Intercom vs Gladly (2026)

TL;DR

• Pick Intercom if you're a software or product-led company that wants AI-deflected, in-product support with predictable per-resolution AI pricing — the modern default for SaaS.
• Pick Gladly if you're a high-volume B2C retail or hospitality brand where voice matters, customers contact you repeatedly, and you want AI that completes conversations end-to-end rather than just routing them.

Pricing

Intercom is transparent and seat-based: Essential at $29/seat/mo, Advanced at $85, Expert at $132, with Fin AI billed at $0.99 per resolved ticket — you only pay when the AI actually closes an issue. Unlimited Copilot adds $35/seat/mo. The wildcard is Fin volume, which makes the true monthly bill harder to forecast than a flat plan.

Gladly is enterprise-tier and quote-based, estimated at roughly $180–$210/user/mo with a meaningful minimum annual commitment, and voice/SMS usage billed on top. There is no realistic small-team entry point.

The gap is stark: Intercom can start cheap and scale; Gladly is a committed enterprise investment from day one.

Two philosophies of AI

This is the heart of the comparison. Intercom's Fin is a deflection engine — resolve the question autonomously, escalate to a human only when needed, and charge per resolution. It's optimized to reduce agent load, which is exactly what a SaaS support org wants.

Gladly inverts the goal. It's built to engage, not deflect, maintaining a lifetime customer timeline across every channel so AI and agents see one continuous relationship rather than isolated tickets. Gladly cites 76% of conversations fully resolved by AI and 3x better first-30-day resolution. The philosophy fits brands where every contact is a chance to sell and retain, not a cost to minimize.

Channels and voice

Intercom is chat-first by heritage, with email, social, SMS, and WhatsApp in a shared inbox and deep in-product messaging — product tours, surveys, in-app posts. Voice is not its strength.

Gladly is voice-native: phone is a first-class channel alongside chat, SMS, email, and social, not a bolted-on add-on. For retail and hospitality brands where customers still call, that's a decisive difference.

Ideal customer

Intercom is built for SaaS, mobile apps, and digital-first businesses that want support woven into the product experience and high ticket volumes where AI deflection pays off. It's a weaker fit for phone-heavy or field-service operations.

Gladly is built for mid-to-large B2C brands in retail, e-commerce, travel, and hospitality — its named customers include Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel, Ulta Beauty, and UGG. It's overkill for B2B or low-volume async support.

Implementation and configuration

Intercom is powerful but complex; smaller teams often pay for features they don't use, and doing setup well takes time. Gladly counters with plain-English "Guides" that let non-technical teams define brand voice and AI behavior without code — a real advantage for marketing-led CX teams, though the platform still demands the budget and volume to justify it.

Bottom line

Choose by business model, not feature checklist. If you sell software and want AI support inside your product with pay-per-resolution economics, Intercom is the clear, lower-risk choice. If you're a consumer brand competing on customer experience, take a lot of phone contacts, and can absorb enterprise pricing, Gladly's engage-don't-deflect model and unified customer timeline are purpose-built for you. Most B2B teams should land on Intercom; most large B2C retailers will see themselves in Gladly.