Why businesses are switching from Intercom
-
High pricesExpensive for both early-stage startups and growing businesses -
Locked featuresMany useful features are only available on the highest-tier plans -
Hidden costsMany channels need paid integrations -
Hard to navigateFinding the right settings and options requires too much time -
Support challengesGetting help can require more time and follow-up than expected -
Slower onboardingThe initial learning curve can slow down adoption
— Knowledge Base → Request;
— All Channels;
— Only Email;
— Only Messengers.
Additionally, User Identification is available as a modal widget that generates a unique code for identifying customers across your systems.
Focus modes help agents concentrate by showing only their own open cases and active chats. Automatic distribution respects limits you set on open cases and active chats, allowing agents to do their work with quality and peace of mind.
Redistributed cases prioritize customers who have been waiting the longest, improving response times.
In Intercom, you must pay for administrator accounts even if they don't need access to cases.
Plans differ only in the guaranteed reaction time of our support, limits, and the ability to order paid reworks.
An agent can be added for half a day or for half a year, and the prepaid period is adjusted immediately upon adding or removing the agent.
This approach is more fair and cost-efficient than monthly or daily charges.
For more advanced use cases, the search supports:
— Exact match using quotation marks "..."
— Partial word search with the asterisk *
— Multiple phrase search using **
— Alternative options (OR logic) using |
Results are clearly organized into separate tabs — All in one, Cases, Users, and Companies — making navigation fast and intuitive.
This logic is used because providing top-notch support requires taking into account the specifics and expectations of customers depending on the type of communication channel.
If for some reason it doesn't suit you, there is an option to handle both synchronous and asynchronous cases through a single interface.
Majority of them connect directly to Deskie (via official APIs) and are already included in the price. If a channel implies integration with a third-party service (for example, telephony or WhatsApp), then integration on our side is free, but you have to pay for the third-party service separately.
Main Features Comparison
The key features that are most important to helpdesk users
Deskie offers a full set of channels included in the price, while in Intercom, channel availability depends on the chosen plan and may require additional payments
✅ All channels available on any plan.
✅ Telegram connects through a Telegram bot.
✅ Custom channel connection is available on all plans for free.
❌ Channel availability depends on the pricing plan.
❌ Telegram connects via connectors, which are paid separately.
❌ Custom channel usage may require additional payment.
Deskie and Intercom have powerful, flexible rule systems that enable advanced automation.
✅ All functionality is available regardless of the selected plan.
✅ Rules for existing cases available on all plans.
✅ ❌ Rules for existing cases can run a certain time after a specific event but don’t allow setting an exact trigger time.
❌ Limits depend on the number of active agents and the plan.
❌ Automation capabilities depend on your pricing plan.
❌ Wait action only on Advanced and Expert plans.
✅ Wait action allow you to set an exact time interval after which the rule should run.
✅ No strict limits.
Unlike Intercom, Deskie allows flexible agent access rights regardless of the selected plan
✅ Agent access can be configured flexibly, regardless of the chosen plan.
✅ Admins who only handle setup without tickets access are free.
✅ You can add unlimited Light Agents (€10 each) on any plan.
❌ Creating custom roles is available only on Expert.
❌ You must pay for admin accounts even if they don’t need access to tickets.
✅ Free Lite seats: up to 20 on Advanced and up to 50 on Expert.
Intercom Light agents have more limited functionality than in Deskie
✅ Ability to edit all case properties
✅ Light agent has their own account and can see all allowed access
✅ Ability to add private notes
✅ Ability to mention all agents
✅ Ability to forward tickets
✅ Ability to export correspondence, cases/users lists
❌ No permission to create cases/users from the agent account
✅ Ability to edit users properties
✅ Ability to create and edit companies
✅ Ability to edit knowledge base
✅ Ability to set individual access
❌ No ability to edit case properties
❌ View only conversations where they have been provided a link/mentioned
✅ Ability to add private notes
✅ Ability to mention all agents
❌ No ability to forward tickets
❌ No permission to export data
❌ No permission to create cases/users from the agent account
❌ No permission to edit users properties
❌ No permission to create and edit companies
❌ Can edit existing knowledge base articles, but cannot create new ones
✅ Ability to set individual access
Deskie and Intercom managing your team's availability through agent statuses in real time, independently of working hours
✅ Ability to create custom statuses independently of pricing plan.
✅ Ability to restrict agent access to sync/async channels regardless of plan.
✅ Automatic away mode.
✅ Ability to pause new conversation assignments from rules.
✅ Ability to limit daily time spent in statuses.
✅ Away reasons are available on all plans.
❌ No channel-specific restrictions based on statuses.
✅ Automatic away mode.
✅ Ability to pause new conversation assignments from rules.
❌ There is no option to set up time limits for statuses.
Both Deskie (Focus Modes) and Intercom (Round Robin) offer functionality to limit the number of cases assigned to agents
✅ Available on all plans.
✅ It's possible to redistribute unassigned cases every 2 minutes.
❌ Available only on the Advanced plan and above.
✅ Automatic reassignment of unassigned tickets.
A Help Center is automatically provided when you register with Deskie and Intercom
✅ Help center customization is available on all pricing plans.
❌ One Help center per account.
✅ A three-level knowledge base structure.
✅ Multilingual Help Center on all pricing plans.
✅ Ideas Channel in the Help Center.
✅ Help center customization is available on all pricing plans.
✅ Multiple Help Centers for Expert plan.
✅ A four-level knowledge base structure.
❌ Multilingual Help Center only on the Advanced plan and above.
❌ Ideas channel is not available.
Deskie and Intercom give opportunity to set flexible work hours for your team
✅ Separate schedules for groups or individual agents on all plans.
❌ Cannot set separate time zones for each schedule.
❌ The ability to create Team office hours is available only on Expert.
✅ Every business hours schedule can have its own time zone.
Deskie and Intercom implement artificial intelligence differently, but their overall capabilities are similar
✅ All features available on all plans.
✅ AI is available via integration. Deskie does not charge for it — you pay directly to the AI service provider.
❌ Training the assistant requires developer involvement.
❌ Some features require an add-on.
❌ Native AI features. Free to use in 10 Copilot and 10 AI Auto-translation conversations per agent/month (unlimited +$35/agent/month).
✅ No need to involve developers. Learns automatically.
Full Features Comparison
Deskie and Intrecom have many features useful for helpdesk users. Let’s take a look at the differences.
Pricing Plan
per agent per month paid annually
per agent per month paid annually
min 2 agents — max 10 agents
min 1 agent — no upper limit
min 5 agents — no upper limit
min 1 agent — no upper limit
min 10 agents — no upper limit
min 1 agent — no upper limit
Basic
Minimum 2 agents — Maximum 10 agents
€12
€25
Standard
Minimum 5 agents — No upper limit
€20
€72
Pro
Minimum 10 agents — No upper limit
€32
€112
✅ 14-day free trial period
✅ Automatic recalculation of the paid period
✅ Pay-as-you-go service — no cancellation fees
✅ All features included in all pricing plans
✅ Remove agents any time without losing money
✅ Unlimited Light agents — €10 each
❌ No refund for early cancellation
✅ 14-day free trial period
❌ No recalculation of the paid period
✅ Anytime cancellation — no cancellation fees
❌ Not all features are available on all plans
❌ No cost recalculation when removing agents mid-month
✅ Free Light Agents are available on Advanced+ plans
❌ No refund for early cancellation
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