Intercom

Build the quote from the workflow

Intercom’s plan guide lists Essential at $29 per seat per month on annual billing ($39 monthly), Advanced at $85 annually ($99 monthly), and Expert at $132 annually ($139 monthly). Essential includes a shared inbox and public help center; multiple team inboxes and the workflow builder are listed on Advanced. These are USD list rates, not a quote.

Fin support outcomes start at $0.99 each. Intercom also offers Fin with an existing helpdesk without native helpdesk seat costs or platform fee, subject to minimum commitments. Confirm eligible integrations, commitment, seat roles, messaging charges and other add-ons before comparing the two arrangements.

A billed outcome is not a satisfaction score

Intercom’s outcomes documentation describes confirmed and assumed resolutions; a customer who leaves after an answer without requesting further help can produce a billable assumed resolution. A non-answer or unanswered clarifying question is treated differently. Inspect the actual conversations and customer experience, not only the billable outcome total.

The same documentation broadly says an explicit request for a person is not billed, but also says a conversation can be charged when information collection is enabled and a customer becomes inactive after asking for help. It also describes a charge when a teammate self-assigns after Fin answers without escalation. Obtain written clarification for your configuration, including reopened conversations and Procedure handoffs.

Successful configured Procedure handoffs can also be billable outcomes. Confirm the treatment of a reopened conversation and any credit or reversal conditions in the contract.

Control what Fin can use

Fin content documentation says an article must be published and enabled for Fin, its audience must match, and external content must sync successfully. Website sync usually runs weekly, depending on size, and can be run manually. Audience settings are not proof that permissions in an external system propagate identically; inspect the exact connector and its access rules.

Assign an owner to remove stale policies and review sync failures. A private document, a conflicting public answer and an outdated return policy are useful synthetic fixtures before live deployment.

Make the human path explicit

For an illustrative order-status question, define what information Fin may use, when it should transfer to a person, and what context the receiving teammate needs. Separate an answer from a refund or account change: connected actions need their own authority and limits. A configured handoff is not proof that every request will be recognized correctly.

Plan for the exit as well as the inbox

Intercom documents conversation export to cloud storage, with an option to include attachments. Confirm the plan gate, completeness, time window and destination permissions. Exported transcripts do not by themselves reproduce routing, agent instructions or knowledge configuration. Inventory channels, rules and data before a migration.

Compare the support job

Help Scout combines shared inboxes and Docs with Scout; Crisp prices workspace packages with included operators. The Intercom and Help Scout comparison matches the inbox and AI billing units.

Common questions

Does every Fin handoff avoid a charge?

Not necessarily. Intercom’s FAQ describes a billable inactivity case after a request for a person when information collection is enabled. Confirm your configuration.

Can Fin use another helpdesk?

Intercom offers Fin for an existing helpdesk; confirm integration eligibility and minimum commitments.

Sources and scope

We read the linked vendor pricing and documentation on November 5, 2026.

This is a documentation-only assessment: we have not tested the products, integrations, AI answers or support. Prices and plan terms can change.

Inclusion and corrections are free; sponsorship does not determine our conclusions.

Sponsorship never changes this page. How we research.