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Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Close vs Intercom vs ZoomInfo

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

Close

4.1

From $9/user/mo

Best overall

Intercom

4.2

From $0.99 per outcome

ZoomInfo

3.6

Free to start

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best value

Pick it if: Small sales teams and solo sellers who call and email a lot of leads and want it all in one tool.

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: Mid-size and large B2B sales and marketing teams with a budget for premium contact data.

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

Overview

AttributeCloseIntercomZoomInfo
In one lineSales 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.Huge B2B contact database with an AI Copilot that tells your sales reps who to call next.
Pricing modelPaidPaidPaid
Starting price$9/user/mo$0.99 per outcomeSee website
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.

AttributeCloseIntercomZoomInfo
Overall rating4.14.2Winner3.6
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
4.0
3.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
5.0
5.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
3.0
2.0
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.

AttributeCloseIntercomZoomInfo
Access & platform
Free plan No No No
Mobile app Yes Yes Yes
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 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–
Capabilities score7/ 1710/ 177/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributeCloseIntercomZoomInfo
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.

Professional

Custom quote, yearly contract

Sales teams that mainly need contact data.

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.

Copilot AdvancedOur pick

Custom quote, yearly contract

Teams that want AI to tell them who to call.

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.

Copilot Enterprise

Custom quote, yearly contract

Large sales organisations.

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 pickTake 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.Ask for a trial first and check the data covers your market, especially outside the US. Copilot Advanced is where the AI and buying signals come in, which is most of the reason to pay ZoomInfo prices. Negotiate the renewal terms before you sign, and if your budget is under five figures, look at Apollo instead.

Key features

AttributeCloseIntercomZoomInfo
Standout features
  • Built-in calling and texting
  • Chloe AI agent
  • Power and predictive dialers
  • Email and text sequences
  • Two-way email sync
  • AI summaries
  • Fin AI agent
  • Shared inbox and tickets
  • Messenger chat widget
  • Help centre
  • Workflows
  • Copilot for agents
  • Company and contact search
  • ZoomInfo Copilot
  • Buying signals
  • CRM enrichment
  • Chrome extension
  • Claude connector

Pros and cons

AttributeCloseIntercomZoomInfo
Pros
  • Calling, texting and email built in, with everything logged
  • Solo plan is one of the cheapest proper CRMs around
  • Chloe can call and qualify leads without hiring a rep
  • Fast to learn compared with Salesforce or HubSpot
  • Official MCP connector for Claude
  • 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
  • Some of the deepest and most accurate B2B data, especially in the US
  • Buying signals show who is in the market right now
  • Copilot turns the data into ranked accounts and talking points
  • Native connector in Claude and other AI apps
  • Connects to every major CRM
Cons
  • Calls and texts are billed on top of the plan
  • Automations and the power dialer need Growth, which is a big jump from Essentials
  • Chloe launched for US and Canadian numbers in English only
  • Less suited to marketing or businesses that rarely pick up the phone
  • 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
  • No public pricing, and real contracts often run $30,000 a year or more
  • Yearly contracts only, with frequent complaints about renewals
  • Weaker data outside North America
  • Credits limit how many contacts you can export
  • Lots of features to learn before it pays off

Who each one is for

AttributeCloseIntercomZoomInfo
Best for
  • Calling and texting leads straight from the CRM
  • Following up leads automatically by email and text
  • Having AI call and qualify new leads
  • Small inside sales teams and solo sellers
  • 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
  • Large B2B sales teams prospecting every day
  • Finding direct dials and mobile numbers for decision makers
  • Spotting companies that are ready to buy
  • Keeping a big CRM's data clean and up to date
You'll find it used by
  • Small sales teams
  • Solo founders
  • Agencies
  • Inside sales reps
  • Support teams
  • Software companies
  • Online stores
  • Customer success teams
  • Sales teams
  • Marketing teams
  • RevOps
  • Recruiters

Questions people ask

Which is better, Close, Intercom or ZoomInfo?

Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Close 4.1/5, Intercom 4.2/5 and ZoomInfo 3.6/5). 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. ZoomInfo is best for Large B2B sales teams prospecting every day and finding direct dials and mobile numbers for decision makers.

Which is cheaper, Close, Intercom or ZoomInfo?

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. ZoomInfo: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote.

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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