Coasting vs Intercom (now Fin)
Intercom renamed itself Fin, after its AI agent, and Salesforce completed its purchase on 10 September 2026. If the news has you looking at your bill, here is how it compares with a much smaller product.
The short answer
- Stay with Intercom when you use WhatsApp, SMS, voice or Slack as support channels, run in-app messaging inside your product, or need an AI agent that completes workflows rather than answering questions.
- Choose Coasting when you are a small team that needs email and website chat in one inbox, AI answers from your own help articles, and one flat price that does not grow with every seat or every resolved chat.
How they differ
| Intercom (Fin) | Coasting | |
|---|---|---|
| Priced per seat? | Yes: $29, $85 or $132 per seat a month, as shown for annual billing | No - one price, 5 agents on $29 |
| How AI is charged | $0.99 per Fin outcome, counted once per conversation | Included: 50, 500 or 5,000 AI answers a month by plan, counted on every AI answer |
| Free plan | No - a 14-day free trial | Yes: 3 agents, 50 AI answers a month |
| Channels | Chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, voice, Slack and more | Email and website chat |
| Can you pay today? | Yes | Yes - by card, month to month; the free plan needs no card |
Read on intercom.com/pricing, checked 22 September 2026. Their page counts an outcome when a customer confirms the issue is resolved, does not ask for more help after Fin replies, or Fin completes a workflow, including handoffs.
The same month, two ways
Three people, and 100 chats a month that the AI settles. On Intercom's cheapest plan billed annually: 3 seats at $29 is $87, plus 100 outcomes at $0.99 is $99 - about $186 a month, and it moves with every chat. On Coasting Growth: $29 a month for up to 5 agents and 500 AI answers.
The units are not the same, and it matters: Intercom charges once per conversation, while Coasting counts every AI answer, so a chat where the AI replies three times uses three of your 500.
What Coasting does today
- Email and website chat in one shared inbox, with assignment, tags, private notes and collision detection.
- AI answers written from your own help articles - and you can import your first one from a page on your website.
- When the AI cannot answer, it says so and emails your team, instead of guessing.
- If you want every email checked first, switch email to drafts: the AI writes the reply and a person sends it. Nothing goes out unreviewed, and a draft uses no credit.
- A public help center, saved replies, CSAT surveys, automations and analytics.
What Coasting does not do yet
- Other channels - no WhatsApp, SMS, voice, Slack, Messenger or Instagram.
- In-app messaging - no product tours, banners or messages inside your app.
- AI that takes actions - Coasting's AI answers from your articles; it does not issue refunds or change a customer's account.
- Replies from your own address - email replies carry your team's name but are sent from noreply@coasting.app.
- A long track record - Coasting is a small, new product.
If any of these is a must-have today, Intercom is the better fit right now.
Or look around the demo first.