# Intercom review

> What Intercom costs once the AI is switched on, how its plans and billing units work, where your data is hosted, and who it fits. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced.

Published: 19 September 2026 · Updated: 19 September 2026 · Prices and figures verified: 18 September 2026 · By the help-desk.reviews team

This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not run hands-on tests of these products. Method: [How we review](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/how-we-review)

Intercom is a help desk with a shared inbox, ticketing, live chat Messenger, help centre, native phone, SMS and WhatsApp, built around its Fin AI agent. Seats start at US$29 per agent per month on annual billing, Fin costs US$0.99 per outcome with no included allowance, and unlimited Copilot for agents is US$29 per agent. The company behind it renamed itself Fin on 12 May 2026, while the help desk keeps the Intercom name, and Salesforce has signed an agreement to acquire it that had not closed when we last checked.

**Bottom line**

- **Best for:** Software and online businesses that want a customer-facing AI agent at the centre of support
- **Not for:** Teams that need EU hosting without a sales contract, or a predictable fixed monthly bill
- **Price from:** US$29 per agent per month
- **The catch:** Fin charges US$0.99 per outcome, and since March 2026 an outcome includes a configured handoff to a human, not only a resolution. A conversation Fin passes to your team through a Procedure you set up is billed even though a person still has to answer it.

## Score breakdown

**Score: 6.9/10**

| Criterion | Weight | Level | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| True cost with AI on | 30% | 2/5 | From US$150 to under US$200 per agent per month. Computed: US$164 per agent per month at 10 agents. |
| Pricing transparency | 20% | 5/5 | Every self-serve plan and AI add-on is priced in public, the billable unit is defined in writing, and minimums, mandatory fees and overage rules are stated. |
| AI, as documented | 15% | 4/5 | Agent-assist AI and a customer-facing AI agent, both with public prices and a defined usage unit. |
| Access and switching | 10% | 3/5 | Self-serve trial with no mandatory fees; no free plan and no documented import tool. |
| Channels and languages | 10% | 5/5 | Email, live chat, a help centre, native phone and native messaging, with the agent interface documented in both German and Spanish. |
| Data protection and compliance | 15% | 3/5 | A data processing agreement, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, and EU data hosting that is limited to higher plans, a paid add-on or a sales request. |

> **Scored on a public rubric, from prices and documents you can open.** Every score on this site comes from six published criteria: true cost with AI on, pricing transparency, AI as documented, access and switching, channels and languages, and data protection. The cost level is arithmetic on the vendor's list prices. Each price comes from one product database and links to its source, so every page agrees with every other page. The order of our lists is set by our editors and does not always follow the score. Rubric v1.0 · Scores rate list prices and public documentation. We have not run hands-on tests yet, and no page here claims we did. [Read the full method](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/how-we-review)

**Strengths**

- Every plan, Copilot, Fin and the add-ons are priced in public, and Fin's billable outcome is defined in writing.
- No platform or setup fees and a one-seat minimum; Essential and Advanced can be bought self-serve with monthly billing.
- Native phone, SMS and WhatsApp, and an agent interface documented in seven languages including German and Spanish.
- Advanced includes 20 free lite seats and Expert 50, for colleagues who only need to read and comment.
- A 14-day free trial without a credit card that includes Fin, and a published uptime SLA of 99.8%.

**Weaknesses**

- Fin bills configured handoffs and "assumed" resolutions, where the customer simply stops replying, not only confirmed resolutions.
- EU data hosting requires Advanced or Expert, a sales contract and a brand-new workspace; existing workspaces cannot be moved.
- A pending change of owner: Salesforce signed an agreement to acquire the company on 15 June 2026, with no public commitment on pricing after the deal closes.
- SSO, HIPAA support and SLA features are limited to Expert at US$132 per seat.
- No free plan, prices only in US dollars, and no documented import tool for moving from another help desk.

## Pricing

Intercom sells three seat plans: Essential at US$29, Advanced at US$85 and Expert at US$132 per full seat per month on annual billing, or US$39, US$99 and US$139 billed monthly, although Intercom's pricing FAQ names only Essential and Advanced as available monthly. Some visitors to the pricing page are shown Essential at US$19 as part of a live price test. On top of seats: Fin at US$0.99 per outcome, Copilot at US$29 per agent annually or US$35 monthly, the Pro add-on at US$99 a month for up to 1,000 analysed conversations, and Proactive Support Plus at US$99 a month including 500 messages. Phone, SMS, WhatsApp and bulk email are billed by usage. Startups can apply for 93% off the first year.

| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Key limits and included AI |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Essential | US$29 per agent per month | US$39 per agent per month | One full seat minimum and no lite seats. Messenger, shared inbox, ticketing, prebuilt reports and a public help centre. Fin per outcome; 10 free Copilot conversations per agent a month. |
| Advanced | US$85 per agent per month | US$99 per agent per month | 20 free lite seats, multiple team inboxes, workflow automation, round-robin assignment and a multilingual help centre. Eligible for EU hosting on a sales contract. |
| Expert | US$132 per agent per month | US$139 per agent per month | 50 free lite seats, SSO, HIPAA support, SLAs and multibrand Messenger and help centre. Monthly billing may require a sales contract. |

_[Source](https://www.intercom.com/pricing)_

### AI and paid add-ons

| Add-on | Price | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fin AI Agent (per outcome) | US$0.99 per AI resolution | [Source](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) |
| Copilot (unlimited use) | US$29 per agent per month | [Source](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) |
| Pro add-on | US$99 per month | [Source](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/13868265-pro-add-on) |
| Proactive Support Plus | US$99 per month | [Source](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9061648-proactive-support-plus-add-on) |

## True cost at 3, 10 and 50 agents

|  | Plan | Seats and plan | Agent-assist add-on | AI resolutions | Monthly total | per agent |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 3 agents · Entry tier | Essential | US$87 | US$87 | US$149 | **US$323** | US$108 |
| 10 agents · Mid tier | Advanced | US$850 | US$290 | US$495 | **US$1,635** | US$164 |
| 50 agents · Mid tier | Advanced | US$4,250 | US$1,450 | US$2,475 | **US$8,175** | US$164 |

_3 agents: 750 tickets a month, 150 of them resolved by AI, agent-assist add-on on for every agent. 10 agents: 2,500 tickets a month, 500 of them resolved by AI, agent-assist add-on on for every agent. 50 agents: 12,500 tickets a month, 2,500 of them resolved by AI, agent-assist add-on on for every agent. Estimates from vendors' published USD list prices with annual billing, verified on the date shown on this page. Taxes, discounts, onboarding fees and telephony usage are not included._

Intercom: entry tier is Essential, mid tier is Advanced and top tier is Expert. Copilot is added at US$29 per agent on every tier, and every Fin outcome is billed at US$0.99, with no included allowance on any plan. [Intercom pricing explained](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/pricing/intercom) · [Help desk true-cost calculator](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/tools/true-cost-calculator)

## AI features and how they are billed

Intercom sells two AI products. Copilot, the assistant for agents, is free for 10 conversations per agent a month; unlimited use costs US$29 per agent annually or US$35 monthly, and can be assigned to individual agents rather than the whole team. Fin, the customer-facing AI agent, costs US$0.99 per outcome on every plan with no included allowance, and you can set usage alerts and a hard monthly limit. In March 2026 Intercom changed Fin's billing metric from resolutions to outcomes, which made configured handoffs to people billable at the same price. Fin can also be bought on its own to run on Zendesk, Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshworks, sold through sales with a minimum of 50 outcomes a month.

## Key facts

- **Vendor:** [Fin (formerly Intercom)](https://www.intercom.com/)
- **Founded:** 2011
- **Headquarters:** Offices in San Francisco, Dublin and London
- **Pricing model:** Per seat, plus AI usage
- **Price from:** US$29 per agent per month
- **Free plan:** No
- **Free trial:** Yes
- **Mandatory extra fees:** No
- **Channels:** Email, Live chat, Phone, SMS, WhatsApp
- **Agent interface languages:** 7 languages · German: Yes · Spanish: Yes
- **EU data hosting:** Yes
- **UK data hosting:** No
- **HIPAA (BAA available):** Yes
- **Certifications:** SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27018, ISO 42001, GDPR data processing agreement, HIPAA BAA (Expert plan only)
- **Integrations:** Salesforce, Zendesk, HubSpot, Freshworks
- **Named customers:** Anthropic, Clay, Lightspeed, Personio, WHOOP, Synthesia

## Data hosting and compliance

Intercom hosts data in the US, the EU (Dublin) and Australia, with no UK region. EU hosting is available only for new workspaces on Advanced or Expert under a sales contract, and an existing workspace cannot be migrated. It holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and ISO 42001, offers a data processing agreement, and supports HIPAA on Expert only. Intercom says its AI model providers are contractually barred from training on customer data and keep no data after responding, but we could not verify a published list of AI sub-processors.

> **For buyers in the United Kingdom:** A help desk holds your customers' personal data, so UK GDPR requires a written contract with the vendor. Hosting outside the UK, including in the EU, is a restricted transfer that needs its own safeguard. And since 19 June 2026 you must let people complain about how you use their data and acknowledge each complaint within 30 days. [Help desk software and data protection law in the United Kingdom](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/guides/help-desk-software-and-data-protection-law)

## Vendor claims vs named-customer figures

| Figure | What it measures | Who says so | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 76% | Average Fin resolution rate across customers, as claimed on Fin's home page | Fin — Vendor claim | [Source](https://fin.ai/) |
| 50% | Fin resolution rate reported by Robin, quoted on Intercom's pricing page | Robin — Named customer, published by the vendor | [Source](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) |
| 96% | Reduction in resolution time reported by Synthesia after launching Fin, quoted on Intercom's pricing page | Synthesia — Named customer, published by the vendor | [Source](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) |
| US$36,577 | Median annual Intercom contract value in Vendr's buyer data | Vendr — Independent third party | [Source](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/intercom) |

The vendor's average resolution rate and the one named customer rate differ widely: Fin claims 76% on average, while Robin reports 50%. Both come from Intercom's own pages, and "resolution" there includes assumed resolutions where the customer simply leaves. The Vendr data is the only independent figure; it also reports average savings of 18.3% off list price. None of these numbers was measured by us.

## Verdict

Intercom is the choice for a team that wants an AI agent to handle a large share of conversations and is willing to pay per outcome for it. Prices are public and the outcome is defined, but read the definition closely: configured handoffs and silent drop-offs count, so model Fin's cost on your own traffic with the [true cost calculator](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/tools/true-cost-calculator). Two things argue for caution. EU hosting takes a sales contract and a fresh workspace. And with Salesforce's acquisition signed but not closed, anyone signing a multi-year contract should ask for price protection and termination rights on a change of control, because neither company has said what will happen to pricing afterwards. See how it compares in [Zendesk vs Intercom](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/compare/zendesk-vs-intercom).

## Related pages

- [Intercom pricing explained](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/pricing/intercom)
- [The best Intercom alternatives](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/alternatives/intercom)
- [Zendesk vs Intercom](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/compare/zendesk-vs-intercom)
- [Best help desk software](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/best/help-desk-software)
- [Best help desk for ecommerce](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/best/for-ecommerce)
- [Best enterprise help desk software](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/best/for-enterprise)

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Intercom cost?

Essential costs US$29, Advanced US$85 and Expert US$132 per seat per month on annual billing, or US$39, US$99 and US$139 monthly. Fin is charged at US$0.99 per outcome and Copilot at US$29 per agent. The [Intercom pricing page](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/pricing/intercom) works through full examples.

### What counts as a Fin outcome?

A resolution, where the customer confirms Fin helped or does not ask for more help after its last answer; a Procedure handoff, where Fin completes a Procedure you configured that passes the customer to a person or workflow; or a sales-lead disqualification. Each costs US$0.99, at most once per conversation. Handoffs became billable in March 2026. For how this compares with seat pricing, see [per-seat vs per-resolution pricing](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/guides/per-seat-vs-per-resolution-pricing).

### Is Intercom now called Fin?

The company is. It renamed itself from Intercom to Fin on 12 May 2026, after its AI agent. The help desk product is still called Intercom and is still sold at intercom.com.

### Is Salesforce buying Intercom?

Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fin, the company behind Intercom, on 15 June 2026 for about US$3,600,000,000. The deal still needed regulatory clearance and had not closed when we last checked. Neither company has published plans for Intercom's pricing after closing, so if you are signing a multi-year contract, negotiate price protection and exit terms for a change of control.

### Can Intercom host data in the EU?

Yes, in Dublin, but only for a new workspace on Advanced or Expert under a sales contract. It is not available on Essential, and an existing workspace cannot be moved to the EU region. For other options see [help desks with EU data hosting](https://help-desk.reviews/en-gb/best/with-eu-data-residency).

## Sources

- [Intercom pricing](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) — Intercom · 18 September 2026
- [Intercom plans explained](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9061614-intercom-plans-explained) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [Pricing FAQs](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/8344190-pricing-faqs) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [Fin AI Agent outcomes](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/8205718-fin-ai-agent-outcomes) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [From resolutions to outcomes: evolving how Fin delivers value](https://www.intercom.com/blog/from-resolutions-to-outcomes-evolving-how-fin-delivers-value/) — Intercom · 18 September 2026
- [Fin pricing](https://fin.ai/pricing) — Fin · 18 September 2026
- [Pro add-on](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/13868265-pro-add-on) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [Proactive Support Plus add-on](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9061648-proactive-support-plus-add-on) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [Early Stage program](https://www.intercom.com/early-stage) — Intercom · 18 September 2026
- [Use Intercom in your preferred language](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/7035581-use-intercom-in-your-preferred-language) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [Regional data hosting](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/6124430-regional-data-hosting) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [Security at Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/security) — Intercom · 18 September 2026
- [Historical data migration to Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9396032-historical-data-migration-to-intercom) — Intercom Help · 18 September 2026
- [Fin AI Agent](https://fin.ai/) — Fin · 18 September 2026
- [About Fin](https://fin.ai/about) — Fin · 18 September 2026
- [Today, Intercom becomes Fin](https://www.intercom.com/blog/today-intercom-becomes-fin/) — Intercom · 18 September 2026
- [Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin](https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2026/06/15/salesforce-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-fin/) — Salesforce · 18 September 2026
- [Intercom pricing: buyer data](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/intercom) — Vendr · 18 September 2026

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