IntercomSmartsuppIntercom vs Smartsupp

Intercom vs Smartsupp: $342 apart for five people

A customer messaging platform against a live chat and chatbot for ecommerce: Smartsupp is $342 a month cheaper for five people. Where Intercom and Smartsupp 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 Smartsupp if you are a small European store and want chat, Messenger and WhatsApp in one package. For five people, Smartsupp is $342 a month cheaper than Intercom ($425 a month on Intercom against $83 on Smartsupp), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $38 below Smartsupp. Intercom and Smartsupp both include website chat in the price; only Intercom has email; only Smartsupp has WhatsApp. Neither Intercom nor Smartsupp includes Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Intercom against Smartsupp, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceIntercomIntercomSmartsuppSmartsupp
Built aroundThe Messenger · tickets came laterChat with visitor recordings · packages, not seats
Entry plan$29/seat/mo · Essential: inbox and Messenger$17/mo · Solo: 1 agent, yearly
Chat in the price$29/seat/mo · Essential, with tickets$0 · Free: 1 agent, 25 conversations
AI agentFrom $0.99 per outcome · Fin, printed on the pricing page$16 per 100 conversations · Mira AI, yearly
Copilot for agents$29/agent/moIncluded · AI reply assistant on paid plans
Free planNone · 14-day trialYes · 1 agent, 25 conversations a month

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. Smartsupp has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    SmartsuppSmartsupp

    As a chat in the widget, with a recording of the visitor's session you can replay. Intercom raises a ticket where Smartsupp 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 $83 on Smartsupp.

    SmartsuppSmartsupp

    Packages, not seats: Solo is one agent at $17, Plus three at $25, Expert five or more at $83. $83 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. Smartsupp meters AI ($16 per 100 conversations) above the seats as well.

    SmartsuppSmartsupp

    Mira, the AI agent, is $16 per 100 conversations a month on yearly billing, bought in packs. 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. email is here and not on Smartsupp.

    SmartsuppSmartsupp

    Website chat, Messenger and WhatsApp on every plan, email on paid plans; no Instagram or Telegram. WhatsApp 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. Smartsupp is a live chat and chatbot for ecommerce instead.

    SmartsuppSmartsupp

    Visitor recordings, automated messages and a Shoptet and Shopify presence in Europe. 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. Smartsupp is minutes.

    SmartsuppSmartsupp

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

Sources: Intercom pricing · Smartsupp 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 Smartsupp dashboard: the chat with the visitor's session recording beside it
SmartsuppSmartsupp. The Smartsupp dashboard: the chat with the visitor's session recording beside it

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

Intercom, Smartsupp 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.

FeatureIntercomIntercomSmartsuppSmartsuppSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per seat; Fin per outcome; channels metered
Packages with agents included
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 14-day trial
1 agent, 25 conversations
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
Paid plans
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Pay-as-you-go
All plans
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
Mira
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $0.99 per outcome, on top of seats
$16 per 100 conversations
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
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Visual builder, Advanced and up
Automated messages; workflows on Plus
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports; custom on higher plans
Chat statistics
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 Smartsupp does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Smartsupp does not have.

Pick Smartsupp if

  • You are a small European store and want chat, Messenger and WhatsApp in one package.
  • Session recordings beside the chat help you sell.
  • Five people cost $342 a month less than on Intercom ($83 against $425), before AI.
  • You need WhatsApp 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 $83 on Smartsupp 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, Smartsupp meters AI ($16 per 100 conversations) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Intercom nor Smartsupp 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. Smartsupp: $83 a month for five ($83 for the package with five agents); 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 $38 less than Smartsupp 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; Smartsupp is a live chat and chatbot for ecommerce built around chat with visitor recordings. Only Smartsupp has a free plan (1 agent, 25 conversations a month); Intercom offers a 14-day trial, no card. Intercom and Smartsupp both include website chat in the price; only Intercom has email; only Smartsupp has WhatsApp. Neither Intercom nor Smartsupp includes Instagram and Telegram outright. Intercom (from $0.99 per outcome) and Smartsupp ($16 per 100 conversations) both meter AI above the seats. Intercom has tickets and Smartsupp does not, and neither Intercom nor Smartsupp ships a desktop app. Intercom is an afternoon for a website-first team; Smartsupp 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. Smartsupp: Mira AI $16 per 100 conversations a month on yearly billing; AI reply assistant included on paid plans. Beside Intercom's from $0.99 per outcome and Smartsupp's $16 per 100 conversations, 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
    SmartsuppSmartsuppSee 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
    SmartsuppSmartsupp · 14-day trial of the paid plans
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Intercom vs Smartsupp: the questions people ask

Intercom is a customer messaging platform built around the Messenger; Smartsupp is a live chat and chatbot for ecommerce built around chat with visitor recordings. Intercom has tickets and Smartsupp does not, and neither Intercom nor Smartsupp ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential: inbox and Messenger); Smartsupp $17/mo (Solo: 1 agent, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: Intercom $29/seat/mo (Essential, with tickets); Smartsupp $0 (Free: 1 agent, 25 conversations).
  • Sellio: Instagram and Telegram, which neither Intercom nor Smartsupp has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Intercom and Smartsupp 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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