AI resolutions
Intercom meters
Never pay $0.99 for an AI resolution
Intercom bills $0.99 for every AI resolution and meters messages. CommunicationOS charges a monthly rate per connected account.
From $29/seat/mo
Intercom entry price
Accounts
We meter
None
Our conversation cap
Who each product is for
Buy Intercom if this is you
SaaS support teams with high volumes of repetitive questions are Intercom's core market. Its plans list the Fin agent, in-app product tours and onboarding checklists.
Fin answers repetitive support questions
In-app messenger, product tours and onboarding checklists
Help centre and deflection reporting
Activation and onboarding campaigns
Buy CommunicationOS if this is you
Businesses with ongoing customer dialogues over chat networks choose CommunicationOS. You get a searchable record of client messages across the networks you connect, with zero outcome fees.
Where Intercom costs more
$0.99 for every conversation Fin resolves
Copilot is $29 per agent per month on annual billing
The Pro analytics add-on is $99 a month
WhatsApp, SMS, phone and email campaigns are billed per use
A fifteen person desk, costed
15 people over twelve months, with both sides paid annually and Fin resolving 500 conversations a month.
Intercom Essential
The entry seat price, Advanced and Expert cost more per seat
Essential seats
$5,220
Fin resolutions
$5,940
Twelve months
$11,160
CommunicationOS Team
10 connected accounts, unlimited people, AI layer included
Team plan, billed once a year
$790
AI resolutions
$0
Twelve months
$790
$11,160 on Intercom against $790 on Team, both for twelve months on annual billing. $11,160 ÷ $790 = 14.1, so the year on Intercom costs more than fourteen times as much.
Add Copilot for all 15 people
$16,380
Two things in Intercom's favour. Their page showed a 35% new-customer discount on 24 August 2026, which brings Essential to $19 a seat for the first term. And Fin does work our AI layer does not: it answers strangers on a public help centre and closes those tickets on its own, so if that is the job you are buying, 6,000 closures a year is labour Intercom takes off your desk. The $790 assumes indexed storage stays inside Team's 10 GB allowance; storage above the allowance is billed on top.
Intercom figures read from their public pricing page on 24 August 2026. Our figures come from our pricing page.
The whole table, including where they win
| Capability | CommunicationOS | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price, annual billing | $33/mo | $29/seat/mo |
| Conversation limit | Unlimited | Resolution pricing |
| Cost per extra conversation | $0 | $0.99 per resolution |
| Teammates | Unlimited, free | Per seat |
| Copilot add-on | Included | $29/agent/mo annual |
| Analytics add-on | Included | Pro, $99/mo |
| Outbound campaigns | Group digests only | $99/mo, 500 messages |
| Extra AI credits | None to buy | $0.01 per credit |
| Free internal seats | Unlimited, full access | 20 to 50 Lite seats |
| WhatsApp, SMS and phone | In the plan | Billed per use |
| In-app product tours | No | Yes |
| Deflection reporting | No | Yes |
| AI sends without approval | Shadow mode first | Fin replies directly |
Sometimes Intercom is the better buy
Choose Intercom if
You want Fin to automatically answer and close repetitive product questions.
You need in-app product tours, banners and onboarding checklists for web apps.
You run proactive marketing campaigns inside a custom web chat messenger.
You qualify for Intercom's early stage programme.
Your support workflow relies on deflection reporting and help centre articles.
If two or more of these describe your team, buy Intercom. Tell us and we will say so on the call.
Choose CommunicationOS if
We charge nothing per AI resolution and nothing for proactive support messages.
Keep client histories across Telegram, Signal, Discord and WhatsApp, with iMessage in beta.
Unlimited team members collaborate without buying $29 seats or Copilot passes.
PersonaLearn drafts replies in your own voice and sends nothing until you approve.
Bring your own encryption keys on Enterprise, and export 1 GB on Starter and Team or 25 GB on Scale.
This suits a desk carrying long client relationships across several networks, where the history has to stay searchable and stay with the company.
Bring the archive with you
An Intercom migration starts after you authorise the source account or upload its export. Imported conversations, contacts, tags and message bodies stay searchable for the life of the account. Message data is stored in the European Union by default, and Enterprise contracts can pin a different region.
Import from Intercom
You request the export
Request the export available under Intercom's current terms, then inspect its fields before migration.
We ingest the export
We ingest the authorised export while the old desk remains available.
Threads get stitched back together
Identity resolution merges the same person across networks into one history.
Imported records stay indexed
Imported records stay indexed for the life of the CommunicationOS account and count towards your indexed storage.
How much does Intercom charge for Fin AI?
Intercom charges $0.99 for every conversation resolved by Fin. If a customer returns later with another issue, that resolution incurs another fee. Copilot also costs $29 per agent monthly on annual plans.
What does Intercom cost for internal collaborators?
Intercom plans start at $29 per seat monthly for Essential. Advanced includes 20 free Lite seats and Expert includes 50 Lite seats for teammates who only read or comment. CommunicationOS provides unlimited full seats on every plan.
Which channels does Intercom support?
Intercom focuses on web chat, email, SMS, WhatsApp and phone, with usage-based charges for outbound messages. CommunicationOS connects 19 channels including WeChat, LINE, Viber, Telegram, Signal, Discord, Slack and Teams.
How does CommunicationOS handle AI replies compared to Intercom?
Intercom uses Fin to deflect and close stranger tickets. CommunicationOS uses AI in shadow mode to draft replies in your specific voice, summarise long threads and track commitments without sending messages until you approve them.
Leave the meter behind
Unlimited conversations, unlimited teammates, and a migration that starts after you authorise the source account or upload its export.