Score’ in a close second.
However, that is where the comparison ends, as the Helium 10 Chrome extension goes further to give more time-saving and insightful tools to help with product research and development.
Chrome Extensions: The Verdict
Whether it’s the Profitability Calculator tool that helps you quickly assess the potential margins of a product or the Review Insights tool that helps analyze opportunities to improve on existing products, Helium 10’s extra functionality here puts its Chrome extension just out in front of Jungle Scout’s offering.
Round 2: Product Research Tools
Every Amazon seller starts their journey with product research, and as such both tools make this a core of their offering.
Helium 10 packages everything up within its product research tool Black Box.
Inside Black Box, you can filter through the vast amount of products selling on Amazon to look for potential opportunities.
It allows you to filter by demand, competition, price and many other metrics and you can search by individual product, across entire keywords, niches and also competitors.
You can also check the trends of products with the Trendster tool to make sure you don’t jump on a fad (fidget spinners, anyone?), and also save products to come back to for further analysis.
Jungle Scout offers a very similar Amazon product research tool but breaks it down into separate tools:
- Product Database – similar to the ‘Products’ tab in Black Box
- Opportunity Finder – similar to the ‘Keywords’ research tool in Black Box
However, what makes Jungle Scout stand out in this category is its Supplier Database. This is a unique feature of Jungle Scout that can be incredibly useful.
The Jungle Scout Supplier Database provides sellers with verified information on the manufacturers of specific products on Amazon.
This allows you to enter any ASIN from Amazon and, where available, the Supplier Database will provide the manufacturer’s information to you so you can compile a list of the best, most trustworthy suppliers already used by big brands.
Round 3: Keyword Research Tools
Once you’ve found a product to sell, the next step is to get it in front of hungry buyers.
The most critical part of that process is keyword research, and both tools have strong offerings here with a number of different features to help find relevant high-volume keywords.
Helium 10 starts with Magnet – a simple tool that allows you to enter any seed keyword and find a large list of related keywords that you can use when optimizing your listing or creating PPC campaigns.
In addition, Helium 10 has a tool called Cerebro, a reverse ASIN lookup.
This allows you to enter up to 10 ASINs from Amazon and discover high-ranking keywords for these products, much like a competitor keyword spy.
As a result, you can carry out highly targeted keyword research very quickly making this one of Helium 10’s best, most useful tools when growing an Amazon FBA business.
Jungle Scout offers very similar functionality within its Keyword Scout tool, allowing you to start searches with both keywords and ASINs.
However, we feel Helium 10 slightly edges this one as within its Cerebro tool it offers unique data sets such as ‘Title Density’.
This metric – which doesn’t appear in Keyword Scout – shows how often a particular keyword appears in the title of the products on page one.
Round 4: Listing Optimization Tools
Whereas Jungle Scout was initially founded as a product research solution, Helium 10’s first offering was primarily around listing optimization with its Scribbles tool.
In recent years, however, both Helium 10 and Jungle Scout have continued to develop and improve tools that help Amazon sellers optimize product listings.
Jungle Scout’s listing optimization tool, called Listing Builder, helps take a list of keywords and ensure maximum coverage with a listing’s title, bullet points, description, and backend keywords.
Listing Builder can connect directly with your Amazon account in order to send listing updates directly and save you from having to manually upload the changes.
Helium 10’s updated tool that replaces the original Scribbles is, interestingly, also called Listing Builder.
It too gives keyword density recommendations and also connects with your Amazon Seller Central account to push updates directly.
However, Helium 10 does offer a range of additional listing optimization tools, including:
- Frankenstein – to help clean up and de-duplicate keyword lists ready for listing writing.
- Listing Analyzer – to help understand where listings can be better optimized.
- Index Checker – to check if an existing listing is indexed for relevant keywords.
Some do argue these are minor additions that carry out tasks easily achieved elsewhere (eg. Frankenstein’s functionality can be replicated in Excel), however, it can be helpful to have these tools all in one place.
Round 5: Analytics Tools
So, your listings are written and your products are launched, but how do you now track the ongoing performance of your business?
Thankfully, both Helium 10 and Jungle Scout come up trumps again with features that help you do just that.
Both have the key elements you’d want to see from an analytics perspective:
- Market tracking. Helium 10 has its ‘Market Tracker’, whilst Jungle Scout has ‘Product Tracker’. Both essentially fulfil the same purpose and allow you to monitor trends and performance in a niche over time.
- Keyword tracking. These tools – ‘Keyword Tracker‘ for Helium 10 and ‘Rank Tracker’ for Jungle Scout – give regular updates on where products rank in search results for chosen keywords. This is a crucial aspect of an Amazon business and both tools are strong in this department.
- Profit tracking. Again, both tools excel in presenting real-time data in a much more helpful way than Seller Central. Both ‘Profits’ in Helium 10 and ‘Sales Analytics’ in Jungle Scout break down revenues, expenses and profits to give a clear picture of how you’re performing and how you can improve.
Round 6: Marketing Tools
Ding ding! Round 6 in the Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout title fight – this time we’re looking at features that help you advertise your products and grow your business.
Helium 10 continues to show great strength in this category with three tools – Adtomic, Portals and Attribution.
Adtomic is a full-feature Amazon PPC software that allows sellers to create, optimize and automate PPC campaigns. The design is slick, and overall the tool is easy to use and helps save a lot of time managing campaigns.
Portals is a landing page builder that helps sellers build an audience post-purchase through email opt-ins, and the Attribution tool works with Amazon Attribution to measure the effectiveness of external traffic you’re sending to Amazon listings.
Advertising has been less of a focus for the core Jungle Scout product in recent times, with Advertising Analytics being the only PPC tool in the standard suite.
This is a more limited reporting tool that doesn’t help sellers directly manage or automate campaigns.
Jungle Scout did acquire Downstream Impact – a more full-service PPC offering – in 2021 but it is separate from the main suite and you have to book a demo to learn about pricing (booo).
Finally, Jungle Scout does offer ‘Promotions’ – a giveaway platform that helps sellers set up discounts to launch products.
But, given the limited effectiveness of steep discounts following Amazon algorithm changes in recent years, this isn’t an overly useful feature.
Round 7: Operations Tools
Once you get a product launched, then comes the need to run a lean, mean, effective machine to give your business the structure it needs to grow.
Both Helium 10 and Jungle Scout offer a range of operational tools that help streamline your workflow and hit your objectives.
Helium 10’s Inventory Management tool helps you forecast stock levels and create purchase orders to send suppliers helping you avoid ever going out of stock.
It also has an inventory protector tool to help you avoid coupon abuse and Refund Genie to help you claim refunds on products Amazon has lost or damaged in their warehouses.
Finally, there is an Alerts tool to notify you of any changes to your Amazon listings, and Follow-up – an automated email response tool to help you communicate with customers and get more reviews.
Jungle Scout has a more streamlined operational offering with an alerts tool and its Inventory Manager tool which is similar to Helium 10’s but without the ability to create purchase orders.
Finally, it also has a review request tool that automates the process of using the Amazon Request A Review button.
This tool doesn’t allow you to create custom emails to send to buyers like Helium 10’s does, but given the increasing opt-out rate of customers in the buyer-messaging system, the automated Request a Review button is a much more effective method anyway.
Round 8: Learning Resources
Helium 10 made a huge move in the Amazon tool space when bringing FBA legend Kevin King on board to deliver the ‘Freedom Ticket’ course.
Every Helium 10 subscriber now gets access to this course which features regular updates and insights from a range of guest contributors.
Jungle Scout has followed suit and now offers their Jungle Scout Academy which features training from CEO and 8-figure seller Greg Mercer.
Round 9: User Support
As you’d expect from these two industry titans, the support is very good.
Both offer a range of methods to get in touch and find support:
- Live Chat – through an on-site widget that connects you with a support team 24/7.
- Knowledge Base – searchable lists of help documents and articles.
- Email – the traditional support route.
But what will just edge this one for Helium 10 is the particularly useful tutorials and walk-throughs of how to get the most out of each tool.
Round 10: User Experience
Both Helium 10 and Jungle Scout have a very intuitive and visually pleasing interface.
They are modern, user friendly, and lay the various features out in menus and sections that make it easy to navigate around the tools.
Jungle Scout’s interface arguably just wins this round though as the overall look and feel are a little simpler to navigate and easier for new users to get used to.
Of course, this is in part due to the Jungle Scout suite having fewer tools overall, but some would argue that is a positive as it keeps things streamlined.
Round 11: Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout Data Accuracy
Data accuracy is important when making business decisions and the Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout debate is no different.
So how accurate are the two tools?
Well, when it comes to estimating sales volumes of products, neither tool has direct access to Amazon data and is instead using algorithms to produce estimates.
Both Helium 10 and Jungle Scout claim their data is more accurate than the other, so it’s hard to say with certainty which tool has more accurate data.
In each case, though, the differences are minimal and you can use either tool with confidence knowing the numbers are generally within a close range of the actual number.
Both Keyword Scout by Jungle Scout and Helium 10’s range of keyword research tools also estimate keyword search volume.
Given search volume trends change frequently, this is a difficult data accuracy metric to pin down conclusively. But across many of our own comparisons, both tools were again within a close range of accuracy.
Round 12: Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout Pricing
The Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout debate reaches its natural conclusion in this, the twelfth round between these heavyweights – pricing.
Let’s take a close look at how each tool is structured.
Helium 10 Pricing
Helium 10 has a free plan that lasts forever.
However, there are restrictions placed on how much you can use each tool and you will quickly find yourself needing more capacity.
Therefore it’s recommended to try one of the three paid plans:
- Starter – $39/month.
- Platinum – $99/month.
- Diamond – $279/month.
Sign up for an annual plan and pay for 10 months instead of 12, PLUS get an extra 10% off with code BBU10 and save almost 30% in total.
Helium 10 Starter Plan
The Starter plan gives limited access to some of the more basic tools and is only really suitable for Amazon sellers just starting out.
It doesn’t give access to important tools like Follow-Up for review request automation, so upgrading to Platinum is highly recommended.
Helium 10 Platinum Plan
Platinum is the most popular plan as it gives access to almost every tool and comes with usage limits that are more than enough for the average Amazon seller.
The only limitation with Platinum is it doesn’t give full access to Adtomic, the PPC automation tool.
Once you hit enough revenue to justify it ($10k/month+) then upgrading to Diamond is well worth it.
Helium 10 Diamond Plan
Diamond brings with it a big uptick in usage limits and users permitted.
Given you can get a generous discount on this plan – and save even more by switching to an annual plan – it is well worth it for growing sellers.
Helium 10 Add-Ons
Finally, you can also add extra features like full access to Adtomic and Elite training which gives unique features such as live training sessions and a private Facebook group for Elite members only.
Jungle Scout Pricing
Unlike Helium 10, Jungle Scout’s tool suite does not have a free plan.
It does however offer a risk-free 7-day money-back guarantee when subscribing to any of the payment plans on offer which fall into three categories:
- Standard Plans – starting at $49/month (or $29/month with an annual plan).
- Packages – starting at $189 for 3 months.
- Enterprise Solutions – price on application.
Sign up for an annual plan and pay for 10 months instead of 12, PLUS get an extra 10% off with code BBU10 and save almost 30% in total.
Jungle Scout Standard Plans
Jungle Scout’s standard plans are similar to Helium 10’s structure with three tiers available – basic, suite, and professional.
Basic is $49/month (or $29/month on an annual plan), Suite is $69 (or $49 on annual) and Professional is $129 (or $84 on annual).
Suite will be the most suitable and valuable for the majority of sellers with a professional plan only really needed if you have a big team.
Jungle Scout Packages
Jungle Scout has attempted to stand out from Helium 10 with their bundle packages that include tools and training.
You can sign up for a 3-month ($189), 6-month ($349) or 12-month ($999) plan and gain access to increasingly valuable features.
For instance, the 12-month Freedom Builder Bootcamp package gives a year of the Professional plan, plus advanced training courses and live coaching sessions – the kind of features available on the Elite Helium 10 plan (at $399/month).
So, there is some great value to be had here.
Jungle Scout Enterprise Solutions
Finally, for very large Amazon sellers there are ‘Enterprise Solutions’ that include PPC automation access and more.
The prices for these solutions aren’t available on the website as they would be customized for the tools & support you need.
So, if this is of interest to you, fill out the form on the website and one of the Jungle Scout team will be in touch.
Jungle Scout vs Helium 10: Which is better?
So, these two heavyweights have gone toe-to-toe for twelve intense rounds of comparison, but who comes out on top in the Helium 10 vs Jungle Scout debate?
Let’s re-check the results!
Helium 10 | Jungle Scout | |
---|---|---|
Round 1: Chrome Extensions | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Round 2: Product Research | 9/10 | 10/10 |
Round 3: Keyword Research | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Round 4: Listing Optimization | 9/10 | 8/10 |
Round 5: Analytics | 9/10 | 9/10 |
Round 6: Marketing | 9/10 | 7/10 |
Round 7: Operations | 9/10 | 8/10 |
Round 8: Learning Resources | 8/10 | 8/10 |
Round 9: User Support | 9/10 | 8/10 |
Round 10: User Experience | 9/10 | 10/10 |
Round 11: Data Accuracy | 9/10 | 9/10 |
Round 12: Pricing | 8/10 | 9/10 |
FINAL RESULT | 108/120 | 104/120 |
So, if you’ve been asking ‘Helium 10 or Jungle Scout’, the results are in.
Helium 10 just about takes the trophy with Jungle Scout coming in a close second.
It was a close fight through each and every round, and truthfully either one of these tools is a great solution to help new sellers and growing sellers alike.
Those who want a more diverse tool suite including PPC automation will no doubt lean towards Helium 10, but for those wanting a simpler, potentially cheaper option to start with Jungle Scout is also a great option.
Whichever tool you choose though be sure to avoid relying on them to do all the work of building a successful business for you.
Instead, take time to learn the core principles of building a successful Amazon FBA business and then utilize the tools available to you in order to automate, streamline and ultimately go further, faster.