Customer Support · decision tool
Cheap Intercom alternatives — priced at your team size
At 3 seats Intercom Advanced is ~$297/mo before AI fees; Crisp is $45 flat. Every alternative priced at YOUR seat count with the feature gaps stated.
Prices verified 2026-07-17 against official pricing pages · fit weights are our estimates (see methodology) · share the URL to share your configuration
As of Jul 2026, with 2 support seats, a $50 budget for this slot, Crisp ranks first for these inputs at 96% fit and a StackSays-estimated $0/month (Help Scout: 93% fit, $0/month). Fit weights are our estimates; prices trace to official pages. Change any input below and the verdict recomputes.
Your situation
The verdict updates as you move these.
Narrow pick — the runner-up is close
Per-workspace flat pricing with bundled seats — the indie-friendly cost model
vs Help Scout: fit 96% against 93%, est $0 against $0 per month
The decision, in plain words
For a team of 3 at 2 support seats and a $50.00/mo budget for the support tool slot, Crisp leads at 96% fit and $0/mo. The two rules doing the work: budget fit (Runs free at your usage — $0 vs your $50/mo budget); batteries included (Bundles knowledge base, AI answers, omnichannel (WhatsApp/social) — fewer services to glue at team size 3).
Help Scout runs close (93% fit, $0/mo). It takes the lead if runs free at your usage — $0 vs your $50/mo budget matters more to you than the current weights assume.
Honest weak spot of the pick: proprietary saas — conversation history export is usually partial.
Generated from the calculation above — every number traces to the sourced data; nothing here is written by an AI making things up.
Why Crisp scores 96%
How the $0/mo estimate is calculated
Your usage fits Crisp's free tier (2 seats free forever: chat widget, shared inbox, mobile/desktop apps, 100 profiles) — the estimate is $0.
What could change this verdict
Cost risk
Official prices verified 2026-07-17; calculation is deterministic code over those prices.
At a glance
| Tool | Free tier | Paid entry | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crisp | 2 seats free forever: chat widget, shared inbox, mobile/desktop apps, 100 profiles | Mini $45/mo | 2026-07-17 |
| Intercom | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — $39/seat/month (monthly billing; $29 annual); Fin AI answers billed separately at $0.99 per resolution | 2026-07-17 |
| Plain | No free tier | Horizon $299/mo | 2026-07-17 |
| Chatwoot | 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live-chat channel only, 30-day retention | Pay-as-you-go — $19/agent/month BILLED ANNUALLY (monthly price not published); all channels, help center, unlimited conversations (fair use) | 2026-07-17 |
| Zendesk | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — $19/agent/month BILLED YEARLY; email/ticketing only — no messaging or live chat at this tier | 2026-07-17 |
| Help Scout | Up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site — but only 100 contacts/month | Pay-as-you-go — $25/user/month on MONTHLY billing (16% annual discount); 2 inboxes; unlimited AI drafts; AI Answers $0.75/resolution extra | 2026-07-17 |
| Tawk.to | No free tier | Free + Remove Branding $39/mo | 2026-07-17 |
| Front | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — $25/seat/month BILLED ANNUALLY (monthly price not published); ONE channel type only; max 10 seats | 2026-07-17 |
Data sources
| Tool | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Crisp | Crisp pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Intercom | Intercom pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Plain | Plain pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Chatwoot | Chatwoot pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Zendesk | Zendesk pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Help Scout | Help Scout pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Tawk.to | tawk.to pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Front | Front pricing | 2026-07-17 |
A monitor re-checks these pages for changes; when a vendor moves a price, the date updates and every verdict recomputes.