Skip to content

Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Attio vs Intercom vs Retell AI

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

Attio

4.1

From $35/seat/mo

Best overall

Intercom

4.2

From $0.99 per outcome

Retell AI

4.1

From About $0.07–$0.31/min

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Startups, small teams and founders who want a CRM that keeps itself up to date and bends to how they work.

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.

Pick it if: Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.

Overview

AttributeAttioIntercomRetell AI
In one lineCRM that fills itself in from your email and calendar, with AI agents that research leads.Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first.AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls.
Pricing modelFreemiumPaidPaid
Starting price$35/seat/mo$0.99 per outcomeAbout $0.07–$0.31/min
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.

AttributeAttioIntercomRetell AI
Overall rating4.14.2Winner4.1
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
4.0
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
5.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
3.0
4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.5
4.0

Feature comparison

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

AttributeAttioIntercomRetell AI
Access & platform
Free plan Yes No No
Mobile app Yes Yes–
Desktop app–––
Browser extension Yes––
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–
Works in many languages– Yes Yes
Capabilities score8/ 1710/ 177/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributeAttioIntercomRetell AI
Plans

Free

Free

Founders and tiny teams getting started.

Fin on its own

$0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum

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

Pay as you goOur pick

About $0.07–$0.31/min

Most small businesses and agencies.

Plus

$35/seat/mo billed yearly, or $44 monthly

Small teams that need private lists and more email.

Essential

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

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

Enterprise

Custom

High call volumes and compliance needs.

ProOur pick

$79/seat/mo billed yearly, or $99 monthly

Sales teams that call, sequence and report.

AdvancedOur pick

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

Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes.

Enterprise

Custom, billed yearly

Larger companies with security and admin needs.

Expert

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

Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs.

Which plan to pickStart free: it's good enough for a founder or a team of three to run their contacts and deals. Plus suits a small team that just needs more room. Go Pro once you want call recording, sequences or proper reporting, and use the 14-day Pro trial to check it's worth it.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.Start on pay as you go with the free credits, build one agent for your most common call and test it on your own phone. Talk to sales only once you run thousands of minutes a month.

Key features

AttributeAttioIntercomRetell AI
Standout features
  • Builds itself
  • Ask Attio
  • AI agents
  • Shape it your way
  • Workflows and sequences
  • Call Intelligence
  • Fin AI agent
  • Shared inbox and tickets
  • Messenger chat widget
  • Help centre
  • Workflows
  • Copilot for agents
  • Phone agents
  • Flow builder
  • Appointment booking
  • Knowledge base
  • Batch calling
  • Call analysis

Pros and cons

AttributeAttioIntercomRetell AI
Pros
  • Fills itself in from email and calendar, so it stays up to date
  • A real free plan for up to 3 people
  • Flexible enough to track deals, investors, partners or hiring
  • Clean, quick interface that people actually like using
  • Official Claude connector
  • 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
  • Natural voices and quick responses
  • Visual builder makes it usable for non-developers
  • Pay per minute with no platform fee
  • Strong reviews from small businesses and agencies
Cons
  • AI features run on credits, and heavy users need to buy more
  • Call recording and sequences only on Pro
  • The free and Plus plans cap how many emails you can send
  • The flexibility means some setup thinking before it fits
  • 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
  • Per-minute cost varies a lot with your model and voice choices
  • Takes testing to handle real callers reliably
  • Some users want more voice and customisation options

Who each one is for

AttributeAttioIntercomRetell AI
Best for
  • A CRM that fills itself in from email and calendar
  • Startups tracking customers, investors and partners in one place
  • Researching and scoring leads with AI
  • Teams that want to design their own CRM
  • 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
  • AI receptionist for a small business
  • Booking appointments by phone
  • Answering after-hours and overflow calls
  • Outbound reminder and follow-up calls
You'll find it used by
  • Startups
  • Founders
  • Sales teams
  • Investors
  • Agencies
  • Support teams
  • Software companies
  • Online stores
  • Customer success teams
  • Small business owners
  • Clinics
  • Voice AI agencies
  • Customer service teams
  • Developers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Attio, Intercom or Retell AI?

Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Attio 4.1/5, Intercom 4.2/5 and Retell AI 4.1/5). Attio is best for A CRM that fills itself in from email and calendar and startups tracking customers, investors and partners in one place. Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat. Retell AI is best for AI receptionist for a small business and booking appointments by phone.

Which is cheaper, Attio, Intercom or Retell AI?

Attio: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $35/seat/mo. Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome. Retell AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at About $0.07–$0.31/min.

How we compare

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

Swap in another tool

More tools from Sales & Customer Support in the library.