Support and chat
Intercom vs Crisp
Crisp is the value pick — chat, shared inbox, help centre and chatbots for a flat monthly fee that doesn't grow with your team. Intercom is worth its higher price when support volume is high enough that its AI agent genuinely deflects tickets, and when you need mature reporting and workflows.
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Intercom or Crisp — which should you use?
Crisp is the value pick — chat, shared inbox, help centre and chatbots for a flat monthly fee that doesn't grow with your team. Intercom is worth its higher price when support volume is high enough that its AI agent genuinely deflects tickets, and when you need mature reporting and workflows. Intercom starts at From roughly $49 per seat per month, plus per-resolution AI fees (free tier: No free plan; trial available.); Crisp starts at Paid plans from roughly $45 per workspace per month (free tier: Free plan with basic chat for two seats.). Prices are list prices and change, so check the vendor pages before buying.
Last updated 3 August 2026
Support tooling costs are dominated by seat pricing. Intercom charges per seat plus usage-based AI resolution fees; Crisp charges per workspace with unlimited seats. For a team of six, that's a large difference.
What you buy with Intercom is depth: automation, routing, reporting and an AI agent trained on your content that resolves a meaningful share of conversations.
Side by side
Intercom and Crisp in short.
Intercom
Customer messaging platform with live chat, help centre, workflows and the Fin AI agent.
- Free
- No free plan; trial available.
- Paid from
- From roughly $49 per seat per month, plus per-resolution AI fees
Good at
- Fin resolves a real share of conversations from your help content, billed per resolution
- Workflow builder, routing and SLA reporting for larger support teams
- Product tours, outbound messages and surveys in the same tool
Weak at
- Cost grows with both seats and AI resolutions
- More platform than a five-person company needs
Crisp
Shared inbox, live chat, help centre and chatbot with unlimited seats per workspace.
- Free
- Free plan with basic chat for two seats.
- Paid from
- Paid plans from roughly $45 per workspace per month
Good at
- Flat workspace pricing — adding teammates costs nothing
- Covers chat, email, help centre, chatbot and a CRM view in one product
- Connects WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram into the same inbox
Weak at
- Reporting and automation are shallower
- AI features are less capable than Fin
The differences
Where they actually diverge.
| Feature | Intercom | Crisp |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per seat plus AI usage | Per workspace, unlimited seats |
| AI agent | Fin, strong, billed per resolution | Basic bot |
| Help centre | Yes, polished | Yes |
| Reporting | Deep | Basic |
| Best for | High-volume support teams | Small teams watching costs |
Pick one
Which one fits you.
Choose Intercom if
- You handle hundreds of conversations a week
- Ticket deflection would save a hire
- You need routing, SLAs and proper reporting
Choose Crisp if
- Everyone in the company answers chats sometimes
- You want one flat bill
- Social inboxes need consolidating
When neither is the answer
Under about 20 conversations a week, a shared email inbox is enough. Live chat also creates an expectation of instant replies — don't install a widget you can't staff.
Questions
Common questions.
Does an AI agent actually deflect tickets?
It depends entirely on your help content. Vendors publish resolution rates in the 40–60% range for well-documented products; with a thin help centre, expect far less. Write the documentation first, then buy the agent.
Does live chat hurt or help conversion?
It helps on high-consideration purchases where questions block the sale, and does little on self-serve products. Test it as a proactive message on your pricing page before rolling it out sitewide.
Prices are list prices published by each vendor and change often — check the linked pricing pages before you buy. We take no affiliate commission and nobody pays to appear here.
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