diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 00b5c7a..62dbb65 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
   }
   catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
     std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-    program.print_help();
+    std::cout << program;
     exit(0);
   }
   
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ The square of 4 is 16
 
 ### Printing Help
 
-```ArgumentParser.print_help()``` print a help message, including the program usage and information about the arguments registered with the ArgumentParser. For the previous example, here's the default help message:
+`std::cout << program` prints a help message, including the program usage and information about the arguments registered with the `ArgumentParser`. For the previous example, here's the default help message:
 
 ```
 $ ./main --help
@@ -235,6 +235,8 @@ Optional arguments:
 -v, --verbose  enable verbose logging
 ```
 
+You may also get the help message in string via `program.help().str()`.
+
 ### List of Arguments
 
 ArgumentParser objects usually associate a single command-line argument with a single action to be taken. The ```.nargs``` associates a different number of command-line arguments with a single action. When using ```nargs(N)```, N arguments from the command line will be gathered together into a list.
@@ -251,7 +253,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -280,7 +282,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -312,7 +314,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -388,7 +390,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -424,7 +426,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
@@ -466,7 +468,7 @@ try {
 }
 catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
   std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
-  program.print_help();
+  std::cout << program;
   exit(0);
 }
 
diff --git a/include/argparse.hpp b/include/argparse.hpp
index 7205b74..f3ad25a 100644
--- a/include/argparse.hpp
+++ b/include/argparse.hpp
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ SOFTWARE.
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <any>
 #include <functional>
-#include <iomanip>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <iterator>
 #include <list>
@@ -75,8 +74,12 @@ template <typename T>
 using enable_if_not_container = std::enable_if_t<!is_container_v<T>, T>;
 } // namespace
 
+class ArgumentParser;
+
 class Argument {
   friend class ArgumentParser;
+  friend auto operator<<(std::ostream &, ArgumentParser const &)
+      -> std::ostream &;
 
 public:
   Argument() = default;
@@ -412,39 +415,54 @@ public:
     throw std::logic_error("No such argument");
   }
 
+  // Print help message
+  friend auto operator<<(std::ostream &stream, const ArgumentParser &parser)
+      -> std::ostream & {
+    if (auto sen = std::ostream::sentry(stream)) {
+      stream.setf(std::ios_base::left);
+      stream << "Usage: " << parser.mProgramName << " [options] ";
+      size_t tLongestArgumentLength = parser.get_length_of_longest_argument();
+
+      for (const auto &argument : parser.mPositionalArguments) {
+        stream << argument->mNames.front() << " ";
+      }
+      stream << "\n\n";
+
+      if (!parser.mPositionalArguments.empty())
+        stream << "Positional arguments:\n";
+
+      for (const auto &mPositionalArgument : parser.mPositionalArguments) {
+        stream.width(tLongestArgumentLength);
+        stream << *mPositionalArgument;
+      }
+
+      if (!parser.mOptionalArguments.empty())
+        stream << (parser.mPositionalArguments.empty() ? "" : "\n")
+               << "Optional arguments:\n";
+
+      for (const auto &mOptionalArgument : parser.mOptionalArguments) {
+        stream.width(tLongestArgumentLength);
+        stream << *mOptionalArgument;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return stream;
+  }
+
+  // Format help message
+  auto help() const -> std::ostringstream {
+    std::ostringstream out;
+    out << *this;
+    return out;
+  }
+
   // Printing the one and only help message
   // I've stuck with a simple message format, nothing fancy.
-  // TODO: support user-defined help and usage messages for the ArgumentParser
-  std::string print_help() {
-    std::stringstream stream;
-    stream << std::left;
-    stream << "Usage: " << mProgramName << " [options] ";
-    size_t tLongestArgumentLength = get_length_of_longest_argument();
-
-    for (const auto &argument : mPositionalArguments) {
-      stream << argument->mNames.front() << " ";
-    }
-    stream << "\n\n";
-
-    if (!mPositionalArguments.empty())
-      stream << "Positional arguments:\n";
-
-    for (const auto &mPositionalArgument : mPositionalArguments) {
-      stream.width(tLongestArgumentLength);
-      stream << *mPositionalArgument;
-    }
-
-    if (!mOptionalArguments.empty())
-      stream << (mPositionalArguments.empty() ? "" : "\n")
-             << "Optional arguments:\n";
-
-    for (const auto &mOptionalArgument : mOptionalArguments) {
-      stream.width(tLongestArgumentLength);
-      stream << *mOptionalArgument;
-    }
-
-    std::cout << stream.str();
-    return stream.str();
+  [[deprecated("Use cout << program; instead.  See also help().")]] std::string
+  print_help() {
+    auto out = help();
+    std::cout << out.rdbuf();
+    return out.str();
   }
 
 private:
@@ -507,7 +525,7 @@ private:
   }
 
   // Used by print_help.
-  size_t get_length_of_longest_argument() {
+  size_t get_length_of_longest_argument() const {
     if (mArgumentMap.empty())
       return 0;
     std::vector<size_t> argumentLengths(mArgumentMap.size());
diff --git a/test/main.cpp b/test/main.cpp
index 3dbb7cd..0ffa4a6 100644
--- a/test/main.cpp
+++ b/test/main.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #define CATCH_CONFIG_MAIN
 #include <iostream>
 #include <argparse.hpp>
+#include <test_help.hpp>
 #include <test_parse_args.hpp>
 #include <test_positional_arguments.hpp>
 #include <test_optional_arguments.hpp>
@@ -11,4 +12,4 @@
 #include <test_invalid_arguments.hpp>
 #include <test_negative_numbers.hpp>
 #include <test_required_arguments.hpp>
-#include <test_issue_37.hpp>
+#include <test_issue_37.hpp>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/test_help.hpp b/test/test_help.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d547630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_help.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#pragma once
+#include <catch.hpp>
+#include <argparse.hpp>
+
+TEST_CASE("Users can format help message", "[help]") {
+  argparse::ArgumentParser program("test");
+  program.add_argument("input")
+    .help("positional input");
+  program.add_argument("-c")
+    .help("optional input");
+
+  std::ostringstream s;
+  s << program;
+  REQUIRE_FALSE(s.str().empty());
+
+  auto msg = program.help().str();
+  REQUIRE(msg == s.str());
+}