AI Chatbot Pricing in 2026: How 10 Platforms Bill for Seats and AI
Intercom, Zendesk, Tidio, Chatbase, Chatsy and five more bill AI by outcome, session, credit or resolution. See each unit, plan price and the math.
- Updated
- Reading time
- 22 min read
10 sections
- Price, seat and AI unit for each platform
- The four ways these platforms bill for AI
- Platform by platform
AI chatbot platforms do not share a billing unit, so their list prices cannot be compared directly. Intercom charges $0.99 per Fin outcome on top of seats. Zendesk charges per automated resolution. Freshdesk charges per AI session, Gorgias per automated interaction, Tidio per Lyro conversation, and Chatbase and Chatsy deduct credits for each AI reply. A fair comparison needs three numbers for your team: how many people need a seat, how many conversations the AI touches, and how many of those the vendor would count as billable.
This guide lists the plan prices and AI units that 10 vendors published on their official pricing pages, checked November 12, 2026. It then runs two worked examples (3 seats and 5 seats) with every multiplication shown. Vendor AI units and Chatsy credits stay in separate columns because they measure different things.
Disclosure: Chatsy publishes this guide and is one of the 10 platforms. Chatsy figures come from its own plan configuration. Competitor figures come from the public pages linked in each section.
Price, seat and AI unit for each platform
The table below is sorted alphabetically. "Cadence unlabeled" means the vendor page has a monthly/annual toggle but the captured prices do not say which billing period they belong to. Confirm the toggle before you budget.
| Platform | Plan prices shown (USD) | Seats | AI billing unit | AI price | AI included | Above the allowance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatbase | Hobby $32, Basic $120, Business $400 per month billed yearly ($40, $150, $500 shown alongside) | 2, 3, 5 members | Message credit per AI reply (1 to 5 credits by model; a reply that triggers an Action costs double) | Inside the plan | 700, 4,000, 15,000 credits per month | Auto-recharge, $40 per 1,000 credits |
| Chatsy | Free $0, Hobby $40, Standard $150, Pro $500 per month; yearly price is 10 monthly payments; Enterprise quoted | 1, 1, 3, 5 seats (Enterprise 10), owner included | Credit per AI response (1 to 30 by model; Hobby and Standard models cost up to 10) | Inside the plan | 40, 500, 4,000, 15,000 credits (Enterprise 100,000) | None: AI replies stop until the monthly reset or an upgrade |
| Crisp | Free $0, Mini $45, Essentials $95, Plus $295 per workspace per month | 2, 4, 10, 20+ seats; extra seat $10 per month | AI credit in dollars | Inside the plan | $0, $5, $25, $75 (Crisp estimates about 90, 450 and 1,350 automated conversations) | Not published on the pricing page |
| Freshdesk | Growth $19, Pro $55, Enterprise $89 per agent per month billed annually | Per agent | Freddy AI Agent session | $49 per 100 sessions | 500 sessions, once per account | $49 per 100 sessions |
| Gorgias | Starter $10 (monthly only), Basic $60 monthly or $50 annual, Pro $360 or $300, Advanced $900 or $750 | Not stated on the page | Automated interaction (request fully resolved without a human), plus billable tickets | $0.90 annual or $1.00 monthly per interaction | AI bundle of 30, 30, 190, 530 interactions, billed at that rate; 50, 300, 2,000, 5,000 tickets | $1.50 per interaction; $0.40 or $0.36 per ticket |
| Help Scout | Free $0; Standard $25, Plus $45, Pro $75 per user per month (cadence unlabeled, annual toggle shows -16%) | Free plan: 5 users | AI resolution | $0.75 per resolution | 3-month free AI Answers trial for new accounts | Billed per resolution; optional monthly cap |
| Intercom | Essential $19 (shown with $29 struck through, "New customers save 35%"), Advanced $85, Expert $132 per seat per month (cadence unlabeled) | Per seat | Fin outcome | $0.99 per outcome | None stated | Billed per outcome |
| LiveChat | Essential $19 annual or $25 monthly, Growth $79 or $99 per user per month; Enterprise custom | Per user | AI resolution ("the AI directly solved a customer question") | $49.50 per extra pack of 50 | 10 (Essential) or 200 (Growth) per month | Packs of 50 |
| Tidio | Free $0, Starter $24.17, Growth from $49.17 per month; Plus from $300 plus usage; Premium quoted | Up to 10 on self-serve plans | Lyro conversation (at least one Lyro reply) | Lyro from $32.50 per month for 50 conversations | 50 Lyro conversations, lifetime | Larger tiers through a calculator; Premium bills per resolution |
| Zendesk | Support Team $19 annual or $25 monthly; Suite Team $55 or $69; Suite Professional $115 or $149 per agent per month | Per agent | Automated resolution (AR) | $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go | 5 ARs per agent (Team plans), 10 (Professional) | $2.00 pay-as-you-go |
One Tidio detail matters for budgeting. The page shows one price per plan with a "Monthly / Annually (2 months free)" toggle, and $24.17 and $49.17 are 10/12 of $29 and $59 (rounded), the Starter and Growth prices that appear in the structured data of Tidio's Lyro page. That pattern suggests the captured figures are annual-billing rates, so check the monthly toggle before you compare.
The four ways these platforms bill for AI
Every vendor above charges for people and for AI separately, even when both sit inside one plan price. What changes is the unit used for the AI part.
Seat plus a fee per AI outcome
Intercom, Zendesk, Help Scout, Freshdesk and LiveChat price human access per seat, user or agent, then charge for AI by a counted event: an outcome, automated resolution, resolution, session or pack of resolutions. The seat bill grows with headcount. The AI bill grows with how often the vendor's definition is met, so a bot that resolves more conversations costs more.
Plan or ticket volume plus an AI allowance
Crisp prices a workspace with a seat count and a dollar AI credit. Tidio prices by billable conversations (ones with a human reply) and sells Lyro conversations separately. Gorgias prices by billable tickets, which include tickets touched only by a Rule or the AI Agent, and adds automated interactions on top.
Credits per AI reply
Chatbase and Chatsy include a monthly pool of credits and deduct credits for each AI reply, weighted by model. The plan price does not change with resolutions. The constraint is the pool: a conversation with five AI replies uses five times the credits of a conversation with one.
Why a resolution is not a reply
A Fin outcome or a Zendesk automated resolution is counted once per conversation and only when the vendor's rule says the AI succeeded. A Chatsy or Chatbase credit is spent on every AI reply, whether or not the customer's problem was solved. Dividing a credit price by a resolution price produces a number that means nothing. The worked examples below therefore show each vendor in its own unit.
Platform by platform
Each entry gives the official page used, what the published price covers, and the detail most likely to change the bill.
Chatbase
Chatbase pricing, checked November 12, 2026, lists Hobby, Basic and Business at $32, $120 and $400 per month billed yearly, with $40, $150 and $500 shown beside them and annual savings of $96, $360 and $1,200. The yearly savings equal 12 times the gap, so $40, $150 and $500 are the month-to-month rates. Each plan includes one AI agent. Chatbase's model guide says recommended models use 1, 2 or 5 credits per reply, and a reply that triggers an Action uses the model twice. Removing "Powered by Chatbase" is a $99 per month add-on, extra agents are $25 per month and extra storage is $25 per 10 MB. No free plan appeared on the pricing page. More in our Chatbase review.
Chatsy
Chatsy plans are Free ($0, 40 credits, 1 seat), Hobby ($40, 500 credits, 1 seat), Standard ($150, 4,000 credits, 3 seats), Pro ($500, 15,000 credits, 5 seats) and Enterprise (quoted, 100,000 credits, 10 seats). Yearly billing costs ten monthly payments: $400, $1,500 or $5,000. Seats include the workspace owner, so Free and Hobby cannot invite a teammate. Each AI response deducts 1 to 30 credits depending on the model. Hobby and Standard models cost at most 10 credits; 15- and 30-credit models need Pro.
The cap is strict. A reply is blocked if it would bring usage to the allowance, so Pro covers at most 14,999 one-credit replies or 499 thirty-credit replies, and Hobby covers 499 one-credit or 49 ten-credit replies. There are no top-ups, overages or rollover. Live chat, an email mailbox and a help center start on Hobby; removing Chatsy branding starts on Standard. See Chatsy pricing and how message credits work.
Crisp
Crisp pricing, checked November 12, 2026, prices per workspace, not per seat: Free (2 seats, no AI credit), Mini $45 (4 seats), Essentials $95 (10 seats) and Plus $295 (20+ seats). AI is paid from an included dollar credit: $5 on Mini, $25 on Essentials, $75 on Plus. Crisp's own estimate is about 90, 450 and 1,350 automated conversations. The page does not publish a price for extra AI credit. Extra seats cost $10 per month, and annual billing is switched on inside the app after you subscribe. Background in our Crisp review.
Freshdesk
Freshdesk pricing, checked November 12, 2026, shows Growth $19, Pro $55 and Enterprise $89 per agent per month billed annually. Monthly rates were not visible in the captured page, and no free plan was listed (sign-up starts a 14-day Enterprise trial). Freddy AI Agent includes 500 sessions once per account, then costs $49 per 100 sessions. Freshdesk defines a session as a unique interaction between an end user and the AI Agent; for email it is a 72-hour window. Freddy AI Copilot is $29 per agent per month on Pro and Enterprise. Details in our Freshdesk pricing guide.
Gorgias
Gorgias pricing, checked November 12, 2026, prices by ticket volume: Starter $10 (50 tickets, monthly only), Basic $60 monthly or $50 annual (300 tickets), Pro $360 or $300 (2,000 tickets) and Advanced $900 or $750 (5,000 tickets). Extra tickets cost $0.40 on Starter and Basic and $0.36 on Pro and Advanced. A billable ticket is any conversation with a message from a human agent, a Rule or the AI Agent. AI Agent interactions cost $0.90 on annual contracts or $1.00 on monthly, with $1.50 above the plan allowance. The included interactions are a bundle billed at that rate: the page's structured data lists Basic at $77, Pro at $471 and Advanced at $1,227 a month, which equals each annual plan price plus its bundle at $0.90 (for Pro, $300 + 190 x $0.90 = $471). See the Gorgias pricing guide.
Help Scout
Help Scout pricing, checked November 12, 2026, lists a Free plan (5 users, 1 inbox, 1 Docs site, 100 contacts per month) and Standard $25, Plus $45 and Pro $75 per user per month. The annual toggle shows -16%, and the captured prices are not labeled by cadence. AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution, billed monthly, with a three-month free trial for new accounts and an optional spending cap. A conversation counts as resolved only if the customer gets an AI answer and does not escalate or ask for more help. More in our Help Scout pricing guide.
Intercom
Intercom pricing, checked November 12, 2026, shows Essential at $19 per seat with $29 struck through and "New customers save 35%", Advanced at $85 and Expert at $132. Fin AI Agent is "from $0.99 per Fin outcome" and needs no seats. Intercom's outcomes article counts a resolution, a Procedure that ends in a handoff, a disqualification or a self-serve routing as an outcome, so it is broader than a classic resolution. Copilot is $29 per agent per month billed annually, and the trial is 14 days. Fin can also run on another helpdesk at $0.99 per outcome with a 50-outcome monthly minimum. See our Intercom pricing breakdown.
LiveChat
LiveChat pricing, checked November 12, 2026, shows Essential at $19 per user per month billed annually or $25 monthly, and Growth at $79 or $99. Essential includes 10 AI resolutions per month and Growth includes 200; extra packs of 50 cost $49.50. Essential keeps 60 days of chat history and Growth keeps it without a limit. The page does not say whether the AI allowance is per account or per user, so we treat it as per account below. The trial is 14 days without a card. See our LiveChat review.
Tidio
Tidio pricing, checked November 12, 2026, shows Free (50 billable conversations), Starter $24.17 (100), Growth from $49.17 (from 250, up to 2,000) and Plus from $300 plus monthly usage. A billable conversation is one with a human agent reply. Lyro AI is sold separately from $32.50 per month for 50 Lyro conversations, where one Lyro conversation is any conversation with at least one Lyro reply. Larger Growth and Lyro tiers are priced in an on-page calculator that did not expose fixed figures. Branding removal is shown as a $16.67 per month add-on on Growth and is included on Plus and Premium. See our Tidio pricing guide.
Zendesk
Zendesk pricing, checked November 12, 2026, lists Support Team at $19 per agent per month paid yearly ($25 monthly), Suite Team at $55 ($69) and Suite Professional at $115 ($149). Team plans include 5 automated resolutions per agent per month and Professional includes 10. Additional automated resolutions are $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go. Copilot is $50 per agent per month paid yearly on Professional and higher plans. See our Zendesk pricing breakdown.
Worked example 1: three seats, 1,000 conversations
These assumptions apply to every row, so change them to match your own data before you trust any total.
- 3 people need a seat.
- 1,000 customer conversations per month.
- The AI replies first in 600 of them and the vendor counts 300 as resolved (or as an outcome, interaction or AR).
- People reply in the other 400 conversations and in the 300 AI conversations that were not resolved: 700 conversations with a human reply.
- The AI sends 3 replies per AI conversation on average: 600 x 3 = 1,800 AI replies.
| Platform and plan | Seat or plan cost | AI unit assumed | AI arithmetic | Monthly total | Left out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatbase Basic (3 members) | $120 yearly rate ($150 monthly) | 1,800 replies at 1 or 2 credits = 1,800 or 3,600 of 4,000 credits | $0 | $120 ($150) | Branding removal: $99; a 5-credit model needs 9,000 credits: 5,000 extra x $40 per 1,000 = $200 |
| Chatsy Standard (3 seats) | $150 monthly ($125 on yearly billing) | 1,800 AI responses at 1 or 2 credits = 1,800 or 3,600 of 4,000 credits | $0 | $150 ($125) | 10-credit models cap at 399 replies, so this workload needs 1- or 2-credit models |
| Crisp Essentials (10 seats) | $95 | 600 AI conversations vs about 450 covered by $25 credit | Extra credit price not published | $95 plus extra AI usage | Plus at $295 covers about 1,350 |
| Freshdesk Growth (3 agents) | 3 x $19 = $57 | 600 AI sessions | 6 x $49 = $294 | $351 | Assumes the one-time 500 free sessions are used up |
| Gorgias Pro (annual) | $300 | 1,000 tickets of 2,000; 300 interactions: 190 in the AI bundle, 110 over | 190 x $0.90 = $171, plus 110 x $1.50 = $165 | $636 | Seat count not stated on the page |
| Help Scout Standard (3 users) | 3 x $25 = $75 | 300 resolutions | 300 x $0.75 = $225 | $300 | Cadence unlabeled; free plan's 100 contacts is too small |
| Intercom Essential (3 seats) | 3 x $19 = $57 | 300 Fin outcomes | 300 x $0.99 = $297 | $354 | At the $29 list price: $87 + $297 = $384 |
| LiveChat Growth (3 users, annual) | 3 x $79 = $237 | 300 resolutions, 200 included | 2 packs x $49.50 = $99 | $336 | Essential: $57 + 6 packs x $49.50 ($297) = $354 |
| Tidio Growth plus Lyro | From $49.17 for 250 conversations | 700 billable conversations; 600 Lyro conversations | Tier prices not shown as fixed figures | Above $81.67 | $49.17 + $32.50 is the smallest tier of each, below this workload |
| Zendesk Suite Team (3 agents, annual) | 3 x $55 = $165 | 300 ARs, 3 x 5 = 15 included | 285 x $1.50 = $427.50 | $592.50 | Pay-as-you-go: 285 x $2.00 = $570, total $735 |
Read the totals as "what this vendor bills for this workload", not as a ranking. Chatsy and Chatbase totals buy a credit pool, and the 300 resolutions are not part of their price. Outcome-priced vendors bill only the 300 counted successes, Gorgias bills its plan's AI bundle plus any interactions above it, and session-priced Freshdesk bills all 600 AI conversations.
Worked example 2: five seats, 4,000 conversations
The same ratios at four times the volume, with five people on seats. Chatsy needs Pro here because Standard has 3 seats.
- 5 seats, 4,000 conversations per month.
- AI replies first in 2,400; 1,200 are counted as resolved.
- People reply in 1,600 + 1,200 = 2,800 conversations.
- AI replies: 2,400 x 3 = 7,200.
| Platform and plan | Seat or plan cost | AI unit assumed | AI arithmetic | Monthly total | Left out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatbase Business (5 members) | $400 yearly rate ($500 monthly) | 7,200 replies at 1 or 2 credits = 7,200 or 14,400 of 15,000 | $0 | $400 ($500) | 5-credit model: 36,000 credits, 21,000 extra x $40 per 1,000 = $840 |
| Chatsy Pro (5 seats) | $500 monthly ($416.67 on yearly billing) | 7,200 AI responses at 1 or 2 credits = 7,200 or 14,400 of 15,000 | $0 | $500 ($416.67) | 600 credits of headroom at 2 credits; no top-ups, so a spike blocks replies; Enterprise is quoted |
| Crisp Plus (20+ seats) | $295 | 2,400 AI conversations vs about 1,350 covered by $75 credit | Extra credit price not published | $295 plus extra AI usage | Ask Crisp for the per-credit rate |
| Freshdesk Growth (5 agents) | 5 x $19 = $95 | 2,400 AI sessions | 24 x $49 = $1,176 | $1,271 | Copilot needs Pro |
| Gorgias Advanced (annual) | $750 | 4,000 tickets of 5,000; 1,200 interactions: 530 in the AI bundle, 670 over | 530 x $0.90 = $477, plus 670 x $1.50 = $1,005 | $2,232 | Pro route: $300 + $171 + 2,000 x $0.36 + 1,010 x $1.50 = $2,706 |
| Help Scout Standard (5 users) | 5 x $25 = $125 | 1,200 resolutions | 1,200 x $0.75 = $900 | $1,025 | Plus: $225 + $900 = $1,125 |
| Intercom Essential (5 seats) | 5 x $19 = $95 | 1,200 Fin outcomes | 1,200 x $0.99 = $1,188 | $1,283 | Advanced: $425 + $1,188 = $1,613 |
| LiveChat Essential (5 users, annual) | 5 x $19 = $95 | 1,200 resolutions, 10 included | 24 packs x $49.50 = $1,188 | $1,283 | Growth: $395 + 20 packs ($990) = $1,385 |
| Tidio Plus | From $300 plus usage | 2,800 billable conversations exceeds Growth's 2,000 | Custom | Above $300 | Ask for the Plus usage rates |
| Zendesk Suite Team (5 agents, annual) | 5 x $55 = $275 | 1,200 ARs, 25 included | 1,175 x $1.50 = $1,762.50 | $2,037.50 | Pay-as-you-go: $2,350, total $2,625 |
Pack math rounds up: LiveChat Essential needs 1,190 extra resolutions, and 1,190 / 50 = 23.8, so 24 packs. Freshdesk sessions are sold in blocks of 100, so 2,400 sessions are 24 blocks.
The pattern from both examples: outcome-priced vendors scale with successful AI conversations, while credit-priced plans stay flat until the pool runs out. Neither is cheaper by nature. If your AI resolves few conversations but writes many replies, a credit pool can run dry first. If your AI resolves most conversations in one or two replies, per-outcome fees grow faster. Try your own numbers in the chatbot cost calculator.
Costs the headline price leaves out
The plan card rarely shows the whole bill. These are the line items that most often change the total.
| Cost | Where it appears (checked November 12, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Branding removal | Chatbase $99 per month add-on; Tidio $16.67 per month add-on on Growth; Chatsy from Standard (Hobby keeps it) |
| AI assistant for agents | Intercom Copilot $29 per agent annual; Zendesk Copilot $50 per agent annual; Freshdesk Copilot $29 per agent on Pro and Enterprise |
| Minimum commitments | Fin on another helpdesk has a 50-outcome monthly minimum |
| Seat caps | Tidio self-serve stops at 10 seats; Chatsy seats are 1, 1, 3, 5 and 10 by plan; Crisp Mini has 4 |
| Volume overages | Gorgias $0.36 to $0.40 per extra ticket; Chatbase auto-recharge $40 per 1,000 credits; Chatsy has no overage and blocks AI replies at the cap |
| History and retention | LiveChat Essential keeps 60 days of chat history |
How to model your own bill
You need five inputs from your last three months of support data.
- Seats. Count everyone who must reply to customers, including the owner.
- Conversations. Count customer conversations per month across the channels the tool will cover.
- AI-touched conversations. Estimate how many the AI will answer first. Start low for the first quarter.
- Counted successes. For outcome-priced vendors, estimate how many meet that vendor's definition. Read the definition, because Intercom outcomes include Procedures that end in a handoff and Help Scout excludes anyone who asks for more help.
- AI replies and model. For credit-priced plans, multiply AI conversations by replies per conversation, then by the model's credit cost. Keep a margin below the cap.
Then compute: seats x seat price, plus counted successes x unit price (or credits needed compared with the pool), plus add-ons. Do this separately for monthly and annual billing.
When this comparison is not a fit
Price is not the first filter in these cases:
- You need SOC 2, a HIPAA BAA or SSO. Chatsy does not offer these today; check each vendor's security page before pricing anything.
- Your support lives in a CRM. If Salesforce or HubSpot must hold the conversation record, integration depth matters more than list price. Chatsy's HubSpot and Salesforce connectors are planned, not available.
- You want the AI to act on orders or accounts. Chatsy custom API tools can call your HTTPS endpoints but must be tested end to end before going live, and its connected-service actions are not available to agents yet.
- You need more than 10 seats on a small budget. Seat-capped plans (Tidio self-serve, Chatsy) force a jump to a custom tier.
- Your volume is under 50 conversations a month. Free tiers from Tidio, Crisp, Help Scout or Chatsy may be enough; model it only if you outgrow them.
Method and disclosure
This is desk research, not a hands-on benchmark. On November 12, 2026, we read the official pricing pages linked above and recorded plan prices, seat counts, AI units and allowances. Where a page did not label the billing period, we say so. Where a figure was not published, we say "not published" instead of estimating it. Chatsy figures come from Chatsy's plan configuration. We did not use private invoices, reviews or community posts. Chatsy is the publisher, so read the Chatsy rows with that in mind and verify every vendor page before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Which platform has the lowest entry price?
Several have free plans: Tidio (50 billable conversations, 50 lifetime Lyro conversations), Crisp (2 seats, no AI credit), Help Scout (5 users, 100 contacts) and Chatsy (40 credits, 1 seat, no live chat). The cheapest paid entry captured was Gorgias Starter at $10 per month, monthly billing only. The lowest entry price is rarely the lowest price for your workload, so run the examples above with your numbers.
Is per-outcome or per-credit billing cheaper?
It depends on the ratio of AI replies to counted successes. Per-outcome billing (Intercom, Zendesk, Help Scout, LiveChat packs) charges only when the AI succeeds, so it is cheap at low success counts. Credit pools (Chatbase, Chatsy) charge the same price until the pool is used, so they suit high resolution counts with short conversations.
Does Chatsy charge per resolution or per conversation?
Neither. Chatsy deducts credits for each AI response, from 1 to 30 credits depending on the model, out of a monthly allowance set by the plan. When a reply would reach the allowance, it is blocked until the monthly reset or an upgrade. Seats are capped per plan.
How often do these prices change?
Often enough that a page checked months ago is unreliable. HubSpot, for example, moved its Customer Agent to 50 HubSpot Credits per resolved conversation in April 2026, down from $1.00 per conversation. Recheck the official page on the day you decide.