--- title: Intercom canonical: https://saasranked.com/software/intercom/ category: Help Desk Software points: 64 rank: 7 of 12 facts_checked: 2026-10-09 --- # Intercom Per-seat help desk with a shared inbox, email, chat, phone and social channels, and a pay-per-outcome AI agent called Fin. 64 points out of 100. #7 of 12 help desks. Vendor: Intercom. Website: https://www.intercom.com/ - Essential costs $29 per seat a month and includes the shared inbox and ticketing; Advanced is $85 and Expert $132 [1]. - Email and live chat are free and unlimited on every plan; phone, WhatsApp and SMS are billed by usage [1]. - Round robin assignment and the workflow builder start on Advanced; SLAs and single sign-on start on Expert [1]. - Fin, the AI agent, costs from $0.99 per outcome, and a 14-day trial is offered instead of a free plan [1]. - Intercom names SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 [2]. Verdict: Intercom suits teams that want the inbox, chat and an AI agent in one product and are fine paying per seat [1]. The inbox covers email, chat, phone, Facebook and Instagram [4][5]. The catch is price: Essential starts at $29 per seat, SLAs and single sign-on need the $132 Expert plan, and Fin adds usage fees [1]. Best for: Support teams that want an AI agent built into the inbox and can pay for seats. ## Points | Criterion | Line | Value | Points | Note | |---|---|---|---|---| | Channels and apps | Support channels | Email, Live chat, Phone, Social media | 8/8 | Inbox handles email, Messenger chat, Intercom Phone calls, and Facebook and Instagram messages [4][5]. | | Channels and apps | Mobile apps | iOS, Android | 2/2 | Help article names Intercom Conversations apps for iOS and Android; it says the app is in maintenance mode [8]. | | Channels and apps | Built-in help centre | Yes | 4/4 | Public help center is included on Essential [1]. | | Workflow and SLAs | SLA policies | Yes | 8/8 | SLAs are listed on the Expert plan [1]. | | Workflow and SLAs | Ticket automation rules | Yes | 5/5 | Workflow automation builder is included from Advanced [1]. | | Workflow and SLAs | Automatic ticket assignment | Yes | 5/5 | Round robin assignment is included from Advanced [1]. | | Workflow and SLAs | Built-in satisfaction survey | Yes | 3/3 | Closing a conversation can send a conversation rating survey; the CSAT report shows the ratings [9]. | | Reports and connections | Custom reports | Yes | 5/5 | Help article covers creating custom reports with metrics and filters on Advanced or Expert [7]. | | Reports and connections | Public API | Yes | 3/3 | REST API reference documents ticket operations such as create, update, retrieve and search [6]. | | Reports and connections | Named integrations | Slack, Jira, Shopify, Salesforce, HubSpot | 5/6 | Integrations page lists Slack, Jira, Shopify, Salesforce and HubSpot; Microsoft Teams is not listed there [3]. | | Reports and connections | AI assistant with public price | Yes | 4/4 | Fin is included on every plan from $0.99 per outcome [1]. | | Security | SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 | Yes | 6/6 | Security page says SOC 2 Type II compliant and ISO 27001 certified [2]. | | Security | Single sign-on | Yes | 6/6 | SAML SSO is available on the Expert plan, $132 per seat [1][10]. | | Price | Free plan | No | 0/5 | No permanent free plan; the pricing page offers a 14-day trial [1]. | | Price | Cheapest paid plan | $29/mo | 0/10 | Essential, $29 per seat a month, with shared inbox and ticketing; billing cycle not stated [1]. | | Independent testing | G2 AI CX evaluation | Not tested | 0/20 | G2 did not include it in the October 2026 test [11]. Fin appears on the leaderboard without a score. | ## Plans | Plan | Price | Per month (USD) | |---|---|---| | Essential | $29 per seat/month [1] | $29 | | Advanced | $85 per seat/month [1] | $85 | | Expert | $132 per seat/month [1] | $132 | The pricing page has a billed-annually and billed-monthly toggle but shows one price per plan, and does not say which cycle it reflects [1]. ## Strengths - Email, live chat, phone, Facebook and Instagram messages all arrive in one inbox [4]. - Custom reports and a workflow builder are available on Advanced and Expert [1][7]. - Documented REST API with ticket endpoints for creating, updating and searching tickets [6]. - Names SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 [2]. ## Limits - No free plan; only a 14-day trial is offered [1]. - SLAs and single sign-on are limited to the $132 Expert plan [1]. - Phone, WhatsApp and SMS are billed by usage on top of the seat price [1]. - Fin adds a fee of $0.99 or more per outcome [1]. ## Sources 1. [Intercom pricing](https://www.intercom.com/pricing), Intercom, accessed 2026-10-09 2. [Intercom security](https://www.intercom.com/security), Intercom, accessed 2026-10-09 3. [Intercom apps and integrations](https://www.intercom.com/integrations), Intercom, accessed 2026-10-09 4. [Channels explained](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9955432-channels-explained), Intercom Help Center, accessed 2026-10-09 5. [Social channels](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/collections/11408183-social-channels), Intercom Help Center, accessed 2026-10-09 6. [Tickets API reference](https://developers.intercom.com/docs/references/rest-api/api.intercom.io/tickets/), Intercom Developers, accessed 2026-10-09 7. [Create a custom report](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/4549035-create-a-custom-report), Intercom Help Center, accessed 2026-10-09 8. [Respond on the go with the Intercom Conversations App](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/447-respond-to-users-and-visitors-on-the-go-with-the-intercom-conversations-app), Intercom Help Center, accessed 2026-10-09 9. [Measure customer satisfaction with conversation ratings](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/7872853-measure-customer-satisfaction-with-conversation-ratings), Intercom Help Center, accessed 2026-10-09 10. [Integrate with an identity provider and log in with SAML SSO](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/3974587-integrate-with-an-identity-provider-and-log-in-with-saml-sso), Intercom Help Center, accessed 2026-10-09 11. [AI CX Agent Evaluations, General CX leaderboard](https://www.g2.com/categories/ai-agents/agent-evaluations), G2, accessed 2026-10-08