Intercom vs Plain
Intercom and Plain are both customer support tools. Intercom is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while Plain is aimed at developers and small businesses. Intercom costs less, from $39/mo versus $45/mo for Plain. Only Plain has a free plan.
| Pricing | Paid · $39 | Freemium · $45 |
| Starting price | $39/mo | $45/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Small businesses, Enterprise | Developers, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 2011 | GB · 2020 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Intercom if
B2B and B2C SaaS companies with meaningful support volume and a good knowledge base.
- Fin is among the best AI support agents on the market
- Excellent in-app messenger and SaaS integrations
- Mature workflows and reporting
Look elsewhere if: Very small teams or budget-sensitive startups; Crisp, Chatwoot or Plain cover the basics for far less.
Choose Plain if
B2B and developer-focused SaaS.
- Built for B2B support in Slack
- Developer-friendly API
- Modern, fast UI
Look elsewhere if: High-volume consumer support (Zendesk, Gorgias).
Intercom vs Plain pricing
Intercom
- Essential$39/seat/mo$29 billed annually; Fin AI $0.99/outcome
- Advanced$99/seat/mo$85 billed annually; workflows, 20 Lite seats
- Expert$139/seat/mo$132 billed annually; SSO, HIPAA, 50 Lite seats
Plain
- Foundation$45/user/moBilled annually; up to 5 seats, 1,000 AI credits/mo
- Horizon$99/user/moBilled annually; 3-10 seats, 2,500 AI credits, SLAs, Teams
- FrontierCustomMultiple workspaces, SSO/SCIM, HIPAA
Intercom · Key features
- Fin AI agent trained on your help center, docs and past conversations
- Omnichannel inbox: chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, social
- Help center with AI-assisted article suggestions
- Workflows: visual automation for routing, SLAs and bots
- Proactive support: product tours, banners, outbound messages
- Reporting on resolution rate, CSAT and team performance
Cons
- Pricing is complex: seats plus per-outcome AI fees
- Expensive for small teams compared with Crisp or Chatwoot
- Frequent packaging changes over the years
Plain · Key features
- Unified inbox for Slack, Teams, email, Discord, chat
- Customer context via API
- Tiers, SLAs and routing
- AI triage and drafting
- Linear and Jira integration
- API-first architecture
Cons
- Per-seat pricing
- Less suited for B2C volume
- Younger product
Intercom vs Plain: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Intercom or Plain?
Intercom starts at $39/mo and Plain at $45/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Intercom and Plain have a free plan?
Intercom has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Plain has a free plan.