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Intercom alternative

Intercom pricing plans, Intercom bot pricing, Intercom Accelerate plan pricing and the Intercom chat competitors worth comparing

One AI brain across every channel for a flat, predictable price instead of paying per resolution.

Pricing checked on Intercom's own site · Last updated August 2026

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Conversation Console
Example output
Channel
Pick a customer message

Tap a customer message above. The same AI agent replies on , in your brand's voice.

AI is typing…
AI assistant
Action card auto-handled
Intent
Action
CRM

Handed to a human teammate

They pick up with the full conversation and context carried over. No dead ends, no repeating.

Sample conversation, not customer data.

Intercom is a polished, AI-first support suite, and its Fin AI agent is a genuinely capable answer engine. Two things changed in 2026 that anyone evaluating it should know: the company renamed itself Fin in May 2026, and on June 15, 2026 Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire it for about $3.6 billion, with the technology and team set to power Agentforce. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Salesforce's fiscal 2027. Pricing has not changed so far, but if you are signing a multi-year contract it is worth asking where the product sits after the acquisition closes.

On cost, Intercom's seat plans run roughly $29 per seat per month for Essential, $85 for Advanced, and $132 for Expert on annual billing, and Fin is charged at $0.99 per resolution on top of those seats. MessageAgent takes a different shape. One AI persona, with shared memory and a lightweight CRM, follows each customer across SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook DM, web chat, and email, instead of being centered on one help desk. The bill is a flat, predictable subscription, with carrier and Meta message fees passed through at cost and no per-resolution meter. Compliance is built in: AI is disclosed on every chat, TCPA opt-out and WhatsApp templates are handled, and a clean human handoff is one tap away.

Side by side

MessageAgent vs Intercom

MessageAgent is AI-native and truly omnichannel with one brain across six channels and a flat subscription, where Intercom centers on a help desk and meters its Fin AI per resolution.

Feature
MessageAgent
Intercom
True omnichannel (all six channels, one brain)
One AI persona with shared memory across SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook DM, web chat, and email in a single inbox.
Strong help-desk inbox; channel breadth centers on web, email, and the messenger, with AI focused on support.
AI-native
Built around the AI agent from the start, answering, qualifying, booking, and upselling.
AI-first support suite; Fin AI is a capable answer agent layered on the help desk.
Pricing model (flat vs per-outcome)
Flat, predictable subscription tier; you know your bill up front.
Seat plans ($39/$99/$139 per seat monthly, $29/$85/$132 annual) plus $0.99 per Fin outcome, with a 50-outcome monthly minimum.
Cost to qualify a lead
Included. Qualifying, disqualifying, and booking are part of the flat plan at any volume.
Fin bills $9.99 for each qualification outcome and $0.99 for each disqualification, so screening leads is metered either way.
Message-fee markup
Carrier and Meta message fees passed through at cost, no markup.
Channel usage billed on top: US SMS from $0.06 per segment, WhatsApp inbound from $0.045, outbound from $0.10 per conversation.
Sales plus support (qualify, book, upsell)
Qualifies leads, books appointments, and upsells relevant add-ons, not just support answers.
Primarily support-led, with sales and marketing handled through separate products and add-ons.
Compliance built in (AI disclosure, TCPA, WhatsApp)
AI disclosed on every chat, TCPA opt-out, and WhatsApp opt-in and templates handled by default.
Enterprise-grade security and policy controls; messaging compliance depends on the channels you enable.

Intercom is a trademark of its owner, referenced nominatively. Comparison reflects publicly described capabilities.

Common questions

Switching from Intercom

How much is Intercom?

Intercom, which renamed itself Fin in May 2026, charges $29 per help desk seat a month and $0.99 per resolved outcome, with a 50-outcome monthly minimum. Copilot is $35 per user a month and the Pro add-on starts at $99 a month. Teammates on third-party help desks carry no seat cost. Pricing is USD only.

How much does Intercom cost per month for a small team?

A five-seat team is $145 a month in seats before any AI usage. Add the 50-outcome minimum at $0.99 and the floor is about $195 a month. At 500 resolved outcomes the same team pays roughly $640 a month, because the outcome line grows faster than the seat line as volume rises.

Is MessageAgent a good Intercom alternative?

Yes, especially if you want one AI agent across SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook DM, web chat, and email with shared memory, and a flat price instead of paying per resolution. Intercom remains a strong help-desk-centered choice; MessageAgent is built omnichannel and AI-native from the ground up.

How does pricing compare to Intercom?

Intercom charges roughly $29, $85, and $132 per seat per month for Essential, Advanced, and Expert on annual billing, plus $0.99 for every resolution its Fin AI closes. MessageAgent is a flat, predictable subscription with no per-resolution meter, and carrier and Meta message fees are passed through at cost with no markup.

Is Intercom being acquired by Salesforce?

Yes. Salesforce signed a definitive agreement on June 15, 2026 to acquire the company, now named Fin and formerly Intercom, for approximately $3.6 billion. Fin's team and technology are set to power Agentforce, and the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Salesforce's fiscal 2027. Pricing is unchanged for now.

Why did Intercom change its name to Fin?

The company renamed itself Fin in May 2026, taking the name of its AI agent product, to signal that the AI agent rather than the help desk is now the center of the business. Most buyers still search for it as Intercom, and the two names refer to the same company.

What counts as a billable outcome on Fin?

Fin bills one outcome per conversation across four types: a resolution, a procedure handoff, a disqualification, or a qualification. Resolutions, procedure handoffs, and disqualifications are $0.99 each; qualifications are $9.99 each. A conversation simply passed to your team without an outcome is not charged.

How much does Intercom cost per month?

Seats are $39, $99, and $139 per seat per month for Essential, Advanced, and Expert on monthly billing, or $29, $85, and $132 on annual billing. Fin outcomes are $0.99 on top, with a 50-outcome monthly minimum when running Fin on a third-party help desk. Copilot is $29 per agent annually or $35 monthly.

Is there a cheaper alternative to Intercom for lead qualification?

For qualification-heavy work, yes. Fin charges $9.99 every time it qualifies a prospect, so a business screening 200 leads a month pays about $1,998 for that alone before seats. MessageAgent includes qualifying, disqualifying, booking, and upselling in a flat subscription regardless of how many leads come through.

Does Intercom have a free trial?

Yes. Intercom offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, including unlimited Fin outcomes during the trial and no seat minimums. Early-stage startups can also apply to its program for a steep discount plus a year of Fin, though eligibility rules apply.

What are the best Intercom alternatives?

It depends on your shape. Zendesk and Freshdesk are the enterprise help-desk alternatives, Gorgias the ecommerce one, Help Scout and Front the simple shared-inbox picks, Tidio and Crisp the budget web-chat options, and respond.io the WhatsApp-first choice outside the US. MessageAgent is the alternative for teams whose customers message on SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger rather than opening tickets.

What is Intercom bot pricing?

Intercom prices its bot per outcome rather than per message or per seat. Fin bills $0.99 for a resolution, a procedure handoff, or a disqualification, and $9.99 each time it qualifies a lead. A conversation passed to your team with no outcome is not charged, and there is a 50-outcome monthly minimum when Fin runs on a third-party help desk.

Why is Intercom so expensive?

Because you pay on two axes for the same conversation. Seats are billed per person on your team at $29 to $132 each annually, and Fin is billed per conversation it closes. The better the AI performs, the more resolutions it produces and the higher the invoice, so costs often rise in the month your support metrics improve.

Is there a free Intercom chat alternative?

Free tiers exist across the category, but for a business handling real volume they usually cost more once per-conversation AI charges or seat limits kick in. The better question is which billing model matches you: avoid per-agent pricing if your team is growing, and avoid per-resolution metering if your conversation volume is. MessageAgent is flat from $79 a month with the AI included.

What is the Intercom Accelerate plan?

Accelerate is a retired legacy plan name, not something you can buy in 2026. Intercom publicly sells Essential, Advanced, and Expert, with Fin metered separately. Accounts on the old plan were migrated to a current tier, and reps occasionally still use the word for a custom enterprise bundle, so treat any quote headed Accelerate as bespoke and ask for the underlying per-seat and per-resolution rates.

Try the one-brain alternative

One AI across every channel, one inbox, one flat price. No per-resolution surprise bills.

Discloses AI · compliant · human handoff built in

We're onboarding new workspaces in small batches right now.