Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Intercom vs Lusha 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.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
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: Sales reps, recruiters and founders who need someone's email or phone number quickly while browsing LinkedIn.
Pick it if: Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.
Intercom scores highest overall, but Retell AI gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Intercom | Lusha | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first. | Finds business emails and phone numbers for the people you want to sell to. | AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $0.99 per outcome | From $37.45/mo | About $0.07–$0.31/min |
| Free plan | No | Yes | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Intercom | Lusha | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2Winner | 3.7 | 4.1 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 3.0 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Intercom | Lusha | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | 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 |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | – | – |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 6/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Intercom | Lusha | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Fin on its own $0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum Teams happy with their current helpdesk who want the AI agent only. | Free Free Trying it, or finding the odd contact. | Pay as you goOur pick About $0.07–$0.31/min Most small businesses and agencies. |
Essential $29/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Small teams starting out with live chat and an AI agent. | StarterOur pick From $37.45/mo billed yearly One person prospecting regularly. | Enterprise Custom High call volumes and compliance needs. | |
AdvancedOur pick $85/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes. | Pro From $52.45/mo billed yearly Small teams that want the API and signals. | ||
Expert $132/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs. | Premium From $299.95/mo billed yearly Sales teams sharing credits. | ||
Scale Custom Large organisations. | |||
| Which plan to pick | 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. | Use the free plan to check the data covers your market before paying. Starter suits one rep who mainly needs emails; if you need lots of phone numbers, work out the credits first, since each one costs 5. Yearly credits are given upfront and reset at the end of the year, while monthly plans roll unused credits over. | 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
| Attribute | Intercom | Lusha | Retell AI |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Intercom | Lusha | Retell AI |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Intercom | Lusha | Retell AI |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Intercom, Lusha or Retell AI?
Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Intercom 4.2/5, Lusha 3.7/5 and Retell AI 4.1/5). Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat. Lusha is best for getting a prospect's phone number from LinkedIn and filling in missing emails and phones in your CRM. Retell AI is best for AI receptionist for a small business and booking appointments by phone.
Which is cheaper, Intercom, Lusha or Retell AI?
Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome. Lusha: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $37.45/mo. Retell AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at About $0.07–$0.31/min.
Which is easier to use, Intercom, Lusha or Retell AI?
Lusha rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Sales reps, recruiters and founders who need someone's email or phone number quickly while browsing LinkedIn.
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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