Intercom's lowest plan is Essential at $39 per seat. Most companies who land at Intercom end up on Advanced ($99) or Expert ($139) within 6 months because they need ticket routing, workflows, or Fin AI. Plus Fin is billed per resolution at $0.99 each. Real bill math, at three sizes.
5-seat team, ecommerce
Intercom Advanced: $99 x 5 = $495/mo. Plus Fin at $0.99 x 800 monthly resolutions = $792/mo. Plus phone (not in any Intercom plan): $30 x 5 on Aircall = $150/mo. Total: $1,437/mo. With Message: $19/mo flat, phone included, AI included. Savings: $1,418/mo or $17k/year.
15-seat team, B2B SaaS
Intercom Advanced: $99 x 15 = $1,485/mo. Fin at $0.99 x 2,100 resolutions = $2,079/mo. Aircall: $30 x 15 = $450/mo. Total: $4,014/mo. With Message: $19/mo flat. Savings: $3,995/mo or $48k/year.
40-seat team, marketplace
“At 40 seats, the savings against Intercom are $169,000 per year. We have signed customers in that band who paid for their CFO's hire from the migration alone.”
Intercom Expert: $139 x 40 = $5,560/mo. Fin at $0.99 x 6,500 resolutions = $6,435/mo. Aircall Business: $50 x 40 = $2,000/mo. Plus separate KB ($89/mo on HelpScout). Total: $14,084/mo. With Message: $19/mo flat. Savings: $14,065/mo or $169k/year.
The 'but' I have to include
Intercom is more mature on a few features: Inbox workflow ops (more shortcuts), enterprise reporting, deeper Salesforce integrations. If you need any of those at the bleeding edge, Intercom is still the right call. For 90% of teams under 200 seats, the math on Message is overwhelming. For the other 10%, write me at [email protected] and I will tell you what we are missing.