Looking for an Intercom Alternative? Try Chatbase

You know Intercom. Everyone knows Intercom. But at $39/seat plus $0.99 per AI resolution, you closed that tab pretty quickly.

Your own (email or chat) support inbox has 47 unread tickets, most asking simple questions like "Can I switch to annual billing?" or "Where's my refund?"

Questions that shouldn't need a human logging into Stripe at midnight.

While Intercom retrofitted AI into their 14-year-old platform, a new category of customer service software emerged built from the ground up with AI:

AI agents that don't just answer questions, they solve problems.

Chatbase now connects directly to Stripe.

Customer asks to cancel? Done. Needs to update their card? Handled. Change subscription tier? Complete.

No escalations, no tickets, no "someone will get back to you".

Intercom is built around: "How can AI help my human agents?" Chatbase is built around: "Why do I need human agents for routine tasks?"

Intercom built a customer service platform that added AI features. Chatbase built an AI agent that happens to do customer service.

One creates tickets at 2 AM, the other solves problems at 2 AM, let's dive in:

Why are teams leaving Intercom?

Here’s why founders are leaving Intercom in 2025. It boils down to three core issues: unpredictable costs, platform bloat, and lagging AI capabilities.

1. Intercom's secret pricing

Founders complain that Intercom’s pricing is confusing and punishes them for success. You can't forecast your costs.

The "Success Tax": You pay $0.99 per AI resolution. The better your bot performs, the higher your bill. This discourages automation.
Expensive Add-ons: Core channels like WhatsApp cost an extra $99/month. You're constantly upsold for features that should be standard.
Seat-Based Bloat: You pay for every seat, even for managers who only need to review conversations. Costs scale with headcount, not just value.

2. You’re Paying for an Ecosystem You Don’t Need

Intercom sells a complex suite when most founders just need a lean, effective tool. This "enterprise bloat" creates friction.

Unused Features: SMBs are forced to pay for advanced ticketing workflows, proactive product tours, and multi-brand help centers they never use.
Slow Time-to-Value: Full implementation takes 2-4 weeks. Competitors can be live in minutes, trained on your website data instantly. You're paying for setup time instead of getting results.

3. The AI is a Step Behind

Intercom's AI is powerful but limited to its own ecosystem. Newer, specialized tools are more flexible and capable.

Limited Training Data: Intercom's AI struggles to learn from your whole business. Alternatives train on Google Docs, Slack, and Notion, giving them a much deeper understanding of your operations.
They Don’t Perform Actions: Modern AI agents don't just answer questions, they solve problems. A customer wants to change their subscription? A tool like Chatbase can connect to Stripe and do it instantly. Intercom’s AI is primarily for deflecting tickets, not resolving tasks.

Intercom vs Chatbase

Here are the core differences between Chatbase and Intercom.

Chatbase is a specialized AI agent builder. Intercom is a full customer service platform.

Think of it this way: Chatbase gives you a highly effective robot employee. Intercom gives you an entire office for your human support team, with a robot assistant.

1. Main focus

Chatbase: Its job is to automate support and perform tasks without a human. It trains on your data to answer questions and connects to other apps (like Stripe) to solve problems directly, such as updating a customer's subscription.
Intercom: Its job is to manage all customer conversations in one place. The core is a unified inbox for your human agents to handle chat, email, and tickets. Its AI, Fin, is designed to assist this team by handling common questions first.

2. Human first vs AI first

Intercom:

Human-First. The platform was built around a shared inbox for people. AI is a powerful layer added on top, but the system's DNA is about human-to-human interaction.

Chatbase:

AI-First. The entire platform is built around creating the smartest possible AI agent. It’s designed for automation from the ground up.

3. Pricing differences

Intercom

Seat-Based + Usage Fees. You pay per human agent, plus a fee ($0.99) for every problem the AI solves. This model can penalize you for effective automation and makes costs hard to forecast.

Chatbase:

Message-Based. You pay for usage (message credits). Your cost scales directly with how much your AI is working. It’s predictable and rewards automation.

When to Choose Chatbase (and When to Stick with Intercom)

This isn't about which tool is "better," but which tool is right for the job you need done right now.

Choose Chatbase if:

Your goal is to reduce support volume and headcount. You want to automate resolutions, not just manage tickets faster.
Your support is 80% repetitive questions. Most customers ask about billing, features, or policies that an AI can handle.
You need to automate actions. Your top priority is connecting to systems like Stripe to handle tasks like cancellations and upgrades without human touch.
You need predictable costs. You want your bill to scale with usage, not with how many managers need to log in to view a conversation.

Choose Intercom if:

You have a large, dedicated support team. Your primary need is a powerful, unified inbox for human agents to collaborate efficiently.
Your support is high-touch and consultative. Your product requires complex, multi-step troubleshooting or sales conversations that AI can't handle alone.
You need an all-in-one system. You are willing to pay a premium to have ticketing, a help center, product tours, and chat in one integrated (but complex) platform.
Budget is a secondary concern to having a single vendor for all customer communication.