IntercomPure ChatIntercom vs Pure Chat

Intercom vs Pure Chat: $373 apart for five people

A customer messaging platform against a live chat software: Pure Chat is $373 a month cheaper for five people. What decides between Intercom and Pure Chat, 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

No credit card. Live in minutes.

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 Pure Chat if you want cheap chat for a small team on one site with no AI. For five people, Pure Chat is $373 a month cheaper than Intercom ($425 a month on Intercom against $52 on Pure Chat), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, $7 under Pure Chat. Intercom and Pure Chat both include website chat in the price; only Intercom has email. Neither Intercom nor Pure Chat includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. A team of two to ten choosing between Intercom and Pure Chat for chat and tickets at one price has a third option below.

At a glanceIntercomIntercomPure ChatPure Chat
Built aroundThe Messenger · tickets came laterA chat widget for small sites · operators in packs
Entry plan$29/seat/mo · Essential: inbox and Messenger$39/mo · Growth: 4 operators, 1 site
Chat in the price$29/seat/mo · Essential, with tickets$39/mo · the whole product is chat
AI agentFrom $0.99 per outcome · Fin, printed on the pricing pageNone · no AI agent
Copilot for agents$29/agent/moNone
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · 30-day trial of PRO

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. Pure Chat has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    As a chat in the widget, with the visitor's page and history in the operator dashboard. Intercom raises a ticket where Pure Chat 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 $52 on Pure Chat.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    $39 buys four operators on one site; PRO at $79 buys ten operators on unlimited sites, extras $8 to $13 each. $52 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. Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none) instead.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    No AI agent or copilot; canned responses and triggers only. 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. email is here and not on Pure Chat.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Website chat only; no email, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. Intercom adds email, which Pure Chat lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    IntercomIntercom

    Product tours, banners, surveys and outbound campaigns; Proactive Support Plus is $99 a month. Pure Chat is a live chat software instead.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Visitor tracking, transcripts and mobile apps. 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. Pure Chat is minutes.

    Pure ChatPure Chat

    Minutes: paste the widget. Intercom is an afternoon for a website-first team.

Sources: Intercom pricing · Pure Chat 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 Pure Chat dashboard: the visitor list and an open chat
Pure ChatPure Chat. The Pure Chat dashboard: the visitor list and an open chat

Pricing references: Intercom pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Pure Chat pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Intercom, Pure Chat 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.

FeatureIntercomIntercomPure ChatPure ChatSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per seat; Fin per outcome; channels metered
Per month with operator packs
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
The whole product
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
All plans
Not offered
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Pay-as-you-go
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Via integration
Not offered
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not native
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications
Not offered
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Fin, trained on your help center
None
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $0.99 per outcome, on top of seats
No AI to bill
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Fin hands to a teammate
No AI to hand off from
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile only
Browser and mobile
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 email in the price, which Pure Chat does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Pure Chat does not have.

Pick Pure Chat if

  • You want cheap chat for a small team on one site with no AI.
  • Operator packs suit you better than per-agent pricing.
  • Five people cost $373 a month less than on Intercom ($52 against $425), before AI.
  • Time to the first reply is minutes here and an afternoon for a website-first team on Intercom.

The third option: Sellio

  • Two to ten of you answer chat, messaging and email. Compare Sellio's workspace plans with $425 a month on Intercom against $52 on Pure Chat for five people, including each product's limits.
  • The AI invoice should be known in advance: Intercom meters AI (from $0.99 per outcome) above the seats and Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none), where Sellio's credit is included and capped by you.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Intercom nor Pure Chat 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. Pure Chat: $52 a month for five ($39 for 4 operators plus $13 for the fifth); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $380 less than Intercom and $7 less than Pure Chat for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $755 under Intercom.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Intercom is a customer messaging platform built around the Messenger; Pure Chat is a live chat software built around a chat widget for small sites. Neither has a free plan: Intercom offers a 14-day trial, no card, Pure Chat a 30-day trial of PRO. Intercom and Pure Chat both include website chat in the price; only Intercom has email. Neither Intercom nor Pure Chat includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Intercom meters AI (from $0.99 per outcome) above the seats; Pure Chat has no AI to bill (none). Intercom has tickets and Pure Chat does not, and neither Intercom nor Pure Chat ships a desktop app. Intercom is an afternoon for a website-first team; Pure Chat is minutes.

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. Pure Chat: No AI agent. Beside Intercom's from $0.99 per outcome and Pure Chat's none, 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
    Pure ChatPure ChatSee vendorNot quoted
    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
    Pure ChatPure Chat · 30-day trial of PRO
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Intercom vs Pure Chat: the questions people ask

Intercom is a customer messaging platform built around the Messenger; Pure Chat is a live chat software built around a chat widget for small sites. Intercom has tickets and Pure Chat does not, and neither Intercom nor Pure Chat ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential: inbox and Messenger); Pure Chat $39/mo (Growth: 4 operators, 1 site).
  • Chat in the price: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential, with tickets); Pure Chat $39/mo (the whole product is chat).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Intercom nor Pure Chat has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Intercom and Pure Chat on the same rows.

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

No credit card required