Intercom alternatives and competitors
Intercom charges per seat, plus $0.99 every time its Fin AI agent resolves a conversation. These seven competitors cost less for answering customer questions, and three of them have a free plan.
Prices checked on 10 October 2026 against each company's own pricing page (Intercom's on 7 October 2026; Chatbase, SiteGPT and the free plans on 11 October 2026), in US dollars before tax.
Quick summary
- unclench.ai: best flat-price option, an AI agent answering from your own docs with no per-resolution fees.
- Crisp: best low-cost chat inbox, free for 2 seats.
- Chatbase: best for an AI chatbot on its own, priced by messages.
- SiteGPT: a website chatbot priced by messages, from $39 a month billed yearly.
- Help Scout: best for email support from a shared inbox, free for up to 5 users.
- Tidio: best for online stores, with a free plan.
- Freshdesk: best for email ticketing at a low per-agent price.
Why people look for Intercom alternatives
- Seats add up: Essential is $29 a seat a month billed yearly, Advanced $85 and Expert $132.
- Fin bills per outcome: $0.99 each, so 1,000 AI-answered conversations a month is $990 on top of seats.
- A lot of what the higher plans add, like workflows, multiple brands and SSO, is built for larger teams.
The alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Starting price | How the AI is charged | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| unclench.ai | $49 a month for 2 seats, $99 for 10 | Included: 2,000 or 6,000 AI replies a month | Teams that want an AI agent answering from their own docs, with live handover |
| Crisp | Free for 2 agents; Mini $45 a month per workspace for 4 agents | AI credits included per plan: $5 on Mini, around 90 automated conversations | A chat inbox for a small team, priced per workspace |
| Chatbase | Hobby $40 a month for 700 message credits and 2 members; Standard $150 for 4,000 and 3 members | Message credits included per plan; $40 per 1,000 more | An AI chatbot trained on your content, priced by messages |
| SiteGPT | Starter $59 a month ($39 billed yearly) for 1 chatbot and 1 member; Growth $129 ($79 yearly) for 2 chatbots and 4 members | Up to 4,000 messages a month on Starter, 10,000 on Growth (GPT-4.1-mini) | A chatbot trained on your website, priced by messages |
| Help Scout | Free for 5 users; paid from $25 per user a month | AI Answers chatbot add-on, $0.75 per resolution | Email-first teams that want a shared inbox and help docs |
| Tidio | Free plan; Starter from $24.17 a month | Lyro AI from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations | Shopify and other online stores |
| Freshdesk | Growth $19 per agent a month billed yearly | First 500 Freddy AI sessions included once, then $49 per 100 | Teams handling a lot of email tickets |
Free Intercom alternatives
Three of these cost nothing to start. The catch is the AI: each free plan leaves it out or caps it.
- Crisp: free for 2 seats with a shared chat inbox, and no AI credits. AI starts on Mini, $45 a month per workspace with $5 of credits, around 90 automated conversations.
- Help Scout: free for up to 5 users, with 1 inbox and 1 Docs site. AI Answers isn't included; it's $0.75 per resolution after a three-month free trial for new accounts.
- Tidio: free for 10 seats and 50 conversations a month, with 50 Lyro AI conversations once, which don't renew.
How to choose
- Most questions come in through chat and you want AI to answer them: unclench.ai, or Tidio if you run an online store.
- You want an AI chatbot on your website and no shared inbox: Chatbase or SiteGPT, both priced by messages.
- Support runs by email from a shared inbox: Help Scout or Freshdesk.
- You want the cheapest chat inbox and don't need much AI: Crisp's free plan.
If you only need a simple live chat for two people, Crisp's free plan is a good place to start.
But if you want an AI agent that answers customers from your own website and docs, hands the conversation to your team when it can't, and one flat monthly price with no per-resolution fees, that's what we built unclench.ai for: $49 a month for 2 seats and 2,000 AI replies, or $99 for 10 seats and 6,000.
When Intercom is still the right call
If you need messaging inside your product, product tours, a workflows builder, a hosted help center or SSO, Intercom does all of those in one place, and none of the tools above match every one.
Bringing your history
unclench.ai imports your Intercom contacts and past conversations, with their files, so your team keeps the context from day one.
Questions, answered.
- What is the cheapest Intercom alternative?
- Crisp (2 seats), Help Scout (5 users) and Tidio (10 seats, 50 conversations a month) have free plans, with little or no AI. With an AI agent included in the price, unclench.ai is $49 a month for 2 seats and 2,000 AI replies, or $99 for 10 seats and 6,000.
- Which alternatives include AI in the price?
- unclench.ai includes AI replies in every plan, Chatbase and SiteGPT include message credits per plan, and Crisp includes a small AI credit. Help Scout, Tidio and Freshdesk charge for their AI agents separately, per resolution, conversation or session.
- Can I bring my Intercom conversations?
- To unclench.ai, yes: it imports your contacts and 2 to 5 years of conversations, with their attachments, from Settings, Import.
See it answer from your own site.
Enter your website and try an AI agent built from your pages, free. Related: A cheaper alternative to Intercom Fin, unclench.ai vs Intercom, Intercom pricing.