Intercom specializes in customer communication and support with real-time messaging, while HubSpot is a comprehensive CRM platform with marketing automation, sales tools, and service hub integration. HubSpot offers broader business functions, whereas Intercom excels in conversational customer engagement.
Intercom vs HubSpot — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Choose Intercom if your primary focus is customer support, live chat, and real-time customer communication with AI-powered routing and ticket management. Choose HubSpot if you need an integrated CRM with marketing automation, sales pipeline management, and broad business operations—HubSpot is better suited for teams wanting a unified platform across multiple functions.
Customer communication and support platform with live chat, ticketing, and AI automation.
All-in-one CRM platform combining marketing, sales, and customer service tools
Structured comparison data for Intercom vs HubSpot with 343 attributes.
Knowledge Base AI Search Reduction in Tickets
Monthly Cost (50-person team, full suite)
Starting Price (per user/month, billed annually)
Professional Tier Price (per user/month)
Contact List Size Limit (Standard Pricing)
Professional/Standard Plan Monthly Price
CRM Contact Storage Limit (Free/Entry Tier)
AI Sentiment Analysis / Social Listening
Team Members Supported (Free/Standard Tier)
Monthly Cost Per Agent/User (Entry Level)
Monthly Cost Per Agent/User (Professional Tier)
Starting Monthly Price (Single User/Starter Tier)
Price for 10-Person Support Team (Annual)
Customer Support Response Time (Paid Plans)
Intercom vs HubSpot — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Intercom vs HubSpot.
Which platform is better for customer support teams?
Intercom is purpose-built for customer support with superior live chat, AI-powered ticket routing, and specialized support workflows. HubSpot's Service Hub is solid but less advanced. For teams prioritizing support excellence, Intercom is the better choice.
Can I use HubSpot for live chat instead of Intercom?
Yes, HubSpot includes live chat functionality starting at the Starter tier ($45/month), but it lacks Intercom's AI routing, advanced automation, and ticketing sophistication. HubSpot's live chat is best for simple use cases; Intercom is superior for high-volume support operations.
Which is cheaper overall for a small business?
HubSpot's free tier is unbeatable for startups (up to 3 users), making it $0 to start. Intercom requires paid plans starting at $39/month. However, HubSpot's costs increase faster with users and features, while Intercom's pricing is based on monthly active contacts, which can be more scalable for messaging-heavy use cases.
Intercom has basic contact management but lacks CRM-specific features like pipeline management, deal tracking, and sales forecasting. HubSpot's CRM is far more robust. If you need both support and sales tools, HubSpot is the better all-in-one solution.
Which platform has better AI capabilities?
HubSpot offers more AI features across its suite (sales assistant, content assistant, predictive scoring), while Intercom focuses on customer communication AI (chatbot builder, ticket summarization). For AI breadth, HubSpot wins; for AI in support, Intercom wins.