Intercom vs Zendesk
Both ladders below were read from the vendors’ own pricing pages, in this market, on the dates shown. Nothing is converted: what you see is what each page showed a reader here.
What each one is
Intercomsite ↗pricing ↗
A customer messaging and support platform combining live chat, AI answers and product tours. Paid plans start at $39/mo (Essential (per Fin outcome)); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 5 paid tiers, topping out at $139/mo (Expert (per Fin outcome)). Its published prices moved on 2026-08-30 — the change log holds the rows.
Zendesksite ↗pricing ↗
A customer service platform built around ticketing, aimed at larger support operations. Paid plans start at $55/mo (Suite Team); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 2 paid tiers, topping out at $115/mo (Suite Professional). It bills by country — entry £45/mo to a UK reader, from our same-day reads. Its published prices moved on 2026-09-03 — the change log holds the rows.
The two ladders
Intercomsite ↗pricing ↗
read 2026-09-07 · USD
| Plan | Price | What the page says |
|---|---|---|
| Essential (per Fin outcome) | $39/mo ($29 ↓) | '$39 per seat/mo' billed monthly, '$29 per seat/mo' billed annually (both read by eye from screenshots, 2026-09-07), plus 'From $0.99 per Fin outcome'. Fin for service, sales and ecommerce, messenger, shared inbox and ticketing, pre-built reports, public help centre. |
| Advanced (per Fin outcome) | $99/mo ($85 ↓) | '$99 per seat/mo' monthly, '$85 per seat/mo' annually, plus 'From $0.99 per Fin outcome'. Multiple team inboxes, workflows automation builder, round robin assignment, 20 Fin Lite seats. |
| Expert (per Fin outcome) | $139/mo ($132 ↓) | '$139 per seat/mo' monthly, '$132 per seat/mo' annually, plus 'From $0.99 per Fin outcome'. SSO and identity management, HIPAA support, SLAs, multibrand, 50 Fin Lite seats. |
| Fin with your own helpdesk | Custom | 'From $0.99 per Fin outcome. No seats required. Contact sales.' Works with Salesforce and other helpdesks. 'Minimum monthly commitment applies.' |
| Operator | $99/mo | 'From $99 /mo'. An agent for customer operations, on top of Fin. |
| Proactive Support Plus | $99/mo | '$99 /mo'. Checklists, Product Tours, Surveys and the Series campaign builder. |
Zendesksite ↗pricing ↗
read 2026-09-07 · USD
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Suite Team | $55/mo |
| Suite Professional | $115/mo |
Where they differ
- Cheapest way in: Intercom at $39/mo, against Zendesk at $55/mo. That is the entry price in this market on the dates shown, not a judgement about which suits you.
- Free plans: neither publishes one. Any free access here is a trial, which is a deadline.
- How far each ladder goes: Intercom tops out at $139/mo, Zendesk at $115/mo. A deeper ladder is not a worse deal — it is a bill that keeps climbing if you keep growing.
- Recently moved: Intercom (2026-08-30), Zendesk (2026-09-03). A change only counts once a second clean read agrees.
- Zendesk: It bills by country — entry £45/mo to a UK reader, from our same-day reads.
How to choose in this category
- A per-conversation plan can beat a per-seat one for a small team and lose badly as ticket counts grow.
- Free rows are common here; read whether they cap seats, conversations or channels.
- Count your monthly conversations before comparing — the two billing bases only meet at one volume.