Gist vs Intercom (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Gist if

• Fits if you are a very small team, as the free plan covers 2 support seats
• Works for teams that prefer a flat price for several seats

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: 2 seats, and email forwarding is a paid feature
• Watch out: Premium's $99 is shown against a crossed-out $499 and marked ending soon, with no end date
• Watch out: marketing and all-in-one bundles are priced by contact count, and no annual rate is shown
• Watch out: the page mentions 30% off for new customers in India for a limited time

Pick Intercom if

• Fits if you run a software or app company and support people inside the product
• Works for startups with under $10M raised and fewer than 15 staff, which get 93% off the first year

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you get lots of questions, as every Fin resolution adds $0.99 to the bill
• Skip it if you need a fixed monthly cost, since WhatsApp, SMS, phone and bulk email are billed by use
• Tight if you want automation workflows or several team inboxes, as both start on Advanced at $85 a seat
• Watch out: each agent gets 10 Copilot conversations a month free, and unlimited Copilot is $29 an agent on top
• Watch out: product tours and surveys need Proactive Support Plus, from $99 a month for 500 messages

Gist

• Premium is shown at $99 against a crossed-out $499, marked "ending soon" with no end date; the regular price may apply later.
• Marketing and All-in-One bundle prices are separate and depend on contact count; only the Support plans are listed here.
• The pricing page was read with its billing toggle hidden, so these are monthly prices; the page did not show an annual rate.
• The pricing page says new customers based in India can get 30% off some plans for a limited time.

Intercom

• Every Fin outcome costs $0.99 on top of seats, and WhatsApp, SMS, phone and bulk email are billed by usage.
• Unlimited Copilot costs $29 per agent / month billed annually ($35 monthly); the Pro add-on with Operator starts at $100 a month per workspace.
• Fin can run on another helpdesk such as Zendesk or Salesforce for $0.99 per outcome with a monthly minimum and no seat fees, sold through sales.
• Outbound features such as product tours and surveys need Proactive Support Plus, from $99 a month for 500 messages.

Gist

Live chat and team inbox

A messenger for your site or app and a shared inbox for the team, with saved replies, office hours and iOS and Android apps.

Knowledge base

A multilingual help center that customers can search, with article ratings and feedback. The public knowledge base starts on the Professional plan.

Chatbots and support bot

A lead qualification bot comes on Professional and custom bots on Premium. A support bot that answers repeat questions is listed as an add-on.

Email marketing and automation

Email campaigns, workflows, event tracking, forms and a deal pipeline sit in a separate Marketing product line priced by contact count.

Meetings and surveys

Automated meeting scheduling syncs with Google and Office 365 calendars; surveys and product tours are on the Premium support plan.

Intercom

Fin AI Agent

Answers customers across channels and hands off to the team inbox. It costs $0.99 per outcome, charged at most once per conversation and not when a human takes over.

Messenger live chat

A chat widget for websites and mobile apps that feeds the same inbox as email and other channels.

Shared inbox and tickets

Conversations and tickets in one inbox with pre-built reports. Advanced adds multiple team inboxes and round-robin assignment.

Help center

A public help center on every plan; Advanced adds private and multilingual help centers and Expert adds one per brand.

Workflows

Basic automation on Essential and a visual workflow automation builder from Advanced up, with SLAs on Expert.

Copilot

An AI assistant in the inbox. Each agent gets 10 Copilot conversations a month free; unlimited use is a paid add-on per agent.

Gist

• Free (Support)$0

  2 support seats, live chat, team inbox, unlimited conversation history, saved replies, office hours and mobile apps.

• Professional (Support)$29

  per month for up to 5 support seats

  Adds email forwarding, Facebook and Twitter integrations, a public knowledge base, chat triggers, a lead qualification bot, satisfaction ratings and Zapier.

• Premium (Support)$99

  per month for unlimited support seats

  Adds custom chatbots, surveys, product tours, assignment rules, reports and roles. Shown as $99 against a crossed-out $499, marked "ending soon".

Intercom

• Essential$29

  per seat / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)

  Messenger live chat, a shared inbox and tickets, pre-built reports, a public help center and basic automation. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome on top.

• Advanced$85

  per seat / month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)

  Adds a workflow automation builder, multiple team inboxes, round-robin assignment, a private and multilingual help center and 20 free Lite seats.

• Expert$132

  per seat / month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly)

  Adds SSO and identity management, HIPAA support, SLAs, a multibrand Messenger and help center, and 50 free Lite seats.

Gist

No public discounts listed.

Intercom

• Annual discount

  Lower price with annual billing

  Intercom's pricing page lists Essential at $29 per seat a month billed annually against $39 billed monthly, Advanced at $85 against $99 and Expert at $132 against $139.

• Other savings

  New customers save 35% on annual Essential

  Some loads of the pricing page show Essential at $19 per seat a month billed annually instead of $29 for new customers, or 25% off monthly, kept for as long as the subscription lasts.

• Startups

  Early Stage: 93% off the first year

  Startups with under $10M raised and fewer than 15 employees get 93% off in year one, 50% in year two and 25% in year three, plus a year of Fin with 300 outcomes.