Intercom is customer messaging software. It puts a chat widget on your site or app, collects messages in a shared inbox, and can answer customers with its AI agent, Fin. It is priced per seat plus usage. If that is more than you need, several tools do similar jobs, and some are free to start.
All facts below come from each vendor's own pricing page, as of October 2026. Prices are in US dollars.
What Intercom costs today
Intercom's pricing page lists three plans, priced per seat per month:
- Essential: $29 billed annually, or $39 billed monthly. Fin, the chat widget, a shared inbox, ticketing and a public help centre.
- Advanced: $85 billed annually, or $99 monthly. Adds workflows, round robin assignment and 20 free Lite seats.
- Expert: $132 billed annually, or $139 monthly. Adds SSO, SLAs and support for more than one brand.
On top of seats, Fin costs $0.99 per outcome. An outcome is counted when a customer confirms the answer helped, does not ask for more help, or Fin completes a workflow you set up. SMS, WhatsApp, phone and email campaigns are pay-as-you-go. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
During research, some visits to the page showed Essential at $19 on annual billing, so check the current price before you compare.
The short version
- Tidio: chat and an AI agent for small online shops, with a free plan.
- Crisp: a flat price per workspace with several seats included, and a free plan.
- Help Scout: email-first support with chat, free for up to 5 users.
- Zendesk: a full help desk with chat, phone and AI on its Suite plans.
- HubSpot Service Hub: free tools, best if you already use HubSpot's CRM.
Tidio
Tidio has a free plan with 50 billable conversations a month and 10 seats. A billable conversation is one where a person on your team replies. Starter is $29 a month, or $24.17 a month billed annually, for 100 billable conversations. Growth starts at $59 a month. Its AI agent, Lyro, starts at $39 a month for 50 AI conversations, and every account gets its first 50 AI conversations free.
Suits you if you run a small online shop and most questions come through chat. Less of a fit if you send many emails a month from a larger team. See Tidio vs Intercom.
Crisp
Crisp charges a flat price per workspace. The free plan includes 2 seats and a website chat widget. Mini is $45 a month with 4 seats and a shared email inbox. Essentials is $95 a month with 10 seats. Plus is $295 a month with 20 seats. Paid plans include AI credits, and extra seats cost $10 a month. Every plan can be tried free for 14 days.
Suits you if several people need access and you prefer one fixed monthly price. Less of a fit if you are one person who only needs the cheapest paid option.
Help Scout
Help Scout is built around a shared email inbox, with live chat, SMS and social messaging on paid plans. The free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox and 100 contacts a month. Standard is $25 per user a month billed annually, or $30 monthly. Its AI Answers add-on is $0.75 per resolution, with the first three months free.
Suits you if most of your support is email and you want chat on the side. Less of a fit if most customers reach you by chat and you want a chat-first tool.
Zendesk
Zendesk Suite Team includes messaging, live chat, phone and AI agents for $55 per agent a month billed annually, or $69 monthly. Extra AI resolutions cost $1.50 to $2.00 each. There is no free plan. See Zendesk vs Intercom for a direct comparison.
Suits you if you want one help desk for every channel. Less of a fit if you want a free or very low-cost start.
HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot's customer service software has a free version with ticketing and team email. Starter is normally $20 per seat a month and adds live chat, with a lower price for new customers for a limited time.
Suits you if your contacts and deals already live in HubSpot. Less of a fit if you want a chat-first tool on its own.
How to choose
- Count your conversations. Check last month's chats and emails. Tidio prices by conversations, Crisp by workspace, the rest mostly by seat.
- Decide how much AI you want. Price the AI per answer: $0.99 on Intercom, $0.75 on Help Scout, or a monthly bundle on Tidio.
- Prepare your answers first. An AI agent can only use what you give it. A clear FAQ page is the best starting point.
- Test two tools for a week with real visitors, then compare cost and how often customers needed a person.
Read AI chatbots for customer service before you turn any AI agent on, so it does not answer with rules your business does not have.