Wootdesk vs Intercom: no per-resolution fee on the AI

Intercom charges per seat — US$29 on Essential, US$85 on Advanced, US$132 on Expert — and its Fin AI agent is billed separately at US$0.99 per resolved outcome. WhatsApp, SMS and phone are pay-as-you-go on top of the seat price.

Wootdesk includes WhatsApp and WootAI in the seat price, from about US$28 a month for two seats. Choose Intercom if your product is a SaaS app and in-product messaging drives your support. Choose Wootdesk if WhatsApp is the channel and you do not want the AI metered per resolution.

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Side by side

WootdeskIntercom
Entry priceUS$28/month (≈ R$149), 2 seatsEssential US$29/seat/month
Upper tiersUS$50 and US$128/month by planAdvanced US$85, Expert US$132 per seat
AI billingWootAI included in the planFin at US$0.99 per resolved outcome
WhatsAppIncluded on every planPay-as-you-go, on top of the seat price
Native strengthWhatsApp and Instagram queuesIn-app Messenger, product tours, help centre
Free trial7 days, no credit card14 days, no credit card
Minimum commitment2 seats, monthly, cancel any time1 full seat minimum
VoiceTwilio Voice and WhatsApp Calling includedPhone available pay-as-you-go

Intercom figures from its official pricing page, read on 26 August 2026. https://www.intercom.com/pricing

Verified August 26, 2026, according to the official pricing page. Plans, prices and limits change without notice, and some vendors show different prices by region. Check the vendor's own page before deciding. Intercom is a trademark of its owner; Wootdesk is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by it.

A 3-agent team handling 2,000 conversations a month

  • Three agents, WhatsApp carrying most of the volume.
  • AI resolving roughly a quarter of conversations — 500 outcomes.
  • Intercom on the Essential tier, its cheapest.

Wootdesk

US$50 (≈ R$269)

Prata plan, 4 seats, WootAI and WhatsApp included

Charged in BRL. The USD figure is an estimate at R$5.40/US$1.

Intercom

~US$582 + WhatsApp usage

Essential at US$29 × 3 seats = US$87, plus 500 Fin outcomes at US$0.99 = US$495

Fin is charged once per conversation regardless of how many questions it answers. WhatsApp is pay-as-you-go on top.

Per-outcome AI pricing is unusual: it scales with how well the AI works. Resolve more and you pay more. That is defensible — you only pay for results — but it makes the monthly figure a function of your deflection rate rather than your headcount.

Paying for AI by the resolution

Fin costs US$0.99 per outcome, counted when the customer confirms resolution, stops asking, or Fin completes a workflow. Intercom charges once per conversation even if several questions are answered inside it, which is the fair version of that model.

The consequence is a monthly bill that moves with your deflection rate. A thousand AI-resolved conversations is US$990 on top of seats. If your AI is doing its job, the invoice grows precisely because it is working — which is either good alignment or an uncomfortable incentive, depending on where you sit.

WootAI is included in the Wootdesk seat price with no per-resolution charge. It is a narrower AI than Fin, drafting replies from your help centre content rather than running autonomous resolution workflows, and it costs the same whether it drafts ten replies or ten thousand.

Where each product assumes the customer is

Intercom's Messenger lives inside your product. Product tours, in-app banners, tooltips, a help centre that opens over your interface — that machinery is best in class and assumes your customers are logged into software you built.

Wootdesk assumes the customer is in WhatsApp. There is no app to be logged into: they message the number they already have saved. In Brazil, Iberia, South Asia and much of the Middle East that is where the conversation is, and no in-app Messenger will reach it.

This is the deciding question. If you sell SaaS to businesses that live in your dashboard, Intercom's shape matches yours. If you sell anything to consumers who message on WhatsApp, it does not.

WhatsApp as an extra line

On Intercom's pricing page, WhatsApp, SMS, email campaigns and phone are listed as pay-as-you-go, separate from the seat price. Live chat, in-app messages, banners and tooltips are the ones included without extra usage cost.

Wootdesk includes WhatsApp in every plan, along with Instagram, Messenger, email, live chat, Telegram and SMS. Voice runs through Twilio and WhatsApp Calling inside the same inbox. The channel that matters most in our markets is not the one with a usage meter attached.

Seat prices and what they buy

Essential at US$29 covers Fin, the Messenger, a shared inbox with ticketing, pre-built reports and a public help centre. Advanced at US$85 adds multiple team inboxes, the workflow builder, round-robin assignment and twenty free Lite seats. Expert at US$132 adds SSO, HIPAA support, SLAs and multibrand.

Wootdesk's ladder is flatter: assignment rules, private notes, labels, business hours and WootAI are on the entry plan, and the upgrade path is mostly about seats and channels. Intercom's is deeper at the top — if you need HIPAA or multibrand, that is not a gap Wootdesk fills.

When Intercom is the better choice

Several situations point clearly at them:

  • You sell SaaS and your customers live inside your product. In-app Messenger, product tours and tooltips have no equivalent in Wootdesk.
  • You want an AI agent that resolves autonomously and are happy to pay per outcome for it. Fin is more ambitious than WootAI.
  • You need HIPAA support, SSO or multibrand help centres, all of which Intercom offers at the Expert tier.
  • Your volume is low enough that per-resolution AI pricing costs less than a bundled plan.
  • Product-led onboarding matters as much as support, and you want tours, banners and messaging in one tool.

Moving from Intercom to Wootdesk

The help centre content is the valuable part. Everything else is configuration.

  1. 1. Export the help centre

    Your articles are what WootAI drafts replies from, so they transfer directly into value rather than being archive material. Export them before touching anything else.

  2. 2. Export contacts and conversation history

    Pull contacts with attributes and tags. Conversation history is usually left in Intercom read-only for the remainder of the term, since the data models differ.

  3. 3. Decide what happens to in-app messaging

    If you rely on product tours or in-app banners, Wootdesk does not replace them. Decide whether that stays on Intercom, moves to a dedicated tool, or goes away.

  4. 4. Rebuild inbox rules in the trial

    Seven days, no card. Recreate assignment rules, business hours, canned replies and labels while Intercom keeps serving live traffic.

  5. 5. Connect WhatsApp and move the volume

    Connect the WhatsApp number to Wootdesk and route new conversations there. Because WhatsApp was pay-as-you-go on Intercom rather than the core channel, this is usually less disruptive than a full ticketing migration.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Intercom cost per seat?
Essential is US$29, Advanced US$85 and Expert US$132 per seat per month on the official pricing page in August 2026, with a one full seat minimum. Fin AI is charged separately at US$0.99 per resolved outcome, and WhatsApp is pay-as-you-go.
What is a Fin outcome?
Intercom counts an outcome when the customer confirms resolution, stops asking for help, or Fin completes a workflow. It is charged once per conversation even when several questions are answered inside it, at US$0.99 per outcome.
Does Intercom include WhatsApp?
Not in the seat price. Intercom's pricing page lists WhatsApp, SMS, email campaigns and phone as pay-as-you-go alongside the plan. Wootdesk includes WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email, live chat, Telegram and SMS on every plan.
Is WootAI comparable to Fin?
Not directly. Fin runs autonomous resolution workflows and is priced for that ambition. WootAI drafts replies from your help centre content and assists agents rather than replacing them, and it is included in the plan price with no per-resolution charge.
Which is cheaper for a small team?
It depends on AI volume more than headcount. Three Intercom seats on Essential is US$87 a month, close to Wootdesk's US$50 for four seats — but 500 Fin resolutions adds US$495, while Wootdesk's AI adds nothing to the invoice.
Can Wootdesk replace in-app messaging?
No. Intercom's Messenger, product tours, banners and tooltips live inside your product and Wootdesk has no equivalent. If product-led onboarding runs through those features, moving away from Intercom means finding a replacement for them.
How long is each free trial?
Intercom offers fourteen days with no credit card required. Wootdesk offers seven days, also with no card and no sales call. Both let you connect real channels during the trial rather than working with sample data.

Predictable AI, included WhatsApp

Seven days, no credit card. Run a real week and compare the invoice you would get if the AI does its job.

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