# Crisp vs Intercom

> Crisp and Intercom side by side: free-plan limits, published prices at 2, 5 and 10 seats, AI billing, channels, languages and data hosting, with a pick for each kind of team.

Published: September 18, 2026 · Updated: September 18, 2026 · Prices and limits verified: September 18, 2026 · By the live-chat.reviews team

This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not installed or tested these products ourselves. Method: [How we review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/how-we-review)

Crisp charges a flat price per workspace; Intercom charges per seat. Crisp Essentials is $95 a month for up to 10 seats, and Crisp has a Free plan for 2 agents. Intercom has no free plan and starts at $39 per seat a month on Essential billed monthly, so every new agent adds to the bill.

Crisp is cheaper in all three worked examples, and the gap grows with each agent. **Crisp** is built for small and mid-sized teams that want a predictable bill and EU hosting on every plan. **Intercom** is built for support teams that want a certified vendor and an AI agent billed per outcome. Details in the [Crisp review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/crisp), the [Intercom review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/intercom) and the guide to [per-seat vs per-workspace pricing](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/per-seat-vs-per-workspace-pricing).

**Bottom line**

- Crisp is the better pick for small teams, because it costs less than Intercom at every team size and hosts data in the EU on every plan. Choose Intercom if a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certificate is a buying requirement or you want AI billed at a fixed price per outcome.

## Side by side

|  | [Crisp](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/crisp) | [Intercom](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/intercom) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Score | **7.2** | **5.4** |
| Pricing model | Per workspace | Seats plus AI usage |
| Paid plans from | $45 per workspace per month, billed monthly | $29 per seat per month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Yes — Free | No free plan · 14-day trial |
| Free plan: Free seats | 2 | — |
| Free plan: Conversations | Unlimited | — |
| Free plan: Chat history | Not documented | — |
| Free plan: Remove branding | No | — |
| Free plan: AI on the free plan | No | — |
| Free plan: Beyond website chat | Chat only | — |
| AI chatbot | Hugo — billed per credit | Fin AI Agent — billed per resolution |
| Channels | Website chat, Email, Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, WhatsApp, SMS, Voice | Website chat, Email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS, Voice |
| Languages | Widget in 60+ languages | Widget in 45+ languages |
| EU data hosting | Yes | On some paid plans |
| Compliance | GDPR DPA (all plans), EU hosting (all plans), Published sub-processor list, 2FA | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27018, ISO 42001, AIUC-1 (Fin), HIPAA (Expert), GDPR, CCPA |
| Best for | Teams wanting flat pricing and EU hosting | Support teams building around an AI agent |

## What it costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats

| Product | 2 seats · 100 conversations a month | 5 seats · 500 conversations a month | 10 seats · 2,000 conversations a month |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Crisp | Free (Free) | $95 a month (Essentials) | $95 a month (Essentials) |
| Intercom | $78 a month (Essential) | $195 a month (Essential) | $390 a month (Essential) |

_List prices in the vendor's own currency, billed monthly where the vendor offers it, otherwise the annual-billing rate. AI usage, taxes and discounts are not included._

## Choose Crisp if

- you want a flat bill: Crisp Essentials covers 10 seats for $95 a month with no conversation cap, while five Intercom Essential seats already cost five times $39.
- you need EU hosting on every plan: Crisp states EU hosting and a DPA for all plans, while Intercom limits regional hosting to Advanced and Expert on a contract account.
- you want the logo off at lower cost: Crisp Plus removes the watermark for $295 a month for up to 20 seats, while Intercom requires Advanced at $99 per seat.
- you want to start free: Crisp Free covers 2 agents with unlimited conversations; Intercom offers a 14-day trial only.

## Choose Intercom if

- your buyers require certifications: Intercom lists SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, while Crisp states it has had no SOC 2 audit and holds no ISO 27001 certificate.
- you want AI billed at a known price per unit: Fin AI Agent costs $0.99 per outcome, with the billing rules written down, while Crisp publishes only an estimate of $0.05–$0.10 per Hugo conversation.
- you are an eligible startup: Intercom's Early Stage program lists $33 a month in year one.

## Score breakdown

| Criterion | Weight | Crisp | Intercom |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Free-plan usability | 25% | 4/5 | 1/5 |
| Cost as you add agents | 25% | 4/5 | 3/5 |
| AI billing clarity | 20% | 2/5 | 4/5 |
| Channels and integrations | 15% | 5/5 | 3/5 |
| Data location and compliance | 15% | 3/5 | 3/5 |

> **Scored on a public rubric, from pages you can open.** Every score on this site comes from five published criteria: free-plan usability, cost as you add agents, AI billing clarity, channels and integrations, and data location and compliance. Each price and limit is stored once, links to its source, and shows the same value on every page. Rubric v1.0 · We have not installed or speed-tested these widgets yet, and no page here claims we did. [Read the full method](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/how-we-review)

## Frequently asked questions

### How much cheaper is Crisp than Intercom?

For a team of five, Crisp Essentials is one flat $95 a month, while Intercom Essential costs $39 per seat a month billed monthly, so five seats cost more than twice as much before any Fin usage. At ten seats the Crisp price stays the same while Intercom's doubles. See [Crisp pricing](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/crisp) and [Intercom pricing](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/intercom).

### Which is better for AI chat, Crisp or Intercom?

Intercom documents its AI costs more precisely: $0.99 per Fin outcome, at most one per conversation. Crisp includes Hugo credits in paid plans ($25 a month on Essentials) but bills them by token use, so it only estimates the cost of a conversation. The [AI chatbot ranking](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/best/live-chat-with-ai-chatbot) covers both.

### Is Crisp or Intercom better for GDPR?

Crisp states EU hosting, a DPA and a published sub-processor list on every plan. Intercom holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certificates, but EU hosting is limited to Advanced and Expert workspaces on a contract account. See the [privacy and law guide](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/live-chat-privacy-and-the-law).

## Related pages

- [Crisp review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/crisp)
- [Crisp pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/crisp)
- [Intercom review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/intercom)
- [Intercom pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/intercom)
- [Free-plan audit: does your team fit a free live chat plan?](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/tools/free-plan-audit)

## Sources

- [Crisp pricing](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Getting started with the Free plan](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-free-plan-1rjhsh5/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Hugo pricing and billing explained](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/hugo-pricing-billing-explained-h78hkv/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [How to increase my limits and quotas](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/how-to-increase-my-limits-quotas-1tuarq7/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Crisp EU GDPR compliance status](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/crisp-eu-gdpr-compliance-status-nhv54c/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Crisp compliance status with SOC 2](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/crisp-compliance-status-with-soc2-1xet2vz/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Crisp compliance with ISO 27001](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/crisp-compliance-with-iso-27001-10e05uc/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Crisp sub-processors](https://crisp.chat/en/sub-processors/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [What languages are supported by Crisp](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/what-languages-are-supported-by-crisp-1ivdmy2/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Chatbox SDKs](https://docs.crisp.chat/guides/chatbox-sdks/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [About Crisp](https://crisp.chat/en/about/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Crisp live chat](https://crisp.chat/en/livechat/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Crisp AI Core Update (Hugo launch, AI replies become paid)](https://crisp.chat/en/blog/crisp-ai-core-update/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Summer 2026 Crisp product update](https://crisp.chat/en/blog/summer-2026-crisp-product-update/) — Crisp · September 18, 2026
- [Shopify integration](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/16188-install-the-shopify-app) — Fin (Intercom) · September 18, 2026
- [WordPress plugin](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/173-install-intercom-on-your-wordpress-site) — Fin (Intercom) · September 18, 2026
- [Intercom pricing](https://www.intercom.com/pricing) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Fin pricing](https://fin.ai/pricing) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Fin AI Agent outcomes](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/8205718-fin-ai-agent-outcomes) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Your workspace settings](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/15432088-your-workspace-settings) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Early Stage program](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9361928-early-stage-program) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Usage-based channels](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9061703-usage-based-channels) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Regional data hosting](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/6124430-regional-data-hosting) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [How data is hosted and processed in Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/8106177-how-data-is-hosted-and-processed-in-intercom) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Intercom security](https://www.intercom.com/security) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Localize the Messenger to work with multiple languages](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/180-localize-the-messenger-to-work-with-multiple-languages) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Use Intercom in your preferred language](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/7035581-use-intercom-in-your-preferred-language) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Omnichannel helpdesk](https://www.intercom.com/suite/helpdesk/omnichannel) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Intercom live chat](https://www.intercom.com/live-chat) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Installing Intercom](https://developers.intercom.com/installing-intercom) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [About Fin](https://fin.ai/about) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Today, Intercom becomes Fin](https://www.intercom.com/blog/today-intercom-becomes-fin/) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin](https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2026/06/15/salesforce-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-fin/) — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- [Salesforce completes acquisition of Fin](https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2026/09/10/salesforce-completes-acquisition-of-fin/) — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- [Lightspeed customer story](https://fin.ai/customers/lightspeed) — Fin · September 18, 2026
- [Intercom on the Vendr marketplace](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/intercom) — Vendr · September 18, 2026

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