Relay vs Intercom
AI-first customer service platform with per-seat pricing.
Prices checked . Written by the Relay team, so check the sources below.
The short answer
Relay is a flat-rate support tool for small SaaS teams: $19 a month for 3 seats or $49 a month for unlimited seats, with AI answers included. Intercom starts at $29 per seat per month, and its Fin AI agent adds $0.99 per outcome. Choose Relay if you want chat, a help center, AI answers and a feedback board at a predictable price. Choose Intercom if you need workflows, round-robin assignment, multiple inboxes, multilingual support or SLAs.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Relay if…
- You are a small team and want one predictable monthly price instead of per-seat and per-outcome billing.
- You want a public feedback board built in, not a separate tool to connect.
- You want a quiet, keyboard-friendly inbox and don't need workflow automation.
Choose Intercom if…
- You need workflows, round-robin assignment or multiple team inboxes.
- You support customers in several languages.
- You need SSO, SLAs or HIPAA support.
- You want an AI agent that is a core part of how you handle support at volume.
Pricing
What a team of three pays
Relay Pro
$19 /month
3 seats, flat. AI answers, the email channel and the feedback board are included.
Intercom
$87 /month
3 × $29 Essential seats. Fin AI outcomes are billed on top, from $0.99 each.
List prices in US dollars. Relay costs $19 a month for Pro (3 seats) or $49 a month for Team (unlimited seats), with AI answers, the email channel and the feedback board in both plans. Paying yearly gets 2 months free.
Intercom pricing in detail
- Essential: $29 per seat per month, with the Messenger, shared inbox, ticketing, reports and help center.
- Advanced: $85 per seat per month, adding multiple inboxes, workflows, round-robin assignment and multilingual support, with 20 free Lite seats.
- Expert: $132 per seat per month, adding SSO, HIPAA support, SLAs and multibrand, with 50 free Lite seats.
- Fin AI Agent: from $0.99 per outcome, on every plan. One full seat minimum.
- A 14-day free trial is available, and self-serve plans need no contract.
Features
Relay and Intercom, side by side
Intercom is a customer service platform built around its Fin AI agent, a shared inbox, ticketing and a Messenger widget. It charges per seat, with the AI agent billed per outcome on top.
| Feature | Relay | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Price for a 3-person team | $19 a month, flat | $87 a month (3 × $29), before AI fees |
| How you are charged | Per plan | Per seat, plus per AI outcome |
| AI answers | Claude answers from your help center, with citations. Included in the plan price | Fin AI Agent, from $0.99 per outcome |
| Free plan or trial | No free plan or trial | 14-day free trial |
| Chat widget and shared inbox | ||
| Help center | ||
| Public feedback board | No native board; works with apps such as Featurebase and Canny | |
| Workflows and round-robin assignment | Not yet | Advanced plan and up |
| Multilingual support | Not yet | Advanced plan and up |
| SSO and SLAs | Not offered | Expert plan |
Questions
Relay vs Intercom: common questions
- Is Relay cheaper than Intercom?
- For a small team, yes at list price. A 3-person team pays $19 a month on Relay Pro. Intercom Essential is $29 per seat per month, which is $87 for three seats, and its Fin AI agent adds from $0.99 per outcome. Intercom's price grows with every seat and every AI resolution, while Relay's does not. Prices checked 2026-10-02.
- What does Intercom have that Relay doesn't?
- Intercom's higher plans add workflows, multiple inboxes, round-robin assignment, multilingual support, SSO, SLAs and HIPAA support. Relay does not offer these today. It has one shared inbox with tags, priorities, internal notes and saved replies.
- Does Intercom have a public feedback board?
- Not natively. Intercom relies on integrations such as Featurebase or Canny for public voting boards. Relay includes a public feedback board with voting, comments and statuses in both plans.
- How does Relay's AI compare with Intercom's Fin?
- Fin is a mature AI agent with a wide set of integrations, billed per outcome. Relay's AI is narrower: it answers from your own help center articles using Claude, shows which articles it used, and offers to hand the conversation to a person when it can't help. It is included in the plan price rather than billed per resolution.
- Can I sign up for Relay today?
- Yes. Create an account, name your workspace, pick a plan and pay to switch it on, then paste one script tag into your app. You can also try the live demo first, without signing up.
Sources and how we compare
Prices checked . Figures come from each vendor's own public pages, listed below, and are list prices that can change. Where a vendor's page doesn't mention a feature we write “not listed” rather than “no”. Relay is made by the team that wrote this page. If something here is out of date, tell us on the feedback board and we'll correct it.