Pick Intercom if you are
- Already running support in Intercom, with most questions answered from your help centre
- Customer data that must be hosted in the EU or Australia
- An early-stage startup that qualifies for a 93% first-year discount
Robylon vs Intercom
Both run AI agents that resolve support conversations and act in your systems. They differ in which channels one price covers, how the bill grows, and where each one runs.
Intercom is a customer service helpdesk with Fin, its AI agent, built for teams that run their support inside Intercom. Robylon is an AI customer support platform that resolves tickets across email, chat, voice and WhatsApp. It is priced by AI credits and works standalone or inside the helpdesk you already use, Intercom included.
Short answer
Which should you pick, Robylon or Intercom?
Intercom, if your team already works in it and most questions are answered from your help centre. Robylon, if your tickets need actions on every channel, voice included. Both, if you want to keep Intercom's inbox.
Pick Robylon if you are
- Tickets that mostly need an action in your own systems, on chat, email, WhatsApp and phone
- A support line that needs an AI voice agent on a published plan, without a sales cycle
- High volume, where AI cost should stay flat as the resolution rate climbs
- Starting free and paying more only as usage grows
Use both if you are
- Keeping Intercom as the inbox your team works in, with Robylon answering the conversations
At a glance
How do Robylon and Intercom compare at a glance?
Intercom leads on helpdesk depth, analytics, integrations, hosting and certifications. Robylon leads on price, voice and model choice.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | Edge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the AI agent does | Answers from your knowledge base and takes actions through tools on your APIs and apps. | Answers from your content and takes actions through Procedures and connectors. | Even |
| Channels | Email, chat, voice, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, SMS, YouTube comments and app store reviews. See every Robylon channel. | Messenger, email, phone, WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Discord and an API. See Fin's channel list. | Even |
| Voice | On the Business plan and up, on your own Twilio or Exotel number. | Fin Voice, for select customers through sales. | Robylon |
| AI models | Your choice of 27, per agent, with automatic fallback. | Intercom's Apex models with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google; no model choice listed. | Robylon |
| Helpdesk | Inbox, tickets, SLAs, queues and macros. | Adds ticket portals, multibrand, workload management and a real-time dashboard. | Intercom |
| AI analytics | Evaluations and the KB gap report. | CX Score, Topics and Trends, in a $99 a month add-on. | Intercom |
| Integrations | 32 pre-built, plus any system with an API. | 450+ apps in the App Store. | Intercom |
| Pricing model | AI credits, typically about $0.25 to $0.30 per resolution; optional seats. | $0.99 per Fin outcome, plus seats. | Robylon |
| Free plan | Starter, free forever, chat only. | None. A 14-day trial. | Robylon |
| Paid from | $25 a month for 500 credits. | $85 per Advanced seat a month, billed annually, plus outcomes. | Robylon |
| Data hosting | US data residency available. | US by default; EU or Australia on a contract. | Intercom |
| Compliance | SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA and CPRA. | SOC 2 Type II, four ISO standards, HIPAA, GDPR and CCPA. | Intercom |
| G2 (September 2026) | 5.0 out of 5 from 42 reviews | 4.5 out of 5 from 3,916 reviews |
Intercom details checked against its public pages on 25 September 2026: intercom.com/pricing, Fin and Intercom plans, Fin outcomes, Fin pricing, Fin channels, Fin Procedures, Intercom trust centre, Salesforce announcement. The company behind Intercom renamed itself Fin on 12 May 2026, and Salesforce completed its acquisition on 10 September 2026. The helpdesk is still sold as Intercom.
Built for
What is each one built for?
Intercom is a helpdesk with an AI agent built in. Robylon is an AI agent platform with an inbox for the conversations it hands over.
Intercom
Intercom is a customer service helpdesk, founded in 2011, with Fin built into every plan. Fin answers from help centre articles, snippets, PDFs and synced websites, and takes actions through Procedures: instructions support teams write in plain language, connected to systems such as Shopify, Stripe and Salesforce.
Fin also runs on other helpdesks, Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshworks and Zendesk among them. The company behind both was renamed Fin on 12 May 2026 and has been part of Salesforce since 10 September 2026. The helpdesk is still sold as Intercom.
Robylon
Robylon runs AI agents that answer from your knowledge base and act through tools built on your APIs and connected apps: looking up an order, cancelling it in Shopify, raising a ticket or booking a callback. A triage agent routes each conversation, and what an agent cannot finish goes to a person with the conversation attached.
It works standalone, with its own inbox and optional seats for a human team, or inside the helpdesk a team already runs, including Zendesk, Freshdesk, Zoho Desk and Intercom. The same agents, knowledge base and credits cover email, chat, WhatsApp and voice.
Strengths
Where is each one stronger?
Intercom on billing that charges only for outcomes, helpdesk depth, analytics, reach and compliance. Robylon on one price for every channel, a flat bill, model choice, seat cost, voice and reviews.
Where does Intercom do better?
- Nothing to pay when Fin hands over
- Fin bills only on an outcome, at most once per conversation, and refunds it if the customer reopens. A conversation the customer escalates, that Fin hands to a person, or where a Procedure fails is not charged.
- A deeper helpdesk
- The Intercom helpdesk adds a tickets portal, multibrand Messenger and help centre, workload management and a real-time dashboard on Expert, with 450+ apps in its App Store.
- AI analytics
- CX Score rates conversations, and Topics, Trends, Monitors and custom scorecards track what customers ask, in the Pro add-on at $99 a month for 1,000 conversations.
- Fin runs on more helpdesks
- Fin runs on Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshworks and Zendesk, and fin.ai also lists Dixa, Front, Zoho, Sprinklr and Gorgias, with the same Procedures on each.
- Hosting in three regions
- New Advanced and Expert workspaces on a contract can be hosted in the US, the EU or Australia.
- More certifications
- Intercom lists ISO 27001, 27018, 27701 and ISO 42001 for AI management, alongside SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and CSA STAR.
- A startup programme
- Early Stage takes 93% off the first year, from $33 a month, with 300 Fin outcomes a month, for companies under $10M raised with fewer than 15 employees.
Where does Robylon do better?
- One set of credits covers every channel
- Chat, email, WhatsApp and voice calls draw on the same credits, with voice from the Business plan. Fin's $0.99 outcome price covers chat and email; Fin Voice is sold through sales, and SMS and bulk WhatsApp are pay as you go.
- The bill stays flat as resolutions rise
- A Robylon plan is a monthly credit allowance from $25, topped up in $25 bundles of 1,000 credits, which typically works out at about $0.25 to $0.30 per resolution. Fin charges $0.99 per outcome, including assumed resolutions, so its bill rises with its success.
- Choose the model behind each agent
- Each agent runs on the model you pick from 27, from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic plus models hosted on Azure, with a backup model if a call fails. Intercom's pages list no model choice.
- Human seats cost less, with Copilot included
- Seats cost $19 to $89 per seat per month, and the $49 Advanced seat includes 50 AI Copilot uses a month. Intercom's Advanced seat is $85 billed annually, with 10 free Copilot conversations and unlimited Copilot at $29 more.
- Voice agents that act on calls
- Robylon voice agents call the same tools as chat agents and can hand a call to a person. Procedures on Fin Voice calls are in closed beta and unavailable in Australia.
- Reviews and comments as channels
- Robylon answers Google Play, App Store and Google My Business reviews and YouTube comments from the same inbox. Fin's channel lists name none of them.
Feature by feature
How do Robylon and Intercom compare feature by feature?
49 line items in 9 groups, from Intercom's pricing page, help centre, fin.ai and trust centre and from Robylon's pricing, documentation and trust centre, read in September 2026.
Each group says who is ahead. Open one for the line by line comparison.
What the AI agent can do
Both answer and act in your systems. They differ in how actions are built.Even
Both agents answer from your content and take actions in other systems. Robylon agents call tools built from your APIs, forms and connected apps, with a triage agent routing each conversation to the agent for its topic. Fin acts through Procedures, step-by-step instructions written in plain language, which call data connectors and MCP servers.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Actions in your systems | Yes. Tools built from your APIs, forms and connectors, which the agent decides when to call. | Yes. Procedures call REST data connectors, MCP connectors and webhooks. |
| Who sets up actions | Your team in the dashboard, or the Robylon team during onboarding. | Support teams write Procedures. Creating a data connector needs developer hub access. |
| Routing between agents | A triage agent sends each conversation to the sub-agent for its topic. | Procedures, Guidance and audiences decide what Fin does in each conversation. |
| Approval before an action | Yes. A verification step holds a chat workflow until a teammate approves, edits or rejects it. | Yes. Human-in-the-loop approvals for Procedures. |
| Shopify | Order lookups, cancellations, returns, draft orders and discounts, by the permissions you grant to the Shopify integration. | Templates to quote refunds, issue store credit and check or revoke gift cards. |
| Stripe | Through an API you save as a tool. | Read-only templates. Refunds and changes need a custom connector. |
Channels
Robylon adds voice on a published plan and reviews; Fin adds Slack, Discord and an API.Robylon
Robylon puts voice on a published plan and also answers app store reviews and YouTube comments. Fin adds Slack, Discord and an API for your own apps. One Robylon credit balance runs every channel; Fin's outcome price covers chat and email, with voice, SMS and bulk WhatsApp priced separately.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Website and in-app chat | Yes. JavaScript and React, plus Android, iOS, React Native and Flutter SDKs. | Yes. Messenger on the web, iOS and Android. |
| Voice calls | Yes. Voice agents on the Business plan and up, on a Twilio or Exotel number. | Partial. Fin Voice is limited to select customers working with Intercom's sales team. |
| Yes. Pro plan and up. | Yes. Inbound conversations are free; bulk messages are charged. | |
| Instagram and Facebook | Yes. Direct messages and Instagram comments. | Yes. Instagram and Facebook Messenger. |
| SMS | Yes. Through Twilio. | Yes. Charged per segment, with nothing included. |
| Slack and Microsoft Teams | Yes. Both, as integrations. | Slack, yes. Microsoft Teams is in beta. |
| App store and Google reviews | Yes. Google Play, the App Store and Google My Business, through review replies. | No. Not in Fin's channel lists as of September 2026. |
| YouTube comments | Yes. | No. Not in Fin's channel lists as of September 2026. |
Knowledge and answers
Similar sources and controls. Fin imports from more tools.Even
Both answer from help content, files and websites, and both let you set tone and rules. Fin imports from more knowledge tools; Robylon adds Q&As drafted from your team's closed chats and a report of the questions its agent could not answer.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources | Q&As, CSV uploads, files, Google Drive and web pages, in the knowledge base. | Articles, snippets, PDFs, website sync, and imports from Zendesk, Guru, Notion, Confluence and others. |
| Learning from your team | Q&As drafted from teammates' closed chats, reviewed before they go live. | Copilot answers from your team's conversation history. |
| Rules for answers | Custom instructions for tone, format and which sources to use for which topics. | Guidance, with up to 100 rules live, and five tone settings. |
| Answers for one audience | KB tags limit sources to a region, plan or product. | Audiences control which content, Guidance and data connectors Fin uses. |
| Unanswered questions | The KB gap report groups them by topic and ranks them by how often they are asked. | Topics Explorer and Recommendations, in the $99 a month Pro add-on. |
| Languages | Over 40 languages, detected on every turn. | More than 45, detected automatically. |
Human team and inbox
Intercom's helpdesk goes deeper. Robylon's seats cost less.Intercom
The Intercom helpdesk is the deeper product, with ticket portals, multibrand and workload management. Robylon's inbox covers the daily work of a support team, and its seats cost less and include Copilot from the middle tier.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Shared inbox and tickets | Yes. One inbox for chat, email, voice and reviews. | Yes. On every plan. |
| SLAs | Yes. First response, next response and resolution timers after a handover. | Yes. Expert plan. |
| Routing and assignment | Queues, groups, business hours and assignment limits. | Round robin on Advanced; workload management on Expert. |
| Copilot for agents | 50 uses a month on the Advanced seat, unlimited on Expert, an add-on on Basic. | 10 conversations per agent a month; unlimited at $29 per agent, billed annually. |
| Seat prices | $19 to $89 per seat per month. | Advanced $85 and Expert $132 per seat a month, billed annually. |
Where it runs and integrations
Both run inside other helpdesks. Intercom's app store is far larger.Intercom
Both run inside other helpdesks. Robylon answers inside Freshdesk, Zendesk, Zoho Desk, Salesforce and Vtiger tickets and inside Intercom, Freshchat and SalesIQ chat. Fin runs on Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshworks and Zendesk for a $49 monthly base fee. Intercom's app store is far larger.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside other helpdesks | Freshdesk, Zendesk, Zoho Desk, Salesforce, Vtiger, Freshchat and SalesIQ. The Freshdesk, Zendesk and Zoho Desk integrations are on the Business plan and up. | Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshworks and Zendesk, for $49 a month including 50 resolutions. |
| Inside Intercom | Yes. Robylon answers Intercom conversations as a chat channel. | Native. |
| Pre-built integrations | 32 pre-built integrations, from helpdesks to CRMs. | 450+ apps in the Intercom App Store; 51 Fin connectors. |
| Your own APIs | Any HTTP API, saved once and used as a tool, with retries and a timeout of 2 to 120 seconds. | REST data connectors with a 15 or 30 second timeout, plus MCP and webhooks. |
| CRM | HubSpot and Salesforce: create, search and update records. | Salesforce and HubSpot, including writing back to records. |
Models and reliability
Robylon lets you choose the model per agent. Fin picks for you.Robylon
Robylon lets you choose the model behind each agent and falls back to a backup model when a call fails. Fin runs on Intercom's own Apex models alongside OpenAI, Anthropic and Google models and switches between them automatically; Intercom's pages list no model choice.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Choice of model | Yes. 27 models from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, plus models hosted on Azure, chosen per agent on Pro and up. | No model choice listed. |
| When a model fails | The call retries on a backup model. | Fin switches between providers automatically. |
| Bring your own LLM | Enterprise plan. | Not listed on Intercom's pages. |
| Testing before launch | Bulk testing from a CSV of real questions, and voice tests by phone, browser call or text. | Simulations, batch tests of up to 50 questions, previews, and Evals. |
| Releasing changes | Version history for agents and workflows, with restore. | Releases: publish to everyone, ramp traffic gradually or A/B test a configuration. |
Analytics and quality
Fin's CX Score and topic trends go further, in a paid add-on.Intercom
Fin goes further on analytics, with CX Score and topic trends in its Pro add-on. Robylon includes evaluations, sentiment scoring and the KB gap report, with chat and voice dashboards from the Business plan.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboards | Basic analytics on every plan; chat and voice dashboards from Business. | A Performance dashboard for every Fin customer. |
| Scoring conversations | Evaluations review conversations against your criteria, on demand or on a schedule. | CX Score and custom scorecards, in the $99 a month Pro add-on. |
Security and compliance
Intercom lists more certifications and hosts in three regions.Intercom
Intercom lists more certifications and hosts data in three regions. Robylon lists SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA and CPRA, and puts role permissions on its $25 plan.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| Certifications | SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA and CPRA, per the Robylon trust centre. | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, 27018, 27701 and 42001, HIPAA, GDPR and CCPA, per its trust centre. |
| Single sign-on | Enterprise plan. | Expert plan. |
| Role permissions | Pro plan and up. | Custom roles on Expert. |
| Data hosting | US data residency is available. | US by default; EU or Australia for new Advanced or Expert workspaces on a contract. |
Pricing
Robylon costs less per resolution and per seat. Intercom charges nothing on handovers.Robylon
A resolved conversation typically costs about $0.25 to $0.30 on Robylon, from credits, against $0.99 per outcome on Intercom, plus a seat for each agent. Robylon's credits are used by every conversation, resolved or not, so on AI cost alone Fin comes out cheaper only when fewer than 20% to 38% of conversations resolve. The worked example below prices both at one volume.
| Robylon | Intercom Fin | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | AI credits, used by each conversation. Seats for a human team are optional. | Fin outcomes, plus a seat for each agent. |
| Free plan | Starter: free forever, 300 credits a month, chat only. | None. A 14-day free trial. |
| Entry price | $25 a month for 500 credits. | Advanced at $85 per seat a month, billed annually, plus outcomes. Essential is under a price test. |
| Cost per resolution | Typically about $0.25 to $0.30, from credits. | $0.99 per outcome; nothing when Fin hands over. |
| Cost per conversation | $0.20 to $0.38 in credits at list prices, whether or not it resolves. | Nothing unless it ends in an outcome. |
| On another helpdesk | The same credits, from the Business plan at $180 a month. | $49 a month including 50 resolutions, then $0.99 each. |
| Voice | Calls use credits at a different rate. | Priced by Intercom's sales team. |
| Channel fees | None from Robylon. | SMS per segment, bulk WhatsApp per message, phone numbers and minutes. |
Worked example
What does each cost at 5,000 conversations a month?
$1,245 on Robylon against $3,395 on Intercom with Fin, 63% less. A worked example at list prices: 5 agents, 5,000 chat, WhatsApp and email conversations a month, and 60% of them resolved by AI.
Robylon
$1,245 a month
Business plan credits, extra credit bundles and live agent seats.
- Business plan, 10,000 credits
- $300
- 28 extra credit bundles of 1,000
- $700
- 5 Advanced seats at $49
- $245
- Credits are used by every conversation the agent handles, resolved or not
- The same credits cover chat, email and WhatsApp, with no per-channel fees
- Advanced seats include 50 AI Copilot uses a month
Intercom with Fin
$3,395 a month
Advanced seats and Fin outcomes.
- 5 Advanced seats at $85
- $425
- 3,000 Fin outcomes at $0.99
- $2,970
- Charged only on outcomes, so a conversation Fin hands to a person costs nothing
- Each agent gets 10 Copilot conversations a month; unlimited Copilot is $29 per agent
- The outcome price covers chat and email. SMS and bulk WhatsApp are pay as you go
Robylon's credits are counted on all 5,000 conversations, about 37,500 credits, because a conversation uses credits whether or not it resolves. Intercom is charged only on the 3,000 resolutions. Robylon is at its monthly list prices and Intercom at its annual ones, the cheaper basis for Intercom. Conversation estimates are for chat, WhatsApp and email. Voice calls use credits at a different rate. Taxes and negotiated discounts are left out. Robylon's credits here come to about $0.33 per resolution, above the typical $0.25 to $0.30, because this example assumes only 60% of conversations resolve. On another helpdesk, Fin would cost about $2,970 a month for the same resolutions, with no seats: $49 including 50 resolutions, then $0.99 each.
Migration
How do you move from Intercom to Robylon?
Content moves across; Procedures and workflows are rebuilt. You can also keep Intercom and let Robylon answer inside it.
| In Intercom | In Robylon | How it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Help centre articles | Knowledge base web pages or files | Sync the public URLs, or upload exported files. |
| Snippets | Q&As | Recreate them, or upload them as a CSV. |
| Guidance and tone | AI persona and custom KB responses | Rewritten as instructions. |
| Procedures | Workflows and agent tools | Rebuilt; no export maps across. |
| Data connectors | APIs and tools | The same endpoints, saved as APIs. |
| Workflows | Workflows and simple automations | Rebuilt. |
| Macros | Macros and canned responses | Recreated. |
| Tags and attributes | Tags, properties and user attributes | Recreated, then filled by AI or the Chat SDK. |
| Teams and assignment | Groups, queues and assignment limits | Recreated. |
| SLAs | SLA policies | Recreated. |
| Messenger | Robylon chat widget | Replace the snippet, or keep Messenger and connect Intercom as a channel. |
Switching
How long does a switch from Intercom take?
Seven days for most teams, and Intercom can keep running while Robylon takes over one channel at a time.
Record a baseline
Note your current resolution rate, CSAT and cost per conversation, so the switch has something to beat.
Load your knowledge
Sync your help centre and files, then bulk-test the answers against real customer questions.
Connect your systems
Save the APIs your Procedures called, grant the Shopify permissions you need, and turn them into tools.
Go live on one channel
Start with one channel or queue, or inside Intercom itself, and keep Intercom running until the numbers hold.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Robylon and Intercom together?
Yes. Robylon connects to Intercom as a chat channel and answers Intercom conversations, so your team keeps working in the Intercom inbox. Many teams start with one channel and expand from there.
Can Intercom Fin take actions like refunds?
Yes. Fin acts through Procedures, which support teams write in plain language, and data connectors that call your systems. Intercom's Stripe templates are read-only, so refunds there need a custom connector, and building a connector needs developer hub access in Intercom.
Who owns Intercom now?
Salesforce. The company behind Intercom renamed itself Fin on 12 May 2026, and Salesforce completed its acquisition on 10 September 2026. Fin now sits in Salesforce AI Labs, and the helpdesk is still sold as Intercom.
Related
Related reading
- Guide
11 Best Intercom Alternatives for Customer Support Teams (2026)
Comparing more than these two? Nine options, side by side.
- Pricing
Intercom Pricing 2026: Plans, Costs, Alternatives
What Intercom costs at your volume, plan by plan.
- Platform
Voice AI agents on Robylon
How voice agents answer calls, use your tools and hand over to a person.
Try Robylon on your own tickets
Book a demo and watch Robylon resolve conversations like yours, on the channels your customers use, or start free on the Starter plan.