Helply vs. Intercom: AI agents without the per-seat bill

The quick verdict

Intercom fits teams that want product tours, in-app campaigns and support in one tool. Helply fits teams whose volume is growing faster than they want to hire, with AI agents working for customers, reps and the business.

• Helply: unlimited users on plans from $49 a month, with AI work billed in credits.
• Intercom: $85 per seat on Advanced, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome and $29 per teammate for Copilot.
• Helply includes its assistant for human reps, the Assist Agent, on every plan.
• Helply is the best Intercom alternative for teams that want product, engineering and finance answering customers without a seat each.

Helply vs. Intercom at a glance

Intercom and Helply both bring AI agents into customer support. Helply builds the whole helpdesk around them and doesn't charge for the people who use it.

More than AI in the inbox

Investigate before a human has to

Helply's Support Agent reads the conversation, the account, the order and past tickets before it acts. A "where's my order?" gets tracking and a refund within policy; a billing error gets a Linear issue filed.

Bring in the whole company

Intercom charges $19 to $132 a month for every full seat, with 20 free Lite seats on Advanced. Helply has unlimited users on every plan, so whoever can answer can join.

Support doesn’t stop with Support

Helply's Background Agents read every conversation without being asked. They flag churn risk, upgrade intent, feature requests and knowledge gaps, and route them to Success, Product or Engineering.

The economics

An illustration: five agents handle 1,500 consumer conversations a month, and the AI resolves half. On Intercom Advanced billed annually, that is about $1,168 a month before Copilot. On Helply, the 7,000-credit block covers it at $339 a month billed annually.

Helply never charges per user. Plans start at $49 a month with unlimited users, and AI work is billed in credits weighted by complexity, so your bill grows with the work the AI does rather than with your headcount.

Teams that switched

Switching from Intercom

You can bring your conversations, knowledge, customer context, and workflows into Helply and run it alongside Intercom until you’re ready to transition fully. There is no forced cutover.

1. Start a 14-day free trial with 1,000 credits and no card, and run Helply alongside Intercom on a slice of your queue.
2. Bring your history, macros, knowledge, and customer context across.
3. Cut over once AI resolution rates and workflows are where you want them.

Here is what comes with you:

• Conversations and message history
• Knowledge base and saved replies
• Customer and company records

Which should you choose?

Choose Intercom if:

• Product tours, in-app campaigns and support need to live in one tool.
• Your team is small and stable, and Fin's per-outcome cost fits your volume.

Choose Helply if:

• Support volume is growing and you don't want headcount to grow with it.
• You want an assistant for every rep included, instead of Copilot at $29 per teammate.

Frequently asked questions

• What is the best Intercom alternative?

  Helply, for teams scaling support without adding seats. It includes unlimited users on plans from $49 a month, with AI billed in credits.

• How is Helply different from Intercom?

  Intercom charges per seat and per Fin outcome. Helply includes unlimited users and bills AI work in credits across three agent types.

• How much does Intercom cost?

  Intercom seats are $19, $85 or $132 a month billed annually. Fin adds $0.99 per outcome, and Copilot is $29 per teammate.

• How much does Helply cost?

  Helply starts at $49 a month for 500 credits, with unlimited users. A draft uses 1 credit, a lookup 4, an investigation 12.

• Can Helply replace Intercom?

  Yes, for support. Helply includes the inbox, ticketing, chat, help center, workflows and reporting, with AI agents built in.

• Can I run Helply alongside Intercom before switching?

  Yes. Start a 14-day trial on part of your queue, compare resolution quality, then move the rest of your support across.

• How do Helply's AI agents compare with Intercom Fin?

  Intercom Fin and Helply's Support Agent both answer customers and take actions. Helply also includes an Assist Agent for reps and Background Agents.