Intercom is the reference product in AI customer service, and Fin is very good. The question for a small team is not whether it works. It is what a month costs once it does: a seat price, then $0.99 every time Fin resolves a conversation, with a minimum commitment.
The numbers, side by side
Worked example: three Essential seats billed yearly and 500 Fin outcomes in a month is about $582. Retily Pro is $79 for three seats and 9,000 AI answers, and a month where the AI does its job costs what a quiet one does.
Where the models differ
Outcome pricing. Intercom charges once per conversation Fin resolves, so the bill rises exactly when the AI is working hardest. Retily includes AI credits in a flat plan; a credit is one AI answer, and top-ups are $15 per 1,000.
Your mailbox. Intercom's email channel is forwarding only and does not support a custom SMTP server. Retily connects the mailbox you already have over IMAP and SMTP and replies from your own address. A Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com mailbox forwards to your Retily address instead, because Microsoft has turned off password sign-in for most of them.
The team's work. Intercom has internal notes and @mentions; tasks and team chat live elsewhere. Retily keeps tasks, channels and direct messages beside the tickets that created them.
Where Intercom is the better pick
If you need WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS channels, a phone agent (Fin Voice), native iOS and Android apps, 450+ integrations, SOC 2, ISO 27001 and HIPAA paperwork, Intercom has them today and Retily does not. Choose on what you will actually use.
Try the alternative before you decide
Retily builds an AI agent from your website, usually in about a minute, before you sign up: see it answer from your own site. Plans start at $9 a month, with the first month for $1; Growth and Pro add your branding, more widgets and chat flows.
Prices checked on each vendor's public pricing page on the date above. If you find one that has changed, tell us and we will fix it.