Intercom vs respond.io
We give Intercom a 2.4 GPA and respond.io a 2.6, out of 4.0. respond.io grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Intercom
Helpdesk with live chat and the Fin AI agent priced per outcome
respond.io
Team inbox for WhatsApp, social chats, email and calls with AI agents
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAIntercomFair | 2.6GPArespond.ioGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CEssential is $29 a seat a month billed yearly ($39 monthly), above this category's middle of $24 but short of the dearer quarter. Fin is $0.99 per resolved conversation on top, and workflows and team inboxes need Advanced at $85. | BStarter is $79 a month for up to 5 users billed annually ($99 monthly), so a team of five pays a price per head inside the cheaper quarter of help desks. One person pays the whole $79. Workflows, AI agents and the API start on Growth at $159, and Meta's WhatsApp fees come on top. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day free trial with all features, Fin and the add-ons, and no card needed, so it is a proper look. There is no free plan to drop back to when it ends, though. | CNo free plan, but a 7-day free trial of Growth for 5 users and 1,000 contacts, with no credit card needed. A week is short, but it's enough to plug in WhatsApp and see how the inbox feels. |
| Features | BThe Messenger for websites and apps, a shared inbox with tickets, a help center on every plan, the Fin AI agent, workflows and Copilot in the inbox. Product tours and surveys cost extra, but the support job itself is covered. | BThe whole job, with more channels than most: WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, Viber, LINE, WeChat, chat, email and SMS in one inbox, calls in the same thread, AI agents, workflows, broadcasts and lifecycle stages. Starter leaves the automation out. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. The Messenger has to go into your site or app, Fin learns from your content, and the automations come with a builder to learn. Not a quick switch-on. | CNo App Store rating on record. Each channel needs connecting, WhatsApp included, then there are workflows, AI agents and lifecycle stages to set up, and a contact tier to keep an eye on. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, Stripe, Statuspage, Zendesk and WhatsApp. Fin can even run on top of Zendesk or Salesforce. No desktop app, though. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with the full inbox on every plan, plus HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Shopify, Zapier, Make, Calendly and Google Sheets, and a developer API from Growth. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | in-app chat with an AI agent answering first | support and sales over WhatsApp and social chat |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Intercom and respond.io. How we grade
Price against what you get
Intercom starts at $29 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. respond.io starts at $79 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Intercom starts $50 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Intercom for less, and 4 score higher than respond.io for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Intercom starts at $29 per seat / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly). respond.io starts at $79 per month for up to 5 users, billed annually ($99 billed monthly).
- Intercom also covers reports, help desk and help center.
- respond.io also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Intercom | respond.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per seat / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly) | $79 per month for up to 5 users, billed annually ($99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with all features, Fin and add-ons, no credit card required | 7-day free trial of Growth for 5 users and 1,000 contacts, no credit card needed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Intercom, Inc. | Rocketbots Limited (respond.io) |
| Price read from | intercom.com | respond.io |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Intercom
- Software and app companies that support customers through in-app chat
- Teams that want an AI agent answering first, paid only when it resolves
- Teams already on Zendesk or Salesforce that want to add Fin alone
respond.io
- Consumer businesses that sell and support customers over WhatsApp
- Teams handling leads from Meta and TikTok ads in chat
- Field or hybrid teams who answer chats and calls from their phones
Worth knowing
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.
respond.io
- WhatsApp fees are charged by Meta on top of the plan, and SMS and VoIP are billed at the provider's rates.
- Contacts past the tier cost $12 per 100 on Growth and $15 per 100 on Advanced; extra AI credits are $15 per 1,000.
- Extra users cost $12, $20 and $24 a month on Starter, Growth and Advanced billed yearly ($15, $25 and $30 monthly).
- Starter has no broadcasts, workflows, AI agents or developer API; those start on Growth.
Key features
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.
respond.io
- One inbox for messaging channels
- WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, Viber, LINE, WeChat, a website chat widget, email (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, SMTP) and SMS through providers, in one shared inbox.
- Calls in the same thread
- WhatsApp Business calls, Messenger calls and VoIP calls sit beside the chats with that contact; recording, transcripts and summaries come from Growth.
- AI agents
- From Growth, AI agents answer questions, qualify leads, follow up and route conversations to people, drawing on AI credits that grow with the contact tier.
- Workflows and broadcasts
- Automations for routing, assignment and follow-ups, and bulk messages to segments of contacts, both from the Growth plan.
- Lifecycle stages and CRM sync
- Track each contact through lifecycle stages; HubSpot sync starts on Growth and Salesforce on Advanced.
- Native mobile apps
- iOS and Android apps with the full inbox, calls, assignments and team activity, included on every plan.
Plans
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.
respond.io
Starter$79
per month for up to 5 users, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
Team and custom inboxes, mobile app, AI Assist and prompts, basic reports and 2FA. The comparison table shows unlimited monthly active contacts and 5,000 AI credits.
Growth$159
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($199 monthly)
10 users. Adds broadcasts, workflows, AI agents, advanced reports, Zapier and Make, and the developer API. The price rises with the contact tier you pick.
Advanced$279
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($349 monthly)
10 users. Adds masked phone numbers and emails, multiple workspaces, webhooks, HTTP requests, SSO and custom channels. Sold through sales; price rises with contacts.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited users, more workspaces, higher API rate limits and a custom contact allowance. Priced on request.
Ways to pay less
Intercom
- Annual discount
Save up to 26% with annual billing
Intercom's pricing page says paying annually saves up to 26%: Essential is $29 per seat a month billed annually against $39 billed monthly.
- 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.
respond.io
- Annual discount
Save up to 20% with yearly billing
respond.io's pricing page says yearly billing saves up to 20%: Starter is $948 a year against $1,188 billed monthly, Growth $1,908 against $2,388.
