10 Best Intercom Alternatives & Competitors in 2026 (by Use Case)

Key takeaways

Intercom is the chat-first support platform: unlimited live chat on every plan, a shared inbox, and Fin, its AI agent. G2 rates it 4.5 across more than 3,900 reviews. The tension is the invoice. You pay per seat, and Fin adds $0.99 for every outcome on top. In 2026 there is also news: Intercom renamed itself Fin, and Salesforce completed its acquisition on September 10, 2026. We compared 10 tools that replace Intercom’s core job, live chat plus a help desk plus an AI agent, and checked every pricing page and G2 profile in October 2026. Tidio sits first because it fits small and mid-sized teams best, and we say where it is lighter than Intercom. Each entry names where that tool falls short of Intercom too.

Why teams look for an Intercom alternative

Intercom does several things well. Every plan includes free, unlimited live chat, in-app messages, a shared inbox, tickets, a help center and Fin, and the Advanced and Expert plans add 20 and 50 free Lite seats. Intercom’s own pricing page also lists a startup program at 93% off. If you run a product-led SaaS team that wants a chat-first, AI-first desk and can budget for usage, you should probably stay.

Most teams that leave do so for one of four reasons, all visible on Intercom’s pricing page or in the company’s announcements (checked October 2026):

1. Two meters run at once. Seats cost $29, $85 or $132 per seat a month on Essential, Advanced and Expert, billed annually. Fin adds $0.99 per outcome. An outcome counts when a customer confirms the issue is resolved, doesn’t ask for more help after Fin replies, or Fin completes a workflow, and it is charged once per conversation. The bill grows with both team size and AI success.
2. Useful features start at Advanced. Multiple team inboxes, the workflow builder, round robin assignment and a private help center come with Advanced at $85 per seat a month, almost three times Essential. SSO, HIPAA support, SLAs and multibrand setups need Expert.
3. Add-ons stack up. Copilot is $29 per agent a month, Proactive Support Plus is $99 a month, and the Pro add-on starts at $100 a month. There is a free trial but no free plan.
4. The company changed hands. Intercom renamed itself Fin in the spring of 2026 and, in its own June 15 announcement, said Salesforce would acquire it for about $3.6 billion. Salesforce announced on September 10, 2026 that the acquisition was complete, and that Fin will continue to serve its customers as part of Salesforce’s AI Labs. intercom.com still lists the same plans, but some teams prefer to compare options when a vendor changes owner.

Your reason decides where to look. A flat price points to Tidio or Crisp, a free or self-hosted tool to tawk.to or Chatwoot, ticketing depth to Zendesk or Freshdesk, and a CRM-first setup to HubSpot. For a feature-by-feature read of the product first, see our Intercom review.

Intercom alternatives at a glance

Short answer: Tidio for small and mid-sized teams that want chat, tickets and an AI agent at flat prices, Crisp for a flat workspace price, tawk.to or Chatwoot for free and open source, Zendesk or Freshdesk for ticketing depth, Help Scout for email-first teams, HubSpot Service Hub for CRM-connected support, Front for a shared inbox, and Gorgias for online stores.

Tool	Best for	Starting price (billing basis)	Free plan / trial	G2 rating
Tidio	Small and mid-sized teams that want chat, tickets and AI at flat prices	$24.17/mo billed annually ($29 monthly), flat for up to 10 seats	Free plan · 7-day trial	4.6 (1,962)
Zendesk	Larger teams with SLAs, routing and many channels	Support Team $19/agent/mo billed annually (email and tickets); Suite Team $55 ($69 monthly) adds chat and AI agents	Free trial	4.3 (7,091)
Freshdesk	A help desk with public per-agent prices	$19/agent/mo billed annually	Free trial	4.4 (3,795)
Help Scout	Small, email-first teams that want a simple shared inbox	$25/user/mo billed annually, plus $0.75 per AI resolution	Free for 5 users	4.4 (431)
Crisp	Small teams that want a flat price per workspace	Mini $45/workspace/mo for 4 seats	Free plan, 2 seats · 14-day trial	4.5 (204)
HubSpot Service Hub	Support tied to CRM records	Professional $90/seat/mo billed annually, plus $1,500 onboarding	Free for 2 users	4.4 (3,018)
Front	Teams that work from a shared email inbox	Starter $25/seat/mo billed annually, up to 10 seats	Free trial	4.7 (2,514)
Gorgias	Online stores, especially Shopify	Basic $50/mo billed annually for 300 tickets	Free trial	4.6 (582)
Chatwoot	Teams that want open source and self-hosting	Startups $19/agent/mo	Hacker plan, 2 agents · 15-day trial	4.5 (16)
tawk.to	Teams that want free live chat	Free; AI Assist add-on $29/mo	Free	4.5 (203)

How we evaluated these alternatives

We started from the tools that rank for this search, the ones AI answers name for Intercom, and the previous edition of this article, then kept 10 that replace live chat plus a help desk plus an AI agent. Pure chatbot builders, sunset products and tools we couldn’t price from the vendor’s own page are out. Five criteria map to why teams leave Intercom:

1. Price model. Per seat, flat, per conversation or free, and what five agents pay.
2. AI billing. What triggers a charge for the AI agent, and what is included.
3. Channels. Live chat, email, social, WhatsApp and phone in one inbox.
4. Control. Free or open source options, and what sits behind higher plans.
5. Fit. Team size, e-commerce or SaaS, and how much setup you do yourself.

Sources are pricing pages, G2 listings and the Salesforce and Intercom announcements, and vendor claims are labeled as claims. We didn’t open trial accounts for this edition, so the screenshots come from public product pages and Tidio’s media library. Tidio goes first as the pick for small and mid-sized teams; the rest run roughly from closest to Intercom to furthest.

The 10 best Intercom alternatives in 2026

1. Tidio

Best for: small and mid-sized teams, including e-commerce stores, that want live chat, email tickets and an AI agent in one inbox at flat plan prices.

Tidio starts with the chat on your website and adds email, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp to the same inbox, so conversations stay in one place. Plans are priced by billable conversations, so adding a teammate adds no seat fee, and up to 10 agents fit on every self-serve plan. For Shopify stores, tidio.com lists cart preview and order history in the inbox, with native Shopify actions on Growth and up.

The Lyro AI agent handles repeat questions such as order status and shipping times, and Tidio says it can resolve up to 75% of support requests. Flows handle proactive messages and data capture. That puts Tidio at the cheaper end of this list.

Pros

• Chat, email, social messages and AI in one inbox, so context follows the customer.
• A free plan to test, and flat prices for up to 10 seats on self-serve plans.
• Native Shopify integration with cart and order data beside the chat.

Cons

• Conversations, Lyro and Flows each have their own quota, which keeps you paying only for what you use but means a few limits to track.
• Built for small and mid-sized teams, so a large, complex queue may suit a dedicated enterprise desk better.

Pricing: on Tidio’s pricing page, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Free $0 (50 billable conversations a month); Starter $24.17 ($29) for 100; Growth from $49.17 ($59) for 250 up to 2,000; Plus from $300 plus usage; Premium by quote. Lyro alone starts at $32.50 ($39) for 50 conversations; the first 50 are free.

Rating: G2 4.6/5 (1,962 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain a lower entry price, a free plan and flat seat pricing. You give up Intercom’s outbound tools such as product tours and checklists, and its enterprise controls on Expert. See the full Tidio vs Intercom comparison.

2. Zendesk

Best for: larger teams that need deep ticketing, routing and SLAs across many channels.

Zendesk is the closest like-for-like swap for a team that has outgrown Intercom’s ticketing. Support Team is $19 per agent a month billed annually, but it covers email and ticketing only. Chat and AI come with Suite Team at $55 ($69 monthly): AI agents, a knowledge base, messaging and live chat, telephony and omnichannel routing. The trade-off is scale of setup: more admin work, and a higher seat price once you want chat.

Pros

• Deep ticketing, routing, triggers and automations.
• Chat, email, phone and social in one suite on Suite Team.

Cons

• Chat and AI need Suite Team, almost three times the Support Team price.
• Skills-based routing and the App Builder start at Suite Professional, $115 per agent a month.

Pricing: per agent per month, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Support Team $19 ($25); Suite Team $55 ($69); Suite Professional $115; Enterprise by quote. Free trial.

Rating: G2 4.3/5 (7,091 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain mature ticketing, routing and SLAs. You give up Intercom’s usage-based Fin model, and Zendesk charges per agent for chat as well. More in our Zendesk alternatives guide.

3. Freshdesk

Best for: teams that want a help desk with prices on the page and a bundled AI allowance.

Freshdesk is email-first: its entry plan is described as launching AI-powered service over email, with a shared inbox, a customer portal and knowledge base, and the Freddy AI Agent. Growth is $19 per agent a month billed annually and includes the first 500 AI Agent sessions; extra sessions are $49 per 100. That is a more predictable AI line than a per-outcome price, as long as your volume stays near the allowance.

Pros

• Public per-agent prices for three plans.
• AI Agent sessions included on every plan.

Cons

• Email-first at the entry tier, so a chat-led team will compare plans carefully.
• Copilot is a $29 per agent add-on on Pro and Enterprise.

Pricing: per agent per month, billed annually: Growth $19; Pro $55; Enterprise $89. Extra AI sessions $49 per 100. Free trial.

Rating: G2 4.4/5 (3,795 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain a lower seat price and an AI allowance instead of a per-outcome meter. You give up Intercom’s chat-first messenger. More in our Freshdesk alternatives guide.

4. Help Scout

Best for: small, email-first teams that want a simple shared inbox with a free plan.

Help Scout feels like email with ownership added. The Free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site. Standard is $25 per user a month billed annually and adds live chat and SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, multiple inboxes and knowledge bases, and an AI inbox assistant. AI Answers, its AI agent, is $0.75 per resolution after a 3-month free trial.

Pros

• A free plan for 5 users, and the AI per-resolution price is lower than Fin’s.
• An email-like interface that keeps conversations assigned and tagged.

Cons

• Plus, at $45 per user a month, adds advanced workflows, SLAs and round robin routing.
• Smaller G2 footprint (431 reviews) than the larger suites.

Pricing: per user per month, billed annually: Free $0; Standard $25; Plus $45; Pro $75. AI Answers $0.75 per resolution.

Rating: G2 4.4/5 (431 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain a free plan and a lower AI price. You give up Intercom’s all-plans live chat and its outbound tools. More in our Help Scout review and Help Scout alternatives.

5. Crisp

Best for: startups and small teams that want a flat price per workspace instead of per seat.

Crisp prices the workspace, not the seat. The Free plan includes 2 seats, Mini is $45 a month for 4 seats, Essentials is $95 for 10 seats and adds the omnichannel inbox (WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, SMS and more) and a workflow builder, and Plus is $295 for 20 or more seats and adds ticketing. Paid plans include AI credits, about 90, 450 and 1,350 automated conversations respectively, according to Crisp’s pricing page. Crisp also lists Shopify, WooCommerce, Adobe and Prestashop integrations.

Pros

• Predictable flat prices, with 20 or more seats on Plus.
• Free plan and full-access 14-day trial.

Cons

• AI credits are a bundled allowance, so heavy AI use needs a plan upgrade or extra credits.
• Ticketing starts at Plus, $295 a month.

Pricing: per workspace per month as shown on the page (yearly payment is optional): Free $0; Mini $45; Essentials $95; Plus $295.

Rating: G2 4.5/5 (204 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain a flat price and a free plan. You give up per-seat flexibility: each plan comes with a fixed seat count. See our Crisp review.

6. HubSpot Service Hub

Best for: teams that already run HubSpot CRM and want support tied to customer records.

HubSpot is strongest when sales and support share one CRM. Service Hub is free for up to 2 users. Starter is $7 per seat a month billed annually ($20 monthly) with ticketing and live chat without HubSpot branding. Professional is $90 per seat billed annually ($100 monthly) and adds the Help Desk Workspace, a customer agent and a knowledge base. HubSpot lists a required one-time onboarding fee of $1,500 on Professional.

Pros

• Support, sales and marketing data in one CRM.
• A free tier and a low-cost Starter plan.

Cons

• Professional costs $90 a seat plus $1,500 for onboarding.
• AI features run on HubSpot credits, which add a usage line to budget for.

Pricing: per seat per month, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Free $0; Starter $7 ($20); Professional $90 ($100); Enterprise $150.

Rating: G2 4.4/5 (3,018 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain CRM-native context and a free tier. You give up a chat-first interface, and Professional costs more per seat than Intercom Advanced. See our HubSpot alternatives guide.

7. Front

Best for: teams that run support from shared email inboxes and want collaboration tools around them.

Front is a shared inbox first. Starter is $25 per seat a month billed annually, up to 10 seats, with a shared inbox, ticketing and a public knowledge base on a single channel type. Professional is $65 and adds omnichannel (email, SMS, social) for up to 50 seats. AI is sold as add-ons: Copilot is $20 per seat a month, and Autopilot, its AI agent, is listed from $0.05 per conversation with a sales conversation.

Pros

• Collaboration built around internal comments and assignments.
• The highest G2 score in this list, 4.7 across 2,514 reviews.

Cons

• Starter covers one channel type, and omnichannel needs Professional.
• AI agent pricing is quote-based.

Pricing: per seat per month, billed annually: Starter $25; Professional $65; Enterprise $105. Copilot add-on $20 per seat.

Rating: G2 4.7/5 (2,514 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain email collaboration and a clear per-seat ladder. You give up all-plans live chat: chat on Starter is limited to a single channel type. See our Front alternatives.

8. Gorgias

Best for: online stores, especially Shopify brands, that want order data beside every ticket.

Gorgias is built for e-commerce and says it powers customer conversations for 40% of Shopify brands, which is its own claim. It connects Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento and WooCommerce, and its helpdesk is never priced per agent: plans cover 50 to 5,000 tickets a month. Basic is $50 a month billed annually ($60 monthly) for 300 tickets, and the AI Agent is billed per resolution on top, at $0.85 to $1.00 per automated interaction depending on the plan.

Pros

• Order data and store actions next to each ticket.
• Ticket-based pricing that ignores team size.

Cons

• Overage is charged per ticket past the plan limit.
• Built for online stores, so a SaaS team uses fewer of its features.

Pricing: per month, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Starter $10 (monthly only); Basic $50 ($60); Pro $300 ($360); Advanced $750 ($900). AI Agent per resolution.

Rating: G2 4.6/5 (582 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain store-native order data. You give up a general-purpose messenger. See our Gorgias alternatives guide.

9. Chatwoot

Best for: teams that want an open source, self-hostable desk and control over their data.

Chatwoot describes itself as the open source, self-hosted customer support platform, and an alternative to Intercom and Zendesk. The cloud Hacker plan is $0 for up to 2 agents and 500 conversations a month. Startups is $19 per agent a month, Business $39 and Enterprise $99. Captain, its AI, runs on credits: 300, 500 or 800 included depending on the plan, then $20 per 1,000.

Pros

• Open source and self-hostable.
• Low per-agent prices, and a free plan.

Cons

• A small G2 base (16 reviews), so there is less independent feedback.
• Teams, automation rules and voice start at Business, $39 per agent.

Pricing: per agent per month as shown on the page: Hacker $0 (2 agents); Startups $19; Business $39; Enterprise $99. Captain credits extra at $20 per 1,000.

Rating: G2 4.5/5 (16 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain open source and a lower seat price. If you self-host, updates and uptime are yours to run. More in our open source help desk guide.

10. tawk.to

Best for: teams that want free live chat and add paid extras only when they need them.

tawk.to says you can use it entirely for free, and that 99% of businesses do. Paid extras are optional add-ons: AI Assist, which answers from your knowledge base and hands off to a human, is $29 a month; Whitelabel, which removes the tawk.to badge, is $29 a month; and voice agents start at $49 a month plus usage. If all you need is chat, it is the lowest-cost route here.

Pros

• Free chat, with paid add-ons only when you want them.
• Channel tabs for chat, Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram and email in the inbox.

Cons

• AI Assist, Whitelabel and voice agents are each priced separately, so the total grows with what you add.
• It is positioned around free chat, so check how much ticketing you need before you commit.

Pricing: Free; AI Assist $29/mo; Whitelabel $29/mo; voice agents from $49/mo plus usage.

Rating: G2 4.5/5 (203 reviews)

Versus Intercom: you gain a free plan and optional add-ons. You give up a single-vendor plan ladder with ticketing and outbound tools. See our tawk.to alternatives and tawk.to review.

What 5 agents and 1,000 AI resolutions cost

Seat prices and AI prices don’t compare directly, so here is one team on every tool: 5 agents, the cheapest paid plan that covers live chat and tickets, billed annually, before AI usage. Prices come from the pages above.

Tool	Plan	Math	Per month
tawk.to	Free	free	$0
Tidio	Starter	flat, up to 10 seats	$24.17
Crisp	Essentials	flat, 10 seats	$95
Chatwoot	Startups	5 × $19	$95
Help Scout	Standard	5 × $25	$125
Front	Starter (single channel type)	5 × $25	$125
Intercom	Essential	5 × $29	$145
Zendesk	Suite Team (chat and AI agents)	5 × $55	$275
HubSpot	Professional	5 × $90, plus $1,500 one-time	$450

Then the AI line. A team that sees AI close 1,000 conversations a month pays about $990 on Intercom’s $0.99 per Fin outcome, $750 on Help Scout’s $0.75 per resolution, and about $900 on Gorgias at $0.90. Crisp and Chatwoot bundle credits instead: Crisp Essentials includes roughly 450 automated conversations and Plus roughly 1,350, and Chatwoot’s extra credits cost $20 per 1,000, though the page doesn’t say how many credits one answer uses. Freshdesk includes 500 AI Agent sessions on every plan and sells more at $49 per 100. Tidio sells Lyro by conversation tier, from $32.50 a month billed annually for 50 conversations, so check the tier for your volume on its pricing page. Price your busiest month, not your average one.

Tidio vs Intercom

	Tidio	Intercom
Best for	Small and mid-sized teams, including Shopify stores, that want chat, tickets and AI	Product-led and SaaS teams that want a chat-first, AI-first desk
Pricing unit	Billable conversations, flat per plan	Seats, plus usage
Entry price	Free plan; Starter $24.17/mo billed annually	Essential $29/seat/mo billed annually
Free plan	Yes: 50 billable conversations, 10 seats	None; free trial
Live chat	Included, with Lyro in the same inbox	Free and unlimited on every plan
AI agent	Lyro, from $32.50/mo billed annually for 50 conversations; says it can resolve up to 75% of requests	Fin, $0.99 per outcome
E-commerce	Cart preview and order history for Shopify in the inbox, per tidio.com	Fin is offered for service, sales and e-commerce, per its pricing page
Channels	Live chat, email, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp in one inbox	Live chat, email and in-app free; SMS, WhatsApp and phone pay-as-you-go
Outbound and product tours	Flows for proactive messages	Proactive Support Plus, $99/mo: posts, checklists, product tours, surveys
Enterprise controls	Plus adds custom limits and a dedicated success manager	Expert: SSO, HIPAA support, SLAs, multibrand
Ownership	Independent	Owned by Salesforce since September 10, 2026

Intercom is stronger on outbound tools, enterprise controls and review volume (3,921 G2 reviews against Tidio’s 1,962). If you run a product-led SaaS team and want the broadest chat-first platform, it is a fair choice. If your team is small and you want chat, tickets and AI in one inbox on a tighter budget, look at Tidio’s help desk.

How to switch from Intercom

Plan for a week of parallel running, not a weekend:

1. Export what you need. Pull conversations, contacts, saved replies, tags and help center articles before you cancel.
2. List your automations. Check which plan of the new tool holds each workflow, rule and routing setup you rely on.
3. Check your integrations. Note which apps feed customer data, billing and product events into your inbox.
4. Check your contract dates. Line the cancellation up with your renewal, and note whether you pay monthly or annually.
5. Run both for a week. Rebuild your daily automations, route part of the traffic to the new tool, then swap the chat widget and help center link.

None of the tools above advertises a one-click migration from Intercom, so expect to rebuild saved replies and workflows by hand.

How to choose

Match the tool to your bottleneck:

• You run a small or mid-sized team and want chat, tickets and AI in one inbox. Choose Tidio.
• You want a flat team price. Choose Crisp.
• You want free or open source. Choose tawk.to for free chat, or Chatwoot to self-host.
• You want a help desk with a price on the page. Choose Freshdesk, or Zendesk if you need chat and AI agents in the same suite.
• Your team is small and works from email. Choose Help Scout, or Front if collaboration matters most.
• Your team already uses HubSpot CRM. Choose HubSpot Service Hub, and budget for onboarding.
• You run an online store. Choose Gorgias, or Tidio for a lower-cost chat-first start.

Bottom line

Intercom stays a fair choice when you want a chat-first, AI-first platform and can budget for seats plus Fin outcomes. Move when the two meters outgrow the plan, when you need a free or open source option, or when you’d rather compare the market after the Salesforce deal. Small and mid-sized teams that want chat, tickets and an AI agent without paying per seat should start with Tidio. For a flat workspace price, look at Crisp; for free chat or open source, tawk.to or Chatwoot; for ticketing depth, Zendesk or Freshdesk.

Related guides

• Intercom review
• Zendesk vs Intercom
• Intercom vs Freshdesk
• Intercom vs Help Scout
• Zendesk alternatives
• Gorgias alternatives

Frequently asked questions