Helply (formerly Groove) vs Intercom (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Helply (formerly Groove) if

• Fits if you run a small B2B or SaaS support team that wants AI agents included
• Makes sense if you are a Groove customer, as the page says your current price is locked

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you are alone or a pair: Starter is $99 a month for up to 2 agents
• Watch out: AI credits are capped per plan, with top-ups at $40 per 1,000 on Starter, Plus and Team
• Skip it if you want WhatsApp, SMS, Discord or SLAs, which need Team at $499
• Watch out: Pro and Growth are bought through a demo, and Salesforce and SSO need Growth

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

Helply (formerly Groove)

• Groove has been renamed Helply; the product and its old Groove pricing have been replaced by the plans above.
• AI credits are pooled and capped per plan. Starter, Plus and Team can top up at $40 per 1,000 credits; Pro and Growth use a hard cap or an agreed overage rate.
• WhatsApp, SMS, Discord, SLAs and round robin routing need the Team plan at $499 a month; Salesforce and SSO / SAML need Growth.
• Pro and Growth are bought through a demo, and the page shows no self-serve sign-up for them.

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.

Helply (formerly Groove)

Support agent

An AI agent that works with customers directly to resolve issues end to end. It is included on every plan and uses AI credits when it acts.

Assist agent in the inbox

A second agent that works alongside human agents inside each ticket. It is also included on every plan.

Background agents

Agents that watch customer accounts instead of single conversations. Churn, Knowledge, Revenue, Feature request and Insights agents are listed, with the number available rising by plan.

Shared inbox and ticketing

Views, tags, macros, notes, snooze and collision detection on every plan, with SLAs, escalations and agent teams starting on Team.

Chat and help center

Live chat and a knowledge base on your own domain, with AI article writing and AI answers on every plan.

Skills, MCP and custom actions

From the Team plan, agents can be given written skills, memory, MCP connectors and custom API actions, with AI QA and backtesting.

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.

Helply (formerly Groove)

• Starter$99

  per month for up to 2 human agents, billed annually

  2,500 AI credits a month, shared inbox, email and live chat, and a help center with AI article writing. One inbox and 5 rules.

• Plus$199

  per month for up to 5 human agents, billed annually

  5,000 AI credits a month, chat flows, ticket forms, Facebook and Instagram, CSAT surveys, 3 inboxes and 10 rules.

• Team$499

  per month for 10 human agents, billed annually

  15,000 AI credits a month, WhatsApp, SMS, Discord and Slack Connect, SLAs and round robin routing, HubSpot, Jira, Linear and GitHub integrations. Extra agents are $49 a month each.

• Pro$999

  per month for 25 human agents, billed annually

  50,000 AI credits a month, all Background agents, AI reports, up to 3 brands, a customer portal, custom roles and an audit log. Sold through a demo.

• Growth$1,999

  per month for 50 human agents, billed annually

  100,000 AI credits a month, unlimited brands, skills-based routing, account intelligence, SSO / SAML and Salesforce. Sold through a demo.

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.

Helply (formerly Groove)

• Annual discount

  15% off with annual billing

  Every plan can be billed monthly or annually; the pricing page says paying annually saves 15%. The prices listed are the annual ones.

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.