Quick Comparison
| Feature | HelpShelf | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free — 50 credits/mo (Pro from $49/mo) | Per-seat pricing |
| AI Agent Pricing | Credits included in every plan | Fin AI billed per resolution |
| Citations on Answers | Every confident answer cites sources | Via Fin AI (paid per resolution) |
| Human Escalation | One tap via Telegram, Slack, or email — free | Inbox seats (per-seat pricing) |
| Legible to AI Agents | llms.txt, llms-full.txt + public MCP endpoint | |
| Born from Your Codebase | npx helpshelf scans your repo | |
| Setup Time | Minutes — one command or one script tag | Hours to days |
| Best For | Product teams, SaaS, indie builders | Large support & sales orgs |
Why teams switch from Intercom
Citations on every confident answer
HelpShelf's rule is simple: no uncited confidence. If the agent can't point to a real source, it doesn't pretend to be certain — it escalates. Your customers see exactly where each answer comes from.
Escalation is one tap, not another seat
When the agent is unsure, you get a message on Telegram, Slack, or email with the customer's question and the agent's draft. One tap to approve and send, or take over. Escalations never consume credits.
Per-resolution AI fees add up
Intercom's Fin AI is billed per resolution on top of per-seat plans. HelpShelf includes credits in every plan — 1 credit equals 1 AI-resolved conversation, and multi-turn chats still count once.
Legible to the AI agents your buyers use
HelpShelf publishes llms.txt, llms-full.txt, and a public MCP endpoint for your site, so ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI assistants can read — and recommend — your product with verifiable claims.
Pricing comparison
Pay for resolved conversations, not seats or per-resolution AI fees
Migration is easy
Switch from Intercom to HelpShelf in three simple steps
Connect Intercom
HelpShelf imports your published Intercom articles directly — collections and all.
Add your sources
Run npx helpshelf to scan your codebase, or paste URLs. Everything lands in one knowledge base.
Go live
Add one line of code to your site. Your agent answers with citations from day one.
Frequently asked questions
If you use Intercom primarily for support and self-service, yes. HelpShelf handles AI answers with citations, knowledge bases, email intake, and human escalation. If you rely heavily on Intercom's sales and marketing automation suite, you may still want a separate tool for that.
Two big differences. First, pricing: Fin is billed per resolution on top of seat fees, while HelpShelf includes credits in every plan and never charges for escalations. Second, posture: HelpShelf refuses to answer confidently without citations, and it makes your product legible to external AI agents via llms.txt and a public MCP endpoint — something Intercom doesn't offer.
It escalates instead of guessing. You get the customer's question and the agent's draft on Telegram, Slack, or email, with one-tap Approve & send or Take over. Escalations and unanswered items never consume credits.
Yes. HelpShelf connects to Intercom and imports your published help center articles directly, preserving collections. Imported content is treated as curated (human-reviewed) and ranks highest in answers.
Yes — the Free plan includes 50 credits per month, citations on every answer, and one-tap human escalation. No credit card required.