IntercomLiveAgentIntercom vs LiveAgent

Intercom vs LiveAgent: $425 or $145 for five people

A customer messaging platform against a help desk with live chat and calls: LiveAgent is $280 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

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 LiveAgent if you want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price. For five people, LiveAgent is $280 a month cheaper than Intercom ($425 a month on Intercom against $145 on LiveAgent), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $100 under LiveAgent. Intercom and LiveAgent both include website chat and email in the price. Neither Intercom nor LiveAgent includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Intercom and LiveAgent sell here at one price.

At a glanceIntercomIntercomLiveAgentLiveAgent
Built aroundThe Messenger · tickets came laterA universal inbox · email, chat and calls
Entry plan$29/seat/mo · Essential: inbox and Messenger$15/agent/mo · Small Business, yearly
Chat in the price$29/seat/mo · Essential, with tickets$15/agent/mo · chat on every plan
AI agentFrom $0.99 per outcome · Fin, printed on the pricing pageIncluded · chatbot and answer assistant
Copilot for agents$29/agent/moIncluded
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · 30-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. LiveAgent raises tickets too, from a universal inbox.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    As a ticket in the universal inbox, whether it came by email, chat or a call. Intercom raises tickets too, from the Messenger.

  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 $145 on LiveAgent.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    $15 buys email and two chat buttons on Small Business; the call center starts on Medium at $29. $145 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. LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan instead.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    The chatbot, answer assistant and triage are included in the paid plans; no per-conversation meter. Intercom meters AI (from $0.99 per outcome) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    IntercomIntercom

    Messenger and email on every plan; WhatsApp, SMS and phone are pay-as-you-go lines. The same set as LiveAgent.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    Email and chat on every plan; calls from Medium; WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram and Facebook on Large and up. The same set as Intercom.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    IntercomIntercom

    Product tours, banners, surveys and outbound campaigns; Proactive Support Plus is $99 a month. LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls instead.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A call center with IVR, a knowledge base and a customer portal. 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. LiveAgent is a day.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A day: connect the mailbox, add the chat button, set the departments. Intercom is an afternoon for a website-first team.

Sources: Intercom pricing · LiveAgent 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 LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together
LiveAgentLiveAgent. The LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together

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, AI conversations on LiveAgent

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.

LiveAgentLiveAgent

$145/mo

Adds the call center.

5 × $29 seats
$145
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. LiveAgent includes its chatbot and answer assistant in the seat; no per-conversation rate is printed. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

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); LiveAgent pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). 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, LiveAgent 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.

FeatureIntercomIntercomLiveAgentLiveAgentSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per seat; Fin per outcome; channels metered
Per agent; AI included
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 14-day trial
None; 30-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

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

Support operations

Tickets
Included from Essential
Universal inbox
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Visual builder, Advanced and up
Rules and time rules
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports; custom on higher plans
Reports and CSAT
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile only
Windows and macOS 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.
  • Time to the first reply is an afternoon for a website-first team here and a day on LiveAgent.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than LiveAgent's: per seat per month, billed yearly, one full seat minimum. No free plan.

Pick LiveAgent if

  • You want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price.
  • AI included in the seat matters more than a tunable AI meter.
  • Five people cost $280 a month less than on Intercom ($145 against $425), before AI.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Intercom does not ship.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Intercom or LiveAgent who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $425 a month on Intercom against $145 on LiveAgent for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Intercom meters AI (from $0.99 per outcome) above the seats, LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither Intercom nor LiveAgent 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. LiveAgent on Medium Business: $58, $145 and $290 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 $100 less than LiveAgent for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $755 under Intercom and $195 under LiveAgent.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Intercom is a customer messaging platform built around the Messenger; LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox. Neither has a free plan: Intercom offers a 14-day trial, no card, LiveAgent a 30-day trial, no card. Intercom and LiveAgent both include website chat and email in the price. Neither Intercom nor LiveAgent includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Intercom meters AI (from $0.99 per outcome) above the seats; LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan. Intercom and LiveAgent both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps. Intercom is an afternoon for a website-first team; LiveAgent 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. LiveAgent: Chatbot, answer assistant, autoresponder and triage included in the paid plans. Beside Intercom's from $0.99 per outcome and LiveAgent's included, 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
    LiveAgentLiveAgentAssumed $0$0
    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
    LiveAgentLiveAgent · 30-day trial, no card
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Intercom vs LiveAgent: the questions people ask

Intercom is a customer messaging platform built around the Messenger; LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox. Intercom and LiveAgent both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential: inbox and Messenger); LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (Small Business, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential, with tickets); LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (chat on every plan).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Intercom nor LiveAgent has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Intercom and LiveAgent 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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