Tired of paying Intercom's high fees? I can relate.
Intercom's pricing model can be a real headache, leading to those dreaded, jaw-dropping bills that make you question your life choices (just kidding).
Now, I know what you're thinking: "Is there a way out of this never-ending cycle of unpredictable charges?" Well, my friend, you're in luck. I've been down that road, testing out various Intercom alternatives and experiencing the pros and cons of each Intercom competitor firsthand.
Whether you're tired of playing a guessing game with your monthly charges on Intercom or simply on the hunt for a more wallet-friendly solution, you've come to the right place. In this blog post, I'll be your trusty guide as we explore the best Intercom alternatives out there. We'll delve into their features, pricing, and overall value, so you can make an informed decision that fits your needs and budget.
Need a quick summary? Here are our top 3 Intercom alternatives:
Why you can trust TestBox’s guides: Unlike other publications, we have no incentive to encourage you to buy a specific tool. Our goal at TestBox is to help software buyers find the absolute best tools for their companies. Our free software lets you test and compare popular tools side-by-side, and our guides are designed solely to give you the information you need to decide which tools you want to test!
To compile this list and help you in your software purchasing decision, we looked at a multitude of criteria for tools, with a focus on:
Best Intercom alternative for team email collaboration
.png)
Front is an outstanding Intercom alternative for non-support teams seeking a collaborative solution for managing customer and client emails. Its Gmail-inspired design ensures a familiar interface, while its shared inbox feature centralizes customer messages, allowing team members to access all communication channels in one place.
Key features of Front include a shared inbox that streamlines team collaboration on customer emails. Users can utilize tags and filters to manage messages efficiently, with options to snooze and close tickets. Front's internal collaboration tools enable seamless teamwork on client communications, ensuring a well-coordinated approach.
Front also offers no-code automation, empowering users to create "if-then" workflows that trigger actions across various channels. This feature helps non-support teams maintain efficient and effective communication processes with clients and customers.
With numerous integrations, including Zoho, Zapier, Salesforce, and Murios, Front expands its capabilities and connectivity, making it an ideal choice for non-support teams that need a comprehensive solution for managing customer emails.
Front's pricing plans start at $19/user per month (annual only) for the Starter plan. The Growth plan ($49/user per month) and Scale plan ($99/user per month) cater to most teams' needs, while the Premier plan ($229/user per month) offers advanced features and enterprise-level service for those requiring more extensive support.
Test drive Front for free using TestBox and compare it side-by-side with other popular customer support tools.
Related Reading: Best Front Alternatives
Best lower-cost Intercom alternative for teams already using HubSpot
.png)
Hubspot Service Hub is a fantastic lower-cost Intercom alternative, particularly for teams already using HubSpot Marketing or Sales Hub. It combines all your communication channels into one CRM, streamlining sales, customer support, and more with automation and self-service tools.
Key features include a customer portal, knowledge base, omni-channel messaging, inbound calling, and live chat, making it a comprehensive solution for customer communication and support.
The platform offers an extensive range of integrations through the HubSpot App Marketplace, covering various popular services such as WooCommerce, Freshdesk, Mailchimp, Netsuite, Constant Contact, and Airtable. This ensures seamless connectivity with your existing tools and services.
HubSpot offers a free plan for Service Hub with paid plans ranging from $45 per month for two users to $1,200 per month for their enterprise plan with support for ten users.
Test drive HubSpot Service Hub for free using TestBox and compare it side-by-side with other popular customer support tools.
Related Reading: Best Hubspot Alternatives
Best Intercom alternative for chat-centric teams
LiveChat stands out as a remarkable Intercom alternative, particularly for teams focusing on chat and messaging. This comprehensive customer service platform converts website visits into sales and is trusted by leading brands like McDonald’s, Mercedes Benz, and Unilever.
Notable LiveChat features include real-time chat tools, personalized customer engagement, custom chat widgets via LiveChat API, efficient ticketing, and enhanced eCommerce support. These tools enable agents to respond quickly, tailor messaging based on customer behavior, create custom chat experiences, connect multiple support channels, and share custom product cards across channels.
With over 200 integrations in their Marketplace, LiveChat ensures compatibility with popular services like WhatsApp, MailChimp, HubSpot, Zendesk, Salesforce, Shopify, and Campaign Monitor.
LiveChat has a 14-day free trial. Their monthly pricing ranges from $16–$50 per agent.
.png)
Freshdesk is another great alternative to Intercom focused on streamlining customer and employee engagement. This cloud-based platform consolidates various communication channels into tickets, equipping reps with the necessary context to provide top-notch support.
Notable Freshdesk features include efficient ticketing, seamless collaboration, time-saving automation, a versatile Help Widget, and comprehensive analytics. These tools enable quick ticket assignment, simultaneous agent work on tickets, automated task handling, and customer assistance through the Help Widget. Additionally, the platform offers rich analytics for optimizing support workflows.
With over 1,000 integrations in their Marketplace, Freshdesk ensures compatibility with popular services like Salesforce, Shopify, Slack, MailChimp, Stripe, and HubSpot.
FreshDesk’s free plan includes support for up to 10 agents with email and social ticketing, a knowledge base, and ticket management. Their paid plans range from $15–$79 per agent per month.
Test drive Freshdesk for free using TestBox and compare it side-by-side with other popular customer support tools.
Related Reading: Best Freshdesk Competitors
Since 2016, HelpCrunch’s platform has helped connect support, marketing, and sales teams with customers over email, chat, and social. HelpCrunch uses customer data to let agents and reps know what channel is best to boost engagement, provide excellent customer service, or convert conversations into leads.
HelpCrunch pricing ranges from $12–$20 per month per user.
Related Reading: Best Help Crunch Alternatives
LiveAgent is an all-in-one help desk software for customer support teams and is used by industry-leaders including BMW, Yamaha, and Huawei. The platform brings real-time chat, universal inbox, and over 175+ help desk features together along with a built-in CRM to keep track of critical customer data.
LiveAgent pricing ranges from $15–$49 per agent per month.
Related Reading: Best LiveAgent Alternatives
Tidio offers live chat and chat bot products used on over 300,000 websites worldwide. Their chat widget is easy to implement using integrations with Shopify, WordPress, Wix, and other platforms—or use their JavaScript code to get started.
Tidio offers a free plan to get started with monthly plans from $19–$49.
Related Reading: Best Tidio Alternatives
.png)
Over 12,000 businesses, from Trello to Honey, use Help Scout to provide exceptional customer experiences. The proof is in the rankings—Help Scout was ranked Best ROI by customers on G2. One noticeable gap is Help Scout's lack of automation features.
Help Scout has monthly plans ranging from $20 to $60 per user.
Test drive Help Scout for free using TestBox and compare it side-by-side with other popular customer support tools.
Related Reading: Intercom vs. Help Scout
.png)
Zendesk is often the first name that comes to mind when thinking about support platforms. More than 170,000 customers use them globally to provide support, sales, and engagement tools that build better customer relationships.
Zendesk offers apps and themes to customize your Zendesk experience. Some of the more popular integrations include:
Zendesk has a basic support plan for $19 per month, with advanced plans from $49–$99 per month. All of their plans have a free trial option.
Test drive Zendesk for free using TestBox and compare it side-by-side with other popular customer support tools.
Related Reading: The Best Zendesk Alternatives
In today’s world, companies don’t control sales—customers do. That’s the drive behind Drift’s mission to provide powerful conversational communication tools focused on sales. Drift is used by over 50,000 customers, including Adobe, Okta, Mindbody, and more.
Drift's key features include customizable live chat with multiple inboxes for organized conversations, enabling sales teams to connect with leads and improve conversions directly on a business's website. With custom chatbots, Drift ensures personalized responses and prompts tailored to each conversation. Their conversation AI allows businesses to create intelligent 24/7 chatbots for continuous customer and sales support.
Drift Video enhances engagement by enabling personalized videos and GIFs. Additionally, Drift provides robust reporting tools with website engagement metrics, insights, and analytics, empowering businesses to enhance their sales and support processes.
Drift integrates with key platforms like Salesforce, Marketo, Drip, Hubspot, Slack, and Zapier, streamlining business processes and enhancing user experience.
Drift’s pricing starts at $600 per month for 10 seats. They offer a limited free plan to try out the platform that supports up to 100 contacts.
Well, it really depends on your team's needs and budget. Let's explore some top Intercom alternatives that cater to different requirements.
Option A: Front
If your team is more focused on email collaboration without the need for extensive support features, Front is a fantastic choice. It streamlines communication and ensures efficient responses, making teamwork a breeze.
Option B: LiveChat
For those chat-centric teams looking to boost customer engagement and drive sales, LiveChat is your go-to option. With its powerful platform, you'll be able to connect with customers in real-time and turn website visits into sales opportunities.
Option C: Hubspot Service Hub
Lastly, if you're after a cost-effective solution and already using Hubspot Marketing or Sales Hub, HubSpot Service Hub is worth considering. It offers a comprehensive suite of customer engagement tools, making it an excellent all-rounder for your support needs.
We also know that seeing is believing. With TestBox, you can test and compare different customer support software in just a few clicks. We’re also free to use. Compare and test help desk software side-by-side for free.
Start testing and comparing how software could help your team in seconds.
Oh and did we mention it’s free? Because it is.
