{
    "title": "Intercom Alternatives 2027: 10 Paid, Free & Open-Source",
    "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/intercom/",
    "summary": "The best Intercom alternatives in 2027 are Zendesk (best overall, $19/agent/mo billed yearly), Help Scout (best free plan) and Chatwoot (best open source, MIT). Intercom itself starts at $29/seat/mo billed yearly. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 13 Nov 2026; 7 more are compared below, including 3 with a free plan and 2 open source.",
    "tool": {
        "name": "Intercom",
        "starting_price": "$29/seat/mo billed yearly",
        "free_plan": "No",
        "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
        "pricing_url": "https://www.intercom.com/pricing"
    },
    "task": "AI customer support chatbot",
    "prices_checked": "2026-11-13",
    "date_modified": "2026-11-13",
    "alternatives": [
        {
            "name": "Zendesk",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$19/agent/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Full-suite ticketing with AI agents",
            "difference": "Prices per agent, not per seat plus outcome: each agent includes 5 automated resolutions a month, then $1.50 each committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go, against Intercom's flat $0.99 per Fin outcome.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/",
            "website": "https://www.zendesk.com",
            "zekai_score": 7.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/zendesk/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Freshdesk",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$19/agent/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Budget helpdesk with bundled AI sessions",
            "difference": "Growth costs $19 per agent billed yearly and includes the first 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions; extra sessions are $49 per 100. Intercom Essential lists $29 billed yearly plus $0.99 per Fin outcome.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/pricing/",
            "website": "https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/",
            "zekai_score": 8.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/freshdesk/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Help Scout",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$25/user/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free plan: 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site",
            "best_for": "Small teams wanting a shared inbox",
            "difference": "Has a permanent free plan for 5 users with 1 inbox, and its Envoy AI add-on charges $0.75 per resolution after a 3-month free trial, versus Fin's $0.99 per outcome.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/",
            "website": "https://www.helpscout.com",
            "zekai_score": 8.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/help-scout/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Front",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$25/seat/mo (billing basis not stated)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Collaborative inbox for team-based support",
            "difference": "Starter is capped at 10 seats and a single channel type, with Autopilot AI from $0.39 per conversation and Copilot at $20 per seat; Fin charges per outcome instead.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://front.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://front.com",
            "zekai_score": 7.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/front/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Tidio",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$24.17/mo (monthly-billed price not read)",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free plan: 50 billable conversations a month; Lyro AI first 50 conversations free once",
            "best_for": "Small shops adding live chat plus AI",
            "difference": "Bills by conversation rather than seat: Starter includes 100 billable conversations at $24.17, and the free plan covers 50 a month, with Lyro AI add-ons from $32.50 a month.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.tidio.com/pricing/",
            "website": "https://www.tidio.com",
            "zekai_score": 6.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/tidio/"
        },
        {
            "name": "HubSpot Service Hub",
            "type": "Free",
            "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free tools: 2 users, HubSpot branding on live chat, 10 dashboards",
            "best_for": "Support tied to a HubSpot CRM",
            "difference": "Customer Agent runs on HubSpot Credits at $0.010 each (Starter includes 500 a month, Professional 3,000), and Professional needs a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/service",
            "website": "https://www.hubspot.com/products/service",
            "zekai_score": 8.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/hubspot-service-hub/"
        },
        {
            "name": "eesel AI",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$299/mo billed monthly",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free plan: 100 credits for 7 days, no card",
            "best_for": "AI agent layered on your existing helpdesk",
            "difference": "Sits on top of an existing helpdesk and charges per credit (1 credit per ticket or chat): Teammate is $299 a month for 500 credits, with extra credits at $0.80 each.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.eesel.ai/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.eesel.ai",
            "zekai_score": 7.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/eesel-ai/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Chatwoot",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "$19/agent/mo (Cloud) (hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT",
            "best_for": "Open-source omnichannel support inbox",
            "difference": "MIT-licensed code you can run yourself, with a free hosted Hacker plan for 2 agents and 500 conversations a month; Captain AI credits cost $20 per 1,000 on Cloud.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-13",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.chatwoot.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.chatwoot.com",
            "repository": "https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/chatwoot/",
            "last_release": "2026-10-24",
            "zekai_score": 8.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/chatwoot/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Zammad",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Self-hosted ticketing for IT and support",
            "difference": "AGPL-3.0 ticketing system with a Docker Compose install that bundles Elasticsearch search; the repo's tags page shows 2026-11-11 as the latest tag and lists no GitHub releases.",
            "website": "https://zammad.com",
            "repository": "https://github.com/zammad/zammad",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/zammad/",
            "last_release": "2026-11-11",
            "zekai_score": 7.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/zammad/"
        },
        {
            "name": "FreeScout",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Lightweight self-hosted shared inbox",
            "difference": "AGPL-3.0 shared inbox written in PHP/MySQL that runs on shared hosting; its GitHub releases page lists version 1.8.250 as latest, published 2026-11-07.",
            "website": "https://freescout.net",
            "repository": "https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/freescout/",
            "last_release": "2026-11-07",
            "zekai_score": 7.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/freescout/"
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "What is the best alternative to Intercom in 2027?",
            "a": "Zendesk is the best overall Intercom alternative on this page ($19/agent/mo billed yearly). For no cost, Help Scout has a free plan (Free plan: 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site). To self-host, Chatwoot is open source (MIT)."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a free version of Intercom?",
            "a": "No. Intercom has no free plan; paid plans start at $29/seat/mo billed yearly, checked on 13 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to Intercom?",
            "a": "Yes. Chatwoot, Zammad, FreeScout are open source and free to self-host. Help Scout, Tidio, HubSpot Service Hub, eesel AI have a free plan with limits, shown in the table."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is cheaper than Intercom?",
            "a": "Freshdesk starts at $19/agent/mo billed yearly, against $29/seat/mo billed yearly for Intercom, as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 13 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "How much do Intercom alternatives cost for a team of 5?",
            "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 13 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Zendesk $95/mo, Freshdesk $95/mo, Chatwoot $95/mo, against Intercom $145/mo for Intercom. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which is better, Zendesk or Intercom?",
            "a": "Prices per agent, not per seat plus outcome: each agent includes 5 automated resolutions a month, then $1.50 each committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go, against Intercom's flat $0.99 per Fin outcome. Choose Zendesk if your team is mostly human agents and you want predictable per-agent billing with AI resolutions as a small add-on. Stay with Intercom if Fin outcomes at $0.99 and a Messenger-first inbox suit a chat-led product team better than ticket queues."
        },
        {
            "q": "Why are people leaving Intercom?",
            "a": "The documented reasons are: Fin is billed per outcome: $0.99 for a resolution, procedure handoff, disqualification or self-serve routing, and $9.99 for a qualification, with at most one outcome charged per conversation (23 Sep 2026); The pricing page shows Essential at $29 per seat billed yearly and $39 billed monthly, with $19 and $29 promotional prices for new customers only; Advanced is $85 and Expert $132 billed yearly (13 Nov 2026). Each is sourced in the section above."
        }
    ],
    "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.",
    "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/intercom/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted."
}