Intercom (Fin) pricing: seat plans, Fin outcomes and what a month costs
Muhammad Hassan, FounderLinkedIn
Published Updated
Intercom pricing starts at $19 per seat a month for new customers on the Essential plan billed annually ($29 billed monthly). Advanced is $85 and Expert $132 per seat billed annually. Fin, the AI agent, is billed on top at $0.99 per outcome, or $9.99 for a sales qualification, at most once per conversation.
Intercom is the helpdesk and Fin is the AI agent. The company itself is now Fin (formerly Intercom; owned by Salesforce since September 2026): it changed its name on 12 May 2026, Salesforce completed the purchase on 10 September, and the helpdesk keeps the Intercom name.
We make HiQBot, a rival product, so read this with that in mind. Every price below is copied from intercom.com/pricing and fin.ai/pricing on 13 November 2026, and the sums are ours. How we check prices is in our editorial standards.
Intercom pricing plans in November 2026
Intercom has three helpdesk plans. You pay for each Full seat, the people who answer customers, and every plan includes Fin, live chat, support email, in-app chat, banners and tooltips.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Lite seats | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | $19 for new customers (list $29) | $29 for new customers (list $39) | None listed | Intercom Messenger (the chat widget), public help center |
| Advanced | $85 | $99 | 20 free | Multiple team inboxes, private and multilingual help center |
| Expert | $132 | $139 | 50 free | Multibrand Messenger and help center |
What one Intercom seat costs
One Full seat costs $19 to $132 a month billed annually, or $29 to $139 billed monthly, depending on the plan. The Essential price is a new-customer offer: Intercom says new customers save 35% on an annual Essential plan and 25% on a monthly one, on all seats, for as long as they stay subscribed. Without it, Essential lists at $29 billed annually and $39 billed monthly.
Lite seats are free on Advanced and Expert. They are for teammates who help behind the scenes: only Full seats can send messages to customers. There is no free plan. The trial lasts 14 days and needs no card.
Fin AI pricing: $0.99 per outcome
Fin is priced by outcome. Intercom charges when Fin finishes a job in a conversation, and at most once per conversation however many questions the customer asks. That makes it the line to watch, because it grows with your volume and with how well Fin works, while seats grow only with your team. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome either way: on Intercom you also pay for seats, and on another helpdesk there is a $49 monthly minimum instead.
What counts as a Fin outcome
| Outcome | When it is billed | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | The customer has no further question after Fin's last answer | $0.99 |
| Procedure handoff | A procedure you set up ends by handing over to a person or a workflow | $0.99 |
| Disqualification | A prospect does not match your criteria | $0.99 |
| Self-serve routing | Fin sends a prospect to sign up on their own, such as for a trial | $0.99 |
| Qualification | Fin matches a prospect to your criteria and routes them | $9.99 |
Intercom does not charge when Fin hands a chat over because of its default behaviour or your escalation rules, when a procedure fails, for spam, for outbound messages nobody answers, or for abandoned conversations (Fin AI Agent outcomes, updated 23 September 2026). A customer asking for a person is not billed either.
Assumed resolutions are billed too
A resolution does not need the customer to say thanks. If they read Fin's answer and leave without asking for more help, Intercom counts it as an assumed resolution and bills it. For most help questions that is fair. Budget for it anyway, because a conversation Fin answers on its own is billed even if the customer never confirms it helped.
The 50-outcome minimum on another helpdesk
You can run Fin on Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot or another helpdesk without buying Intercom seats. Then the price on fin.ai/pricing is $0.99 per outcome with a $49 monthly minimum that includes 50 outcomes. For Fin on the Intercom helpdesk, Intercom lists no outcome minimum; you pay for your seats instead.
How to cap what Fin costs
Fin has a monthly spending limit and alerts, so you can set a ceiling on what outcomes cost. Set both before you go live. Intercom also has a pricing calculator for a tailored estimate.
Intercom add-ons and channel costs
Add-ons and usage channels sit on top of seats and outcomes. None is required, but if you use WhatsApp, SMS, phone or product tours, this is where you pay for them.
| Add-on or channel | Price |
|---|---|
| Copilot (AI help for your agents) | $29 per agent a month billed annually, $35 billed monthly; 10 free Copilot conversations per agent a month |
| Pro | From $100 a month, with analysis of 500 conversations a month and 6,000 credits; extra credits $0.01 each |
| Proactive Support Plus (tours, surveys, in-app messages) | $99 a month for the first 500 messages sent, then charged per message |
| Charged per message sent | |
| SMS | Charged per message, varies by region |
| Phone | Usage-based, varies |
| Email campaigns | Pay as you go |
| Fin Voice | $1.99 per voice outcome, through sales |
The pricing page lists no per-message rates for WhatsApp, SMS or phone; it links to a separate channel pricing page. Intercom also says that from 1 December 2026 WhatsApp messages are billed per message, by recipient country and message category. If WhatsApp is your main channel, get that rate before you compare. Meta's own fee per message is in our WhatsApp pricing calculator.
What Intercom costs in a real month
Take a team of three people answering 1,000 conversations a month, where Fin finishes 600 on its own. At $0.99 each, the 600 outcomes cost $594. Here is that month on each option.
| Option | Seats | Fin outcomes | Month total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential, billed annually | 3 × $19 = $57 | $594 | $651 |
| Essential, billed monthly | 3 × $29 = $87 | $594 | $681 |
| Advanced, billed annually | 3 × $85 = $255 | $594 | $849 |
| Advanced, billed annually, Copilot for all 3 | $255 + 3 × $29 = $342 | $594 | $936 |
| Fin on your current helpdesk | No Intercom seats | About $594 ($49 minimum covers the first 50) | About $594, plus your helpdesk |
What raises that total:
- Sales qualifications. If 50 of the 600 outcomes are qualifications, Fin costs 550 × $0.99 plus 50 × $9.99, which is $1,044 instead of $594.
- A busy month. Twice the volume, 1,200 outcomes, costs $1,188 in Fin alone, so the Essential month above goes from $651 to $1,245.
- WhatsApp, SMS and phone, which are billed by usage on top of everything in the table.
In this example Fin is 63% to 91% of each total on the Intercom helpdesk, so how many conversations Fin finishes matters more than the plan you pick.
The Early Stage programme
Intercom's Early Stage programme is for companies with up to $10M in funding, fewer than 15 employees and no current Intercom account. It starts from $65 a month, with 93% off in the first year, 50% in the second and 25% in the third. The free Fin usage steps down too: 300, 150 and 75 outcomes a month in years 1, 2 and 3, with 15 qualifications a month each year. The discount does not cover extra outcomes, qualifications, phone, SMS or WhatsApp, which are charged at list price. Intercom keeps the year 2 and 3 discounts for customers who stay on the programme, so price year two before you join.
Is Intercom worth the price?
Intercom earns its price if you need any of these, all listed on its pricing page:
- Webhooks, phone with IVR call routing, SMS and email campaigns.
- SOC 2, HIPAA support, and data hosting in the US, EU or Australia.
- Product tours, checklists, surveys and banners inside your app.
- Fin on top of the helpdesk you already run, such as Zendesk, Salesforce or HubSpot.
It is harder to justify for a small business that mostly talks to customers on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger and wants a bill it can predict. With seats plus outcomes, the better Fin works, the bigger the invoice, and WhatsApp messages are billed on top.
Where HiQBot fits
HiQBot is a conversational platform for customer service, with an AI customer service agent and live chat on website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram and LINE. It sells flat monthly plans with an allowance of message credits instead of seats plus outcomes. The entry plan is $49 a month for 2,500 credits, and plans with live chat start at $139 a month for 6,000 credits. These are US-dollar list prices; your local currency and any tax show at checkout.
One AI reply draws 1 credit at the Core level, 4 at Balanced and 8 at Max, and you choose the level for each inbox. Run the month above with three AI replies per conversation, our assumption: 600 conversations make 1,800 replies, which is 1,800 credits at Core or 7,200 at Balanced. The $229 plan for 5 people includes 10,000 credits, so it covers either, and the bill stays $229 however many of those chats the AI settles. At Max, or at Balanced in a month twice as busy, it needs 14,400 credits, more than that plan holds.
Nothing bills past the allowance. The trade-off is that AI replies pause when credits run out, until the month renews or you add a credit pack. HiQBot connects your WhatsApp number to your own business account, and Meta bills WhatsApp message fees to you directly. On the $229 plan, customers can also call your WhatsApp number and it rings your team in the inbox; the AI agent itself works in writing.
HiQBot is the wrong pick if you need an API, a phone line with IVR, SMS or email channels, SOC 2 or HIPAA, or product tours. Our Intercom alternative page compares the two feature by feature, and our guide to chatbot pricing puts Intercom beside 11 other platforms. Full details of our plans are on HiQBot pricing.
Common questions
How much does Intercom cost per month?
A team of three pays $57 to $396 a month in Intercom seats, billed annually, plus $0.99 for every Fin outcome and usage for WhatsApp, SMS and phone. In our example of 600 outcomes a month, Essential comes to $651 and Advanced to $849.
How much does Intercom cost per seat?
Billed annually, $19 per seat a month on Essential for new customers, $85 on Advanced and $132 on Expert. Billed monthly, $29, $99 and $139. Lite seats are free on Advanced and Expert but cannot message customers.
What does Fin AI cost?
$0.99 per outcome: a resolution, procedure handoff, disqualification or self-serve routing. A sales qualification costs $9.99. Intercom bills at most once per conversation, and Copilot for your agents is extra.
Is there a minimum on Fin?
Only on another helpdesk. Fin on Zendesk, Salesforce or HubSpot has a $49 monthly minimum, which includes 50 outcomes. For Fin on the Intercom helpdesk, Intercom lists no outcome minimum; you pay for seats.
Can I cap what Fin costs?
Yes. Fin has a monthly spending limit and alerts, which you set in your account.
Does Intercom have a free plan?
No. Intercom has a 14-day free trial with no card required. Startups that qualify for the Early Stage programme get up to 93% off in the first year.
Is Intercom now called Fin?
The company is. Intercom renamed itself Fin on 12 May 2026, and Salesforce completed its purchase of Fin on 10 September 2026. The helpdesk is still sold as Intercom, and the AI agent is Fin.
What is a cheaper alternative to Intercom?
In our example month, a flat plan costs less: HiQBot's $229 monthly plan for 5 people (US-dollar list price; local currency and tax show at checkout) covers a month that costs $651 or more on Intercom, assuming three AI replies per conversation at the Core or Balanced level. At Max, or in a month twice as busy, it needs more credits than the plan holds. See our Intercom alternative comparison for what each does better.