IntercomFrontIntercom vs Front

Intercom vs Front: $425 or $325 for five people

A customer messaging platform against a team inbox: Front is $100 a month cheaper for five people. Where Intercom and Front split, and a third option for small teams.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Intercom if your support lives in the website messenger and in-app, and you want product tours and outbound messages in the same tool. Pick Front if email is the channel and you want shared drafts, comments and sequences on every thread. For five people, Front is $100 a month cheaper than Intercom ($425 a month on Intercom against $325 on Front), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $280 below Front. Intercom and Front both include website chat and email in the price; only Front has Instagram. Neither Intercom nor Front includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Intercom against Front, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceIntercomIntercomFrontFront
Built aroundThe Messenger · tickets came laterShared email · comments and drafts on every thread
Entry plan$29/seat/mo · Essential: inbox and Messenger$25/seat/mo · Starter: one channel type
Chat in the price$29/seat/mo · Essential, with tickets$65/seat/mo · Professional: omnichannel
AI agentFrom $0.99 per outcome · Fin, printed on the pricing pageFrom $0.05 per conversation · Autopilot
Copilot for agents$29/agent/mo$20/seat/mo
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · 14-day trial

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    IntercomIntercom

    As a message in the Messenger, with ticketing available from Essential. Front has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    FrontFront

    As a thread in a shared inbox that teammates comment on and draft together; it is email first. Intercom raises a ticket where Front keeps a conversation.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    IntercomIntercom

    $29 buys the inbox, Messenger and ticketing. Advanced at $85 adds workflows and round-robin routing. $425 for five people, against $325 on Front.

    FrontFront

    $25 buys one channel type and up to ten seats. Omnichannel and fifty seats start at Professional, $65. $325 for five people, against $425 on Intercom.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    IntercomIntercom

    Fin is $0.99 or more per outcome on every plan, printed on the pricing page, on top of seats. Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats as well.

    FrontFront

    Autopilot, the AI agent, from $0.05 a conversation; Copilot is $20 per seat and Smart QA $20 per seat. Intercom meters AI (from $0.99 per outcome) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    IntercomIntercom

    Messenger and email on every plan; WhatsApp, SMS and phone are pay-as-you-go lines. Front adds Instagram, which Intercom lacks.

    FrontFront

    Email on Starter; chat, SMS, WhatsApp and voice on Professional and up. Instagram is here and not on Intercom.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    IntercomIntercom

    Product tours, banners, surveys and outbound campaigns; Proactive Support Plus is $99 a month. Front is a team inbox instead.

    FrontFront

    Sequences, calendar, account views and analytics for logistics, finance and account teams. Intercom is a customer messaging platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    IntercomIntercom

    An afternoon for a website-first team: install the Messenger, invite the team, answer. Front is a day.

    FrontFront

    A day: connect the mailboxes, set rules and assignments, then add the chat widget. Intercom is an afternoon for a website-first team.

Sources: Intercom pricing · Front pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Intercom Inbox: a conversation list with the Messenger thread and the customer profile
IntercomIntercom. The Intercom Inbox: a conversation list with the Messenger thread and the customer profile
The Front inbox: the thread with internal comments beside it and the assignment bar on top
FrontFront. The Front inbox: the thread with internal comments beside it and the assignment bar on top

What your team would pay

Move the sliders. Yearly-billing rates from each vendor’s pricing page, next to Sellio’s plan for the same number of seats.

5 people who answer customers

50

300 Fin outcomes on Intercom, Autopilot conversations on Front

3000+
IntercomIntercom

$722/mo

Adds workflows, multiple inboxes and round robin.

5 × $85 seats
$425
300 Fin outcomes × $0.99
$297
Copilot, 5 × $29
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. From $0.99 per Fin outcome on every plan, as printed on the pricing page. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

FrontFront

$340/mo

Omnichannel, up to fifty seats.

5 × $65 seats
$325
300 Autopilot conversations × $0.05
$15
Copilot, 5 × $20
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. From $0.05 per conversation handled by Autopilot, as printed. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

Sellio · Mini

$55/mo

One price for the workspace: 3 channels, 2 AI agents, $5 AI credit a month.

Workspace, 5 of 5 seats
$45
AI past 100 included conversations
$10
Copilot for agents
Included

About $0.05 per AI conversation past the credit, with a daily and monthly cap you set. Yearly billing takes 20% off. See every plan.

Pricing references: Intercom pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Front pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06). Calculator uses yearly-billing rates. Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

5 people, website chat plus 2 more channels, 2 AI agents: $45 a month. Start free, no card.

Start freeSee every plan

Intercom, Front and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureIntercomIntercomFrontFrontSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per seat; Fin per outcome; channels metered
Per seat; channels tiered; AI add-ons per seat.
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 14-day trial
14-day trial.
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
The Messenger, all plans
Chat channel; Starter allows one channel type.
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
All plans
The core of the product.
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Pay-as-you-go
Professional and up, via add-on.
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Via integration
Professional and up.
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not native
Not a channel.
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications
Slack and Teams integrations.
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Fin, trained on your help center
Autopilot.
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $0.99 per outcome, on top of seats
From $0.05 per conversation; Copilot $20 per seat.
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Fin hands to a teammate
Routes to teammates.
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Included from Essential
Conversations with tags and status.
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Visual builder, Advanced and up
Rules engine; visual on higher plans.
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports; custom on higher plans
Analytics on Professional and up.
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile only
Mac and Windows apps.
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Intercom if

  • Your support lives in the website messenger and in-app, and you want product tours and outbound messages in the same tool.
  • Fin's AI quality matters more to you than its per-outcome price.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Front does not have.
  • Time to the first reply is an afternoon for a website-first team here and a day on Front.

Pick Front if

  • Email is the channel and you want shared drafts, comments and sequences on every thread.
  • You run logistics, finance or account management where a thread is a piece of work.
  • Five people cost $100 a month less than on Intercom ($325 against $425), before AI.
  • You need Instagram in the price, which Intercom does not include outright.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $425 a month on Intercom against $325 on Front for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Intercom meters AI (from $0.99 per outcome) above the seats, Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither Intercom nor Front includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Intercom on Advanced: $170, $425 and $850 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Front on Professional: $130, $325 and $650 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $380 less than Intercom and $280 less than Front for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $755 under Intercom and $555 under Front.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Intercom is a customer messaging platform built around the Messenger; Front is a team inbox built around shared email. Neither has a free plan: Intercom offers a 14-day trial, no card, Front a 14-day trial of Professional. Intercom and Front both include website chat and email in the price; only Front has Instagram. Neither Intercom nor Front includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Intercom (from $0.99 per outcome) and Front (from $0.05 per conversation) both meter AI above the seats. Intercom has tickets and Front does not, and only Front ships desktop apps. Intercom is an afternoon for a website-first team; Front is a day.

What each price leaves out

Intercom: Fin AI agent from $0.99 per outcome on every plan; Copilot $29 per agent per month yearly ($35 monthly). WhatsApp, SMS and phone are pay-as-you-go. Front: Autopilot AI agent from $0.05 per conversation; Copilot $20 per seat per month and Smart QA $20 per seat (included on Enterprise). Beside Intercom's from $0.99 per outcome and Front's from $0.05 per conversation, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    IntercomIntercom$0.99$475
    FrontFront$0.05$24
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    IntercomIntercom · 14-day trial, no card
    FrontFront · 14-day trial of Professional
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Intercom vs Front: the questions people ask

Intercom is a customer messaging platform built around the Messenger; Front is a team inbox built around shared email. Intercom has tickets and Front does not, and only Front ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential: inbox and Messenger); Front $25/seat/mo (Starter: one channel type).
  • Chat in the price: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential, with tickets); Front $65/seat/mo (Professional: omnichannel).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Intercom nor Front has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Intercom and Front rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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