Our take
Pick Intercom if support teams who will start on Essential at $19/seat/month (strikethrough $29, new-customer 35% off) while they open a first Inbox table, then Advanced at $85/seat/month when they need workflows and multiple team Inboxes — not Expert $132 unless they need SSO / HIPAA. Pick tawk.to if small teams who will stay on Free forever while they open a first Inbox table, then pay $29/month when they need to
hosted Inbox table
Best for
Intercom A conversation table you start at a public $
tawk.to An inbox you start at $0
Free plan
Intercom No free plan
tawk.to $0 · messaging inbox, chats, tickets. Keeps “Powered by tawk.to” until you buy branding
Lowest paid
Intercom Fin AI Agent (standalone) $0.99
tawk.to Remove branding $29/mo
Next step up
Intercom Essential from $19/user/mo
tawk.to
Coding agent
Intercom
tawk.to Agent + Tab inside the editor
Runs where
Intercom Hosted
tawk.to Hosted
Watch out
Intercom Essential is a paid seat
tawk.to Free keeps the tawk.to badge
Last checked
Intercom 2026-10-23 · intercom.com/pricing
tawk.to 2026-10-23 · tawk.to/pricing
support teams who will start on Essential at $19/seat/month (strikethrough $29, new-customer 35% off) while they open a first Inbox table, then Advanced at $85/seat/month when they need workflows and multiple team Inboxes — not Expert $132 unless they need SSO / HIPAA.
Read the Intercom pagesmall teams who will stay on Free forever while they open a first Inbox table, then pay $29/month when they need to remove “Powered by tawk.to” or start AI Assist — not $1/hour hired agents unless they want tawk.to to staff the desk.
Read the tawk.to page