Crisp vs Intercom (2026)
A head-to-head on price, free access, and staying power. Both live and price-verified as of Jul 21, 2026.
The verdict, first
Crisp
- if you want a permanent free tier, not just a trial.
- if you lean toward the more recent build, from 2015.
- if it is built for solo & SMB teams.
Intercom
- if it starts cheaper, at $29/mo against $45/mo.
- if a longer track record matters to you; it has run since 2011.
- if it is built for SMB & enterprise teams.
What each one is
Crisp
What sets it apart Hugo AI is billed by resolved conversation through a USD-denominated credit pool layered on top of a flat per-workspace subscription (roughly $0.05 to $0.10 per handled conversation), and by default it stops and hands off to a human once the included credits run out.
Crisp bundles a shared team inbox with live chat, email, and social channels such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, alongside a knowledge base and a lightweight support CRM. Its Hugo AI agent trains on a company's own content and can handle a conversation from first reply through resolution, but it is metered separately from the subscription: each plan carries a flat per-workspace price plus a monthly allotment of usage credits, and once those credits are spent Hugo escalates to a human operator by default. Paid tiers start at $45 per month for four seats and run to $295, with extra seats at $10 each. The flat, per-workspace pricing suits solo operators and small support teams weighing AI automation against per-agent cost.
Sources Crisp - homepage (product overview) · Crisp - Pricing · Crisp Knowledge Base - How Hugo AI pricing and billing works
Intercom
What sets it apart Fin, its built-in AI agent, is priced on outcomes: $0.99 per resolution, billed only when Fin resolves the issue or completes a configured action, instead of per conversation or per seat.
Intercom is a customer support platform combining a helpdesk, shared inbox, and multichannel messaging with an AI agent called Fin that answers customer questions and can execute configured workflows. Its pricing separates the two: human seats are billed across Essential, Advanced, and Expert tiers starting at $29 per seat each month on annual billing, while Fin is charged at $0.99 per resolution and only when it resolves an issue or completes a defined action. That outcome-based model for the AI agent, rather than per-conversation or flat automation pricing, is what most distinguishes it. It suits SMB and larger support teams that want AI deflection layered onto a conventional ticketing and live-chat workflow.
Sources Intercom - Pricing · Intercom - Homepage · Fin AI Agent - Pricing · Featurebase - Intercom Pricing 2026
Side by side
| Metric | Crisp | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| From $/mo | $45 | $29 |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Founded | 2015 | 2011 |
| Best for | solo & SMB | SMB & enterprise |
| Status | Live | Live |
ALL FIGURES = LOWEST PAID MONTHLY PLAN · STATUS & PRICE VERIFIED JUL 21, 2026
Where they differ
Price
Intercom is the cheaper entry at $29/mo, versus $45/mo for Crisp. Both prices are the lowest paid monthly plan, verified Jul 21, 2026.
Free access
Crisp offers a permanent free tier; Intercom is trial-only. A permanent free tier lowers the risk of committing before you have validated the fit.
Track record
Intercom has been operating since 2011; Crisp since 2015. For a tool you build a business process on, a longer survival record matters.
Questions of record
Crisp or Intercom - which is better in 2026?
Is Crisp cheaper than Intercom?
Does Crisp or Intercom have a free tier?
Are Crisp and Intercom still maintained?
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