Intercom review

Intercom is the help desk to choose if you want AI to do most of the first-line work. Fin AI Agent is included on every plan and handles service, sales and ecommerce questions, priced from $0.99 per outcome. Essential, at $29 per seat per month with a $19 new-customer price, adds the Messenger, shared inbox, ticketing, prebuilt reports and a public help center. Advanced, at $85, brings multiple team inboxes, a workflow builder, round robin assignment, a private multilingual help center and 20 free Lite seats. Expert, at $132, adds SSO, HIPAA support, SLAs and multibrand messengers. The total bill is harder to predict than with seat-only tools, because Fin outcomes and channels such as SMS, WhatsApp and phone are charged as used. For a software company with high chat volume, Fin can pay for itself. For an email-heavy team, Help Scout is simpler and cheaper.

Who it is for

Software companies that want AI to answer most chats before an agent steps in.

Price

Essential $29 per seat per month ($19 for new customers), plus from $0.99 per Fin outcome; Advanced $85; Expert $132.

Intercom helpdesk $29 $19 per seat/mo New customers save 35%
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 4, 2026.

Key features

• Fin AI Agent for service, sales and ecommerce
• Messenger with free, unlimited live chat and in-app chats
• Shared inbox and ticketing system
• Public help center, multilingual on Advanced
• Workflows automation builder and round robin on Advanced

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Fin is one of the most developed AI support agents
• Strength: Advanced includes 20 free Lite seats
• Strength: Live chat, email, in-app chats and banners on every plan
• Weakness: Every Fin outcome adds at least $0.99
• Weakness: SMS, WhatsApp and phone are pay as you go
• Weakness: Workflows need Advanced at $85 per seat

Key facts

• Fin pricing: From $0.99 per outcome
• Lite seats: 20 free on Advanced, 50 on Expert
• Paid tiers: Essential, Advanced, Expert

Where it ranks

Intercom is No. 4 in our Best Help Desk Software verdict.