Cheaper Intercom Alternatives in 2026: Prices for Five Agents
Crisp is the lowest of the three alternatives that price AI into the total. At five agents and 1,000 AI conversations a month, its Plus plan costs $295, against $1,485 for Intercom's Advanced plan on monthly billing. Help Scout Standard ($875) and Freshdesk Growth ($340) also come in under Intercom on annual billing. Chatwoot is the free route, with a free plan for up to two agents.
Toolradar data: Toolradar's customer support ranking says it "evaluated 574 customer support tools to create this ranking," and 4 of the 10 tools it lists have a free plan. Its data block dates the 574 count to October 24, 2026. That is 40% of the ten listed tools, not of the 574, so read it as a shortlist signal rather than a market share.
This page holds 4 tools compared against Intercom on five full seats and 1,000 AI conversations a month. Each vendor counts its AI charge in its own unit. Intercom bills an outcome, Help Scout a resolution, Freshdesk a session, and Crisp an automated conversation inside its included credits.
The same five agents on each vendor's billing term
Intercom charges for seats and for Fin separately. Fin is billed per outcome, so 1,000 outcomes come to $990 a month on top of the seats. Each row below adds the tool's seat cost to its AI charge, then sets the total against the Intercom plan on the same billing term.
| Tool | Plan and billing | Monthly total | Intercom plan compared | Intercom total | What the cheaper tool lacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crisp | Plus, per month, per workspace | $295 | Advanced, monthly | $1,485 | No SSO or HIPAA on its pricing page; Intercom's Expert plan lists both, at $1,685 on monthly billing |
| Help Scout | Standard, annual, per user | $875 | Advanced, annual | $1,415 | No round robin routing; Help Scout puts it on Plus, and Intercom's Advanced plan lists round robin assignment |
| Freshdesk | Growth, annual, per agent | $340 | Advanced, annual | $1,415 | No intelligent routing or multiple SLA policies, which Freshdesk lists on Pro |
| Chatwoot | Startups, per agent per month, seats only | $95 | Advanced, monthly, seats only | $495 | No automation rules, teams, SSO/SAML or voice; Intercom's Advanced plan lists a workflow automation builder |
Each row is cheaper than its Intercom comparison on the same billing term. The Chatwoot row prices seats only on both sides, because Chatwoot sells Captain AI in credits ($20 per 1,000 extra), and credits cannot be matched to a conversation count. Of the three rows that price AI, Crisp has the lowest monthly total. Help Scout and Freshdesk both undercut Intercom's Advanced plan on annual billing by more than $500 a month.
Intercom's list prices for the same team
- Essential: $29 per seat a month billed annually, or $1,135 with five seats and Fin. A new-customer offer brings the seat price to $19, which makes the total $1,085. Intercom's wording is "New customers save an additional 35% on an annual Essential plan. Discount applies to all seats for as long as you remain subscribed." The badge beside the price reads "New customers save 35%" (Intercom pricing, October 25, 2026). The printed terms apply the discount to all seats for as long as the customer remains subscribed and print no end date. The page markup also carries a 25% variant for monthly billing.
- Advanced: $85 per seat a month billed annually, or $1,415 with Fin. The plan includes 20 free Lite seats for collaborators who do not need full access.
- Expert: $132 per seat a month billed annually, or $1,650 with Fin. The plan includes 50 free Lite seats, plus SSO, HIPAA support and SLAs.
- Monthly: Intercom's structured data lists $99 per seat a month for Advanced and $139 for Expert, which makes the monthly totals $1,485 and $1,685.
Fin is priced at $0.99 per outcome. An outcome counts when a customer confirms the issue is resolved, when they stop asking for help after Fin responds, or when Fin completes a workflow, including handoffs. Each conversation is charged once. For Fin used on a helpdesk the team already runs, the page prints a minimum monthly commitment, given as an example of 50 outcomes.
Crisp, lowest of the three AI-priced totals
Crisp suits a small team that wants AI and a shared inbox on one workspace bill. Plus is $295 a month per workspace, lists 20+ seats, and includes around 1,350 automated conversations with $75 of AI credits. Essentials is $95 a month for 10 seats and around 450 automated conversations. The free plan is $0 with 2 seats and no AI credits.
The weak point is compliance. Crisp's pricing page lists neither SSO nor HIPAA, while Intercom's Expert plan lists both. Plus also runs out of included credits past roughly 1,350 automated conversations a month, so volume above that point falls outside the price shown here.
Pay for Crisp if the team is small, wants AI and the inbox on one bill, and has no SSO or HIPAA requirement. Skip it if a security review requires either one.
Help Scout, the unit closest to Intercom's
Help Scout is the closest match to Intercom's model: a per-seat price plus a charge for each AI resolution. Standard is $25 per user a month on annual billing, Plus is $45 and Pro is $75. AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution. Help Scout defines a resolution as "a single conversation that is resolved by AI Answers without human assistance," and a conversation that the customer escalates is not charged.
Help Scout also allows a monthly cap on AI resolutions. When the cap is reached, AI Answers switches off until the next billing cycle, which gives a finance lead a ceiling on the AI line. Standard lacks round robin routing, which Plus adds at $45 a user. Five users on Plus with 1,000 resolutions total $975 a month, still $440 under Intercom's Advanced plan on annual billing.
Pay for Help Scout if the team wants per-resolution pricing with a hard cap and can do without round robin on the entry plan. Skip it if round robin routing has to be there from the first day on Standard.
Freshdesk, cheap seats with a session meter
Freshdesk Growth is $19 per agent a month on annual billing, and Freddy AI Agent includes the first 500 sessions. Each extra 100 sessions costs $49. Five agents on Growth with 1,000 sessions come to $95 for seats plus $245 for five blocks of extra sessions, or $340 a month.
The weak point is the unit. Freshdesk meters AI Agent sessions, not resolutions or outcomes, so the 1,000 figure is a volume match rather than the same event that Intercom and Help Scout bill. Growth also omits intelligent routing and multiple SLA policies, which Freshdesk lists on Pro at $55 per agent a month on annual billing.
Pay for Freshdesk if seat cost matters most and the team can measure its own session count before committing. Skip it if routing rules and SLA policies have to be in place without moving to Pro.
Chatwoot, the free route for two agents
Chatwoot's Hacker plan is free for up to two agents and 500 conversations a month, with live chat and no Captain AI. Startups is $19 per agent a month, with 300 Captain AI credits and a help center. Business is $39 per agent and adds teams and automation rules. Enterprise is $99 per agent and is the tier that includes SSO/SAML. Chatwoot also runs a self-hosted edition, which its pricing page lists separately from the cloud plans.
The weak point is AI cost. Captain AI runs on credits, and extra credits cost $20 per 1,000, so the AI line cannot be priced per conversation the way the other rows are. Startups also lacks automation rules, teams, SSO/SAML and voice, all of which sit on higher tiers.
Pay for Chatwoot if the team has two agents, wants a free starting point, or prefers to self-host. Skip it if the 1,000 AI conversations are the main cost and the team needs automation on a low plan.
What the May 2025 snapshot shows
A snapshot of Intercom's pricing page dated May 15, 2025 lists Fin at $0.99 per resolution, with a minimum of 50 resolutions a month for Fin on an existing helpdesk. The same snapshot shows Essential at $29, Advanced at $85 and Expert at $132 per seat a month billed annually. Those seat prices match the current page, which shows $29 beside the $19 new-customer price.
The 2025 snapshot counted a resolution "when either the customer confirms the AI Answer resolved their issue, or the customer doesn't request more help after the last AI Answer." The current page keeps the same $0.99 price, renames the unit an outcome, and adds a third trigger: Fin completes a workflow, including handoffs. A conversation that Fin hands to a human can now be billed, which matters most for a team with a high escalation rate.
What users say
A Hacker News commenter wrote in September 2023 that "For some types of business Intercom pricing is hilariously high." The comment described per-active-user pricing, while the 2025 snapshot already sells per seat. The thread is one user's view, so it adds context rather than proof.
Who should pay for Intercom
Pay Intercom when the team needs SSO, HIPAA support and SLAs from one vendor, because the Expert plan lists all three at $132 per seat a month billed annually. For a team that needs those features, the Expert total of $1,650 with Fin is the comparison that matters, not the Essential total. Crisp's pricing page lists neither SSO nor HIPAA, and Chatwoot's Startups plan lists no SSO, so those two rows do not replace Expert for that requirement.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Intercom alternative?
Chatwoot's Hacker plan is free for up to two agents and 500 conversations a month, without Captain AI. Crisp's free plan has 2 seats and no AI credits. Neither covers 1,000 AI conversations, so the free routes suit small teams with little automation.
How much does Intercom cost for five agents?
At list prices on annual billing, Essential is $1,135 a month and Advanced is $1,415, both with 1,000 Fin outcomes. The new-customer Essential discount brings Essential to $1,085 for as long as the subscription continues.
Does Fin charge when it hands a conversation to a human?
Under the current definition, a handoff can count. Intercom's pricing page counts an outcome when Fin completes a workflow (Procedure), "including handoffs," and each conversation is charged once.
Is Help Scout cheaper than Intercom for five people?
Yes, on annual billing. Standard is $875 a month for five users with 1,000 resolutions, against $1,135 for Intercom's Essential at list price. Standard lacks round robin routing, which Help Scout places on Plus.
Which alternative supports SSO?
Chatwoot's Enterprise plan at $99 per agent a month is the tier that lists SSO/SAML. Crisp's pricing page lists neither SSO nor HIPAA, while Intercom's Expert plan lists both.
Pricing as of October 2026, as printed on each vendor's page: Intercom, Help Scout, Freshdesk, Crisp and Chatwoot. Tool profiles are on Toolradar for Intercom, Help Scout, Freshdesk, Crisp and Chatwoot.
Related guides
Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.
Across our whole catalogue the median is $23.50 a month and 37% of tools advertise a free tier. Figures are the lowest recurring monthly price quoted in our own review of each tool, read on 2026-10-23. Full method and every category.
