We study light scalar mesons in the holographic QCD soft-wall model with a background dilaton field. The masses and decay constants are compatible with experiment and QCD determinations if and are identified as the lightest scalar mesons; moreover, the states are organized in linear Regge trajectories with the same slope of vector mesons. Comparing the two-point correlation function of scalar operators derived on the anti–de Sitter side and in QCD, information about the condensates can be derived. Strong couplings of scalar states to pairs of light pseudoscalar mesons turn out to be small, at odds with experiment and QCD estimates: we discuss how this discrepancy is related to the description of chiral symmetry breaking in this model, and the possible solutions.