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Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Apollo.io vs Gorgias vs Intercom

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Apollo.io

4.0

From $49/seat/mo

Gorgias

3.9

From $10/mo

Best overall

Intercom

4.2

From $0.99 per outcome

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best valueEasiest to use

Pick it if: Founders, small sales teams and marketers who need to find B2B contacts and email them.

Pick it if: Shopify and ecommerce stores with enough customer messages that they need a proper support inbox and some of the questions answered by AI.

Best overall

Pick it if: Online businesses and software companies with a support team that wants an AI agent to take the first pass at every question.

Intercom scores highest overall, but Apollo.io gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeApollo.ioGorgiasIntercom
In one lineB2B contact database with emails and phone numbers, plus sequences to reach them.Customer support inbox for Shopify stores, with an AI agent that answers and sells.Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first.
Pricing modelFreemiumPaidPaid
Starting price$49/seat/mo$10/mo$0.99 per outcome
Free plan Yes No No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeApollo.ioGorgiasIntercom
Overall rating4.03.94.2Winner
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.0
4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
4.5
5.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
3.0
3.5
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
3.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
4.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeApollo.ioGorgiasIntercom
Access & platform
Free plan Yes No No
Mobile app Yes Yes Yes
Desktop app– No–
Browser extension Yes No–
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files– Yes Yes
Understands images–– Yes
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code– No No
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style– Yes Yes
Works in many languages– Yes Yes
Capabilities score8/ 179/ 1710/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeApollo.ioGorgiasIntercom
Plans

Free

Free

Founders testing outbound.

Starter

$10/mo

A small store with a handful of messages.

Fin on its own

$0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum

Teams happy with their current helpdesk who want the AI agent only.

Basic

$49/seat/mo billed yearly

Individual sellers doing regular outbound.

BasicOur pick

$60/mo, or $50/mo billed yearly

Growing stores with a small support team.

Essential

$29/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome

Small teams starting out with live chat and an AI agent.

ProfessionalOur pick

$79/seat/mo billed yearly

Full-time reps.

Pro

$360/mo, or $300/mo billed yearly

Busy stores that want AI and revenue reports.

AdvancedOur pick

$85/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome

Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes.

Organization

$119/seat/mo billed yearly (min 3 seats)

Sales teams wanting advanced controls.

Advanced

$900/mo, or $750/mo billed yearly

High-volume brands with a dedicated support team.

Expert

$132/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome

Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs.

Enterprise

Custom

Brands with more than 5,000 tickets a month or strict security needs.

Which plan to pickStart on Free to check the data covers your market. Basic suits one person prospecting; Professional is worth it if you also call prospects or want AI scoring. Monthly billing costs noticeably more than the yearly prices shown.Start the 7-day trial, which needs no card. Basic suits most growing Shopify stores. Turn on the AI Agent once you know your common questions, and budget about $1 for each conversation it handles on top of the ticket price.Start the 14-day trial and see how many conversations Fin handles, because that number drives the bill more than seats do. Most teams with more than a couple of agents end up on Advanced for the workflows. If you already run Zendesk or Salesforce and like it, try Fin on its own first.

Key features

AttributeApollo.ioGorgiasIntercom
Standout features
  • Contact database
  • Email sequences
  • Chrome extension
  • Dialer and call recording
  • AI research and scoring
  • Enrichment
  • Ecommerce inbox
  • Order actions
  • AI Agent
  • Shopping Assistant
  • Automations
  • Revenue reports
  • Fin AI agent
  • Shared inbox and tickets
  • Messenger chat widget
  • Help centre
  • Workflows
  • Copilot for agents

Pros and cons

AttributeApollo.ioGorgiasIntercom
Pros
  • Generous free plan for getting started
  • Database and outreach in one tool
  • Much cheaper than ZoomInfo
  • Easy to learn for non-technical users
  • Order details and refunds right inside each ticket
  • Built around Shopify, so setup is quick for Shopify stores
  • Email, chat, SMS, voice and social in one inbox
  • AI Agent can take actions, not only reply
  • Revenue reports show what support helped sell
  • Fin gives some of the most accurate answers of any AI support agent
  • Inbox, chat, help centre and AI all built to work together
  • Fin can run on top of another helpdesk, so you can trial it without moving
  • Clean, modern inbox that support staff pick up quickly
  • Public API and an official MCP server, so Claude and other AI tools can connect to it
Cons
  • Bounce rates and out-of-date contacts are common complaints
  • Weaker phone and contact data outside the US
  • Credits run out fast and do not roll over
  • Billing disputes and slow support on lower plans
  • Each AI conversation costs about $1 and also counts as a ticket, so you pay twice
  • Ticket limits mean busy months like Black Friday cost more
  • Some merchants report the AI giving wrong answers or closing tickets early
  • Mixed reviews of Gorgias's own customer support
  • Less suited to businesses that don't sell online
  • Per-seat plus per-conversation pricing makes the monthly bill hard to predict
  • You pay for a Fin outcome even when a customer leaves after a weak answer, by some users' accounts
  • Many useful features sit on higher plans or paid add-ons
  • Slow or patchy responses from Intercom's own support in user reviews
  • Ownership change (renamed Fin, being bought by Salesforce) adds uncertainty

Who each one is for

AttributeApollo.ioGorgiasIntercom
Best for
  • Finding business emails and phone numbers
  • Building B2B lead lists
  • Simple cold email sequences
  • Cheaper alternative to ZoomInfo
  • Answering order, shipping and returns questions for a Shopify store
  • One inbox for email, chat, SMS and social comments
  • Refunding or editing orders without leaving the ticket
  • Letting AI handle simple questions and recommend products
  • Answering common customer questions automatically
  • Website and in-app live chat
  • A shared support inbox with ticketing
  • Building a help centre the AI learns from
  • Support across chat, email and phone in one place
You'll find it used by
  • Founders
  • Sales development reps
  • Account executives
  • Marketers
  • Recruiters
  • Online stores
  • Shopify brands
  • Support teams
  • Ecommerce agencies
  • Support teams
  • Software companies
  • Online stores
  • Customer success teams

Questions people ask

Which is better, Apollo.io, Gorgias or Intercom?

Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Gorgias 3.9/5 and Intercom 4.2/5). Apollo.io is best for finding business emails and phone numbers and Building B2B lead lists. Gorgias is best for answering order, shipping and returns questions for a Shopify store and one inbox for email, chat, SMS and social comments. Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat.

Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Gorgias or Intercom?

Apollo.io: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $49/seat/mo. Gorgias: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $10/mo. Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome.

Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Gorgias or Intercom?

Apollo.io rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Founders, small sales teams and marketers who need to find B2B contacts and email them.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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