# Intercom Alternatives 2027: 10 Paid, Free & Open-Source

Source: https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/intercom/
Prices checked: 2026-11-13 (Zekai Price Ledger)

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 | Type | Starting price | Free plan limit | Licence | Best for | Price checked | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom (the tool being replaced) | — | $29/seat/mo billed yearly | No | — | — | 2026-11-13 | [pricing](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) |
| Zendesk | Paid | $19/agent/mo billed yearly | No free plan | — | Full-suite ticketing with AI agents | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://www.zendesk.com) [pricing](https://www.zendesk.com/pricing/) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/zendesk/) |
| Freshdesk | Paid | $19/agent/mo billed yearly | No free plan | — | Budget helpdesk with bundled AI sessions | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/) [pricing](https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/pricing/) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/freshdesk/) |
| Help Scout | Free plan + paid | $25/user/mo billed yearly | Free plan: 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site | — | Small teams wanting a shared inbox | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://www.helpscout.com) [pricing](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/help-scout/) |
| Front | Paid | $25/seat/mo (billing basis not stated) | No free plan | — | Collaborative inbox for team-based support | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://front.com) [pricing](https://front.com/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/front/) |
| Tidio | Free plan + paid | $24.17/mo (monthly-billed price not read) | Free plan: 50 billable conversations a month; Lyro AI first 50 conversations free once | — | Small shops adding live chat plus AI | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://www.tidio.com) [pricing](https://www.tidio.com/pricing/) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/tidio/) |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Free | Free plan; paid price not published | Free tools: 2 users, HubSpot branding on live chat, 10 dashboards | — | Support tied to a HubSpot CRM | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://www.hubspot.com/products/service) [pricing](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/service) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/hubspot-service-hub/) |
| eesel AI | Free plan + paid | $299/mo billed monthly | Free plan: 100 credits for 7 days, no card | — | AI agent layered on your existing helpdesk | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://www.eesel.ai) [pricing](https://www.eesel.ai/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/eesel-ai/) |
| Chatwoot | Open source | $19/agent/mo (Cloud) (hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | MIT | Open-source omnichannel support inbox | 2026-11-13 | [site](https://www.chatwoot.com) [pricing](https://www.chatwoot.com/pricing) [code](https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/chatwoot/) |
| Zammad | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Self-hosted ticketing for IT and support |  | [site](https://zammad.com) [code](https://github.com/zammad/zammad) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/zammad/) |
| FreeScout | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Lightweight self-hosted shared inbox |  | [site](https://freescout.net) [code](https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/freescout/) |

## How each alternative compares with Intercom

- **Zendesk** (Paid, $19/agent/mo billed yearly, checked 2026-11-13): 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. Switch 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.
- **Freshdesk** (Paid, $19/agent/mo billed yearly, checked 2026-11-13): 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. Switch if you need a low per-agent price with 500 AI sessions bundled before any usage charges apply. Stay with Intercom if you want Fin's per-outcome billing and Intercom's in-product Messenger, tours and outbound posts.
- **Help Scout** (Free plan + paid, $25/user/mo billed yearly, checked 2026-11-13): 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. Switch if you are a team of five or fewer and want a free shared inbox with cheaper AI resolutions later. Stay with Intercom if you need Fin's multi-channel automation, Procedures and Messenger tours rather than an email-first inbox.
- **Front** (Paid, $25/seat/mo (billing basis not stated), checked 2026-11-13): 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. Switch if your support runs through shared email and SMS inboxes where several teammates co-own each conversation. Stay with Intercom if you want a website Messenger and in-app support rather than a shared-inbox layout.
- **Tidio** (Free plan + paid, $24.17/mo (monthly-billed price not read), checked 2026-11-13): 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. Switch if you run a small online shop with low chat volume and want a capped monthly bill with no per-seat fee. Stay with Intercom if you need ticketing depth, SLAs and role-based seats that scale across a growing support team.
- **HubSpot Service Hub** (Free, Free plan; paid price not published): 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. Switch if your contacts, deals and marketing already live in HubSpot and you want tickets on the same CRM record. Stay with Intercom if you would rather pay a flat $0.99 per Fin outcome than manage a monthly credit allowance and onboarding fee.
- **eesel AI** (Free plan + paid, $299/mo billed monthly, checked 2026-11-13): 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. Switch if you want to keep your current helpdesk and add an AI agent billed by ticket volume. Stay with Intercom if you want helpdesk and AI agent from one vendor with a single per-seat plus outcome bill.
- **Chatwoot** (Open source, $19/agent/mo (Cloud) (hosted), checked 2026-11-13): 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. Switch if you want to self-host live chat and email support under a permissive licence and control your data. Stay with Intercom if you want Fin's resolution-based AI agent and vendor-run compliance without operating your own servers.
- **Zammad** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): 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. Switch if you want a self-hosted, ticket-centric helpdesk with full-text search and no per-agent licence fee. Stay with Intercom if you want a ready-made live Messenger and a managed AI agent instead of assembling search infrastructure.
- **FreeScout** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): 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. Switch if you want a low-cost, Help Scout-style shared inbox on a cheap PHP host you control. Stay with Intercom if you need Fin, Messenger chat and omnichannel automation delivered and maintained by the vendor.

## Open-source options in detail

- **Chatwoot** (https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot): Licence: MIT; Last release: 2026-10-24
- **Zammad** (https://github.com/zammad/zammad): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Last release: 2026-11-11
- **FreeScout** (https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Last release: 2026-11-07

## Questions

### What is the best alternative to Intercom in 2027?
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).

### Is there a free version of Intercom?
No. Intercom has no free plan; paid plans start at $29/seat/mo billed yearly, checked on 13 Nov 2026.

### Is there a 100% free alternative to Intercom?
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.

### What is cheaper than Intercom?
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.

### How much do Intercom alternatives cost for a team of 5?
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.

### Which is better, Zendesk or Intercom?
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.

### Why are people leaving Intercom?
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.

## Related on Zekai

- [Zendesk alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/zendesk/)
- [AI for Customer Support & Experience](https://zekaiwork.com/professions/ai-customer-support-experience-automation/)

---
Live table, team cost finder and price alerts: https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/intercom/