6 Intercom Alternatives & Competitors to consider in 2024
Many of you have online businesses, and effectively communicating with your customers is essential for your business success. However, as technologies and consumer-habits evolve, it may become difficult for you to find the right tools to effectively engage with your customers.
This is where Intercom comes into play. Intercom offers a comprehensive customer engagement platform that you can use to incorporate bots, apps, product tours, help centers and real-time chatting features into your business. You can also onboard new customers and send out targeted-messaging campaigns through Intercom. You can also set up dedicated email accounts for your business, and you can design in-depth campaign-workflows with Intercom as well.
Intercom is certainly a very popular tool for customer support and engagement. However, complicated pricing plans and issues with tracking/reporting features can make the platform tedious for many users. Luckily, we have compiled a list of viable alternatives that you can use in case Intercom is not suitable for your business.
The best Intercom alternatives are:
(We mention the hidden gems ? on top of our list, to give them more exposure, over the already popular ones)
User
User offers omni-channel communication tools that are easy-to-use and mobile-friendly. User offers visitor tracking and CRM tools, and it has marketing-automation features as well. You can also add scheduling features and a knowledge base into your platform with User. User integrates seamlessly with many external platforms, and it can be used to build email campaigns. You can also add dynamic content to your platform through User.
Pros
✔️ Flexible tracking tools to collect and store visitor data
✔️ Advanced automation tools that don’t require any coding
✔️ Handy scheduling tools that can be used to set up marketing events and meetings
✔️ Robust live-chat widget with customizable design and language options
Cons
❌ Features could be added to incorporate product tours into online platforms
❌ More templates could be added for email campaigns
Pricing
💰 Pricing plans are customised based on email, product and contact volumes
Best known for
User is best known for its visitor tracking tools. With User, you can generate leads easily by combining visitor tracking with marketing automation. User’s tracking features can generate data to analyze page views, mobile interaction, email opens and received text messages. You can also trigger automation processes based on visitor behaviour through User, and data related to behavior, events and cookies can be easily organized into timelines as well.
HelpCrunch
HelpCrunch provides customizable customer-support and CRM tools with affordable pricing plans. HelpCrunch can be used for email marketing and automated messaging, and you can use it to set up help desks and knowledge bases for your platforms. HelpCrunch gives you the tools to provide multi-channel support to your customers. HelpCrunch can simplify your customer-onboarding process as well. HelpCrunch integrates with many external apps, and it can be used to develop mobile apps as well.
Pros
✔️ Advanced live-chatting tools with SDK and Messaging APi for iOS and Android apps
✔️ Flexible pop-up tools to enable lead-conversion
✔️ In-depth email-marketing tools that you can use to design newsletters and automated campaigns
✔️ Versatile help-desk features, with options to set up multi-channel support systems
Cons
❌ More events need to be added for Webhooks
❌ Lack of scheduling features compared to peers
Pricing
💰 Free trial plan available
💰 Basic plan- Starting from $15 per month
💰 Pro plan- Starting from $25 per month
💰 Customised pricing plans for enterprise users
Best known for
HelpCrunch is best known for its help-desk features. With HelpCrunch, you can set-up omni-channel support systems with email and live-chat functionality. With HelpCrunch, you can add contextual information to your database in real-time, and you can set up automated follow-ups as well. With HelpCrunch, one support agent can handle up-to 5 conversations at once, and agent performance can also be tracked easily through a streamlined analytics dashboard.
EngageBay
EngageBay offers an automated tool that can be used to incorporate help-desks and live-chatting bots into your platform. EngageBay also offers tools to help with CRM, and you can use it to design landing pages and email sequences as well. EngageBay can also be used for scheduling, and it can be used to set-up customer support macros as well. EngageBay can be used to generate holistic customer insights, and it can be used for SMS marketing and lead management as well.
Pros
✔️ Powerful SMS marketing tools, with in-built response tracking and auto-responding features
✔️ Unique macro features, with options to automate routine response tasks
✔️ Comprehensive CRM suite with in-built lead management and appointment scheduling tools
✔️ Versatile landing page builder with drag-and-drop functionality
Cons
❌ Features such as embedded forms and customer lists have monthly limits, which can be restrictive
❌ Contact management features could be improved
Pricing
💰 Free trial plan available
💰 All-in-one Basic plan – $14.99 per user per month
💰 All-in-one Growth plan – $49.99 per user per month
💰 All-in-one Pro plan – $99.99 per user per month
💰 Marketing/CRM & Sales Bay Basic plan- $12.99 per user per month
💰 Marketing/CRM & Sales Bay Growth plan- $34.99/24.99 per user per month
💰 Marketing/CRM & Sales Bay Pro plan- $69.99/$49.99 per user per month
💰 Customised pricing plans for users looking for add-ons
Best known for
EngageBay is best known for its landing-page builder. With EngageBay, you can build landing pages that have high-conversion rates. EngageBay’s landing page builder comes with drag-and-drop features, and it has numerous customization options. You can also add meta-titles, keywords, event actions and descriptions to their pages, and you can monitor landing-page performance with ease. You can also add web-forms to your landing pages easily to capture leads.
Dashly
Dashly offers streamlined lead-management and CRM tools for businesses of all sizes. Dashly integrates with many external platforms, and it has automated tools that can be used to add chatbots to your platform. You can also use Dashly to design email campaigns, and you can use it to track user data. Dashly also has features that can be used to set up knowledge-bases and help centers, and you can use it to launch pop-ups on your website to capture and qualify leads.
Pros
✔️ Advanced automation tools to launch email campaigns
✔️ Handy options to add mobile-friendly live-chat features with push notifications
✔️ Easy-to-use pop-up builder to capture and qualify leads
✔️ Versatile integration options, with seamless integrations available for Whatsapp and Instagram
Cons
❌ Email notification features could be improved
❌ SMS marketing features are lacking compared to peers
Pricing
💰 Free trial plan available
💰 Business chat plan- Starting from $29 per month
💰 Automation plan- Starting from $79 per month
💰 Business plan- $57 per month
💰 Customised pricing plans for premium users
Best known for
Dashly is best known for its email-marketing tools. With Dashly, you can engage with your customers and onboard them easily with personalized emails that are designed to increase conversion rates. Dashly’s email editor also has many versatile template features, and you can use dashly to segment users based on their actions as well. You can also use Dashly to collect customer emails from various sources, and you can use it to generate detailed campaign reports. Dashly also has many features to personalize and customize email campaigns.
Crisp
Crisp provides all-in-one multi-channel messaging solutions that are designed to boost customer engagement. With Crisp, you can set up shared inboxes and chat-boxes with ease, and it can be used to set up email marketing campaigns. Crisp also offers tools that can be used to set-up knowledge bases and ticketing systems, and you can use it to design forms and status pages for your website. Crisp integrates with many external apps, and it has automation features that can be used to route conversations.
Pros
✔️ Versatile features to set up ticketing systems for customer support
✔️ Handy tools to design status pages that can be used to monitor systems
✔️ Streamlined email-campaign editor with WYSIWYG functionality and fine-grained targeting options
✔️ Advanced no-code chatbot builder with conversation -routing and scheduling functionality
Cons
❌ Customer tracking features need to be improved
❌ Lack of landing-page building tools compared to peers
Pricing
💰 Free trial plan available
💰 Pro plan- $25 per month per website
💰 Unlimited plan- $95 per month per website
💰 Customised pricing plans for enterprise users
Best known for
Crisp is best known for its ticketing features. With Crisp, you can build centralized ticketing systems to keep an eye on customer requests through shared inboxes. With Crisp, you can handle tickets in real-time as conversations, and you can deploy canned messages and chatbots as well. With Crisp, your team members can easily synchronize data and follow/create tickets. Crisp makes it easy to monitor customer support quality as well.
Gist
Gist offers comprehensive CRM tools to help with lead management, customer engagement and onboarding. With Gist, you can easily schedule meetings, build chatbots, send targeted emails and automate marketing functions. Gist integrates with many external apps, and it can be used to add lead-capturing forms and event trackers to your platform. You can also use Gist to build comprehensive knowledge bases and support centers. Gist lets you create truly personalized and customized experiences for your customers.
Pros
✔️ Simplified chatbot features that can automatically qualify inbound leads
✔️ Streamlined tracking tools with intuitive filtering functions
✔️ Versatile scheduling features with in-built link-sharing and engagement-tracking tools
✔️ Sleek features to set up customizable pop-up forms
Cons
❌ Features related to transactional emails could be improved
❌ Chat messages cannot be added to automated campaigns
Pricing
💰 Free trial plan available
💰 Professional support plan- $29 per month
💰 Premium support plan- $99 per month
💰 Professional marketing plan- $19 per month
💰 Premium marketing plan – $29 per month
💰 Professional all-in-one bundle- $48 per month
💰 Premium all-in-one bundle – $128 per month
💰 Customised pricing plans large enterprises
Best known for
Gist is best known for its pop-up form builder. With Gist, you can build sleek customizable forms without any coding. Gist gives users the flexibility to create opt-in forms for lead generation and surveys. Gist’s forms are mobile-responsive, and they can be built using pre-built templates. You can also set up multi-desk pop-ups, and you can utilize Gist to create sticky bars, fullscreen overlays and exit intent pop-ups.
Intercom FAQs
Does Intercom have a free version?
Yes, Intercom offers a free trial version that is accessible for 14 days
Is Intercom like Zendesk?
Yes, Intercom is very similar to Zendesk, although they do differ in terms of price and scalability
Who are Intercom’s competitors?
Intercom has many competitors, and we have provided in-depth reviews of their top competitors above
Is Intercom worth the money?
Intercom can be pricey for small businesses and freelancers. If you need cheaper alternatives, please go through the list that we have compiled above.
Can I use Intercom for free?
Yes, as mentioned above, Intercom has a free 14-day trial plan
What type of software is Intercom?
Intercom is a cloud-based customer communication platform that is designed to boost customer engagement
Why should you use an Intercom alternative?
Intercom may not be suitable for you due to its pricing structure, and due to issues with its tracking/reporting tools. Hence, if Intercom is not suitable for your needs, there are many alternatives that you can consider.
What are the best FREE Intercom alternatives for small businesses?
Most Intercom alternatives offer FREE trial plans with limited features, but if you want a truly FREE alternative to Intercom, you can consider Tawk.to, which offers free tools to incorporate live-chats and knowledge bases into your platforms.
