Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Chatbase vs Hiver 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.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Small businesses and online stores that want an AI chatbot answering questions on their website without hiring a developer.
Pick it if: Small and mid-sized teams who answer customers or suppliers from a shared Gmail address and want structure without leaving Gmail.
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 Hiver gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Chatbase | Hiver | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Puts an AI chatbot on your website that answers from your own docs and pages. | Shared inbox and helpdesk that runs inside Gmail, with AI that drafts and answers replies. | Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | $32/mo | $25/user/mo | $0.99 per outcome |
| Free plan | No | No | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Chatbase | Hiver | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.2Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Chatbase | Hiver | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | 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 | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | – | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 7/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Chatbase | Hiver | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Hobby $32/mo billed yearly, or $40 monthly A small site with light chat traffic. | Growth $25/user/mo billed yearly, or $35 monthly Small teams running one or two shared inboxes. | Fin on its own $0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum Teams happy with their current helpdesk who want the AI agent only. |
StandardOur pick $120/mo billed yearly, or $150 monthly Businesses with steady daily chats. | ProOur pick $55/user/mo billed yearly, or $65 monthly Support teams that need targets and connected tools. | Essential $29/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Small teams starting out with live chat and an AI agent. | |
Pro $400/mo billed yearly, or $500 monthly Busy sites and support teams. | Elite $85/user/mo billed yearly, or $95 monthly Larger teams wanting AI quality checks and tighter security. | AdvancedOur pick $85/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes. | |
Enterprise Custom Larger companies needing security and white-labelling. | Expert $132/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Start on the 7-day trial and watch how fast credits go with your real traffic. Hobby works for a small site; most businesses with daily customer chats need Standard. Each extra agent is $300 a year, and removing the Chatbase badge is $1,188 a year. | Growth is enough for a small team that just needs a tidy shared inbox with AI help. Choose Pro if you need response-time targets, CRM or Shopify data next to each email, or the API. Voice is an add-on at $30 per seat. | 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
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Chatbase | Hiver | Intercom |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Chatbase | Hiver | Intercom |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Chatbase, Hiver or Intercom?
Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Chatbase 3.7/5, Hiver 3.9/5 and Intercom 4.2/5). Chatbase is best for Website FAQ and support chatbot and answering questions from your docs and policies. Hiver is best for running support@ or info@ as a team and assigning and tracking customer emails. Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat.
Which is cheaper, Chatbase, Hiver or Intercom?
Chatbase: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $32/mo. Hiver: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $25/user/mo. Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome.
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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