Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Close vs Intercom vs lemlist
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 sales teams and solo sellers who call and email a lot of leads and want it all in one tool.
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: Founders, agencies and sales reps who reach prospects on email and LinkedIn and want each message to feel personal.
Intercom scores highest overall, but Close gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Close | Intercom | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Sales CRM with calling, texting and email built in, plus an AI agent that calls leads. | Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first. | Personalised cold outreach by email, LinkedIn, calls and WhatsApp in one sequence. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | $9/user/mo | $0.99 per outcome | From $69/mo |
| 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 | Close | Intercom | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.1 | 4.2Winner | 3.7 |
| 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 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Close | Intercom | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | No | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Desktop app | Yes | – | – |
| Browser extension | No | – | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | No | 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 | – |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | Yes | – |
| Works in many languages | No | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 7/ 17 | 10/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Close | Intercom | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Solo $9/user/mo billed yearly, or $19 monthly One person selling on their own. | Fin on its own $0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum Teams happy with their current helpdesk who want the AI agent only. | From $69/mo, or $55/mo billed yearly Teams doing email-only outreach. |
Essentials $35/user/mo billed yearly, or $49 monthly Small teams sharing leads. | Essential $29/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Small teams starting out with live chat and an AI agent. | MultichannelOur pick $109/user/mo, or $87/user/mo billed yearly Reps who reach prospects on LinkedIn and by phone too. | |
GrowthOur pick $99/user/mo billed yearly, or $109 monthly Teams that want follow-ups and AI on autopilot. | AdvancedOur pick $85/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes. | Enterprise Custom Larger teams with security and compliance needs. | |
Scale $139/user/mo billed yearly, or $149 monthly High-volume calling teams. | Expert $132/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Take the 14-day trial, which needs no card. Solo is a bargain if you sell alone and follow up by hand. Growth is where Close earns its price, because that's where automated follow-ups, the power dialer and Chloe in workflows start. Budget a little extra each month for call minutes. | 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. | If you only send email, the Email plan is fine, but compare it with Instantly first. Pick Multichannel if LinkedIn or calls are part of how you sell, since that's what lemlist does best. Add the data add-on ($16 a month billed yearly for 2,000 credits) if you need to find emails and phone numbers. The 14-day trial includes Multichannel features and 200 credits. |
Key features
| Attribute | Close | Intercom | lemlist |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Close | Intercom | lemlist |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Close | Intercom | lemlist |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Close, Intercom or lemlist?
Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Close 4.1/5, Intercom 4.2/5 and lemlist 3.7/5). Close is best for calling and texting leads straight from the CRM and following up leads automatically by email and text. Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat. lemlist is best for sequences that mix email, LinkedIn and calls and personalised cold email with custom images and first lines.
Which is cheaper, Close, Intercom or lemlist?
Close: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $9/user/mo. Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome. lemlist: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at From $69/mo.
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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