When SupportWhale fits
Support is shared across a small team. You want to add teammates without extra subscription charges per person and plan your budget around conversations and optional AI usage.
SupportWhale vs. Intercom: let your whole team help.
A founder, developer or colleague sometimes joins a support conversation. You need to know what that extra access adds to the monthly bill, alongside conversation volume and AI use.
When the other product fits
You are building a broader support operation. Intercom adds workflows from Advanced, with SSO, SLAs and multibrand on Expert. [2]
What is included, and what do you pay for?
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| Compare SupportWhale | SupportWhale | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription |
| Standard rates in USD per full seat: Essential $39, Advanced $99, Expert $139 billed monthly. Annual billing: effective $29/$85/$132 per seat/month. [1] |
| Teammates | Unlimited teammates on every plan, including Free. Adding a colleague does not increase the subscription price. | Full seats per teammate. Advanced: 20 Lite seats; Expert: 50 Lite seats. These are not equivalent to full seats. [3] |
| Shared inbox | One shared inbox for website conversations, with assignment, private notes and customer context. | Shared inbox and ticketing on all three plans. [2] |
| Analytics and feedback | Conversation and visit analytics plus customer ratings and comments, from Free. Reports are available to owners and admins. | Pre-built reports from Essential; custom reports from Advanced. [1] |
| AI and additional costs | Optional on paid plans. Answers and tests use credits according to the model and text; a credit is not a conversation. Additional credit packs are separate purchases:
| Fin from $0.99 USD per outcome, in addition to seats. Some completed workflows with handoffs count; at most one outcome per conversation. [4] |
| Limits and usage | Each plan includes a conversation allowance. Extra usage on paid plans requires your chosen budget, which starts at €0. AI conversations count too.
| Additional usage charges for certain channels and optional add-ons. Full and Lite seats have different capabilities. [4] |
SupportWhale: EUR per organization per month, excluding VAT. Competitor prices retain their published currency and billing period; no currency conversion or savings percentage is applied.
See pricing and calculate your scenario →Worked example
What do five full support seats cost each month?
Intercom Essential, five full seats at the standard monthly rate. Offers for new customers or startups may differ; check them with Intercom. Fin, paid add-ons, other usage charges and taxes are excluded. Lite seats are not full support seats. This is a price calculation, not a measured customer saving.
Compare AI using the right unit.
A Fin outcome is not a SupportWhale credit. Compare expected total usage, including questions that still reach your team. Multiplying “credits” by “outcomes” does not produce a meaningful cost comparison. [4]
Who needs to be able to help customers?
Include colleagues who only answer an occasional specialist question. Then decide which additional capabilities you need. This compares the cost of your workflow, rather than the price for one teammate.
Sources and comparison basis
A comparison of the stated public plans, not a quotation or exhaustive feature list. Prices, availability and terms can change. Check the source and supplier total before buying. The products and their AI usage units are not directly equivalent.
See how your team would work.
Explore the product screens without an account. Then use your own assumptions to estimate the capacity you could free up and the associated SupportWhale costs.