The best alternatives to Ada are Intercom Fin if you want a public price and a trial, Decagon or Sierra if you want a vendor-led enterprise build, and Zendesk's own agents if you run Zendesk.
Teams usually look beyond Ada over price transparency and the fact that Ada's own AI decides which resolutions are billable.
Why teams look beyond Ada
- You want to see a price and try the product before a sales process.
- You are uncomfortable with a vendor-graded, sample-based count of billable resolutions.
- You need ISO 27001, which Ada does not list.
The alternatives, ranked
Intercom Fin
Teams that want a price they can calculate today9.1- Price from
- US$0.99 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Per resolution
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Fin is the AI agent from the company formerly called Intercom, which renamed itself Fin in May 2026. It runs inside the Intercom helpdesk or on top of another one, charges US$0.99 per outcome, and documents more about its pricing, languages and certifications than any other product we reviewed.
The catch: Customer silence for 24 hours is billed as a resolution, and so is a handoff to a human that you configured. Salesforce has agreed to buy the company.
Zendesk AI Agents
Teams already running support on Zendesk7.5- Price from
- US$55 per seat per month
- Pricing model
- Seats plus usage
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires Zendesk Suite
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Zendesk's AI agents are built into Zendesk Suite and Support plans. Since May 2026 the agentic features are included in every plan and only resolutions verified by a model are billed. What Zendesk still does not publish is what a resolution costs.
The catch: The price per automated resolution is not published anywhere. The only figure in the open is a 2025 forum comment from a Zendesk product manager.
Sierra
Very large consumer brands that want a managed build6.2- Price from
- Quote only
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Sierra, founded by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, sells AI agents for support, sales and retention to very large companies. Pricing is outcome-based and entirely by quote. It has the longest list of security certifications we found and publishes no prices, hosting regions or connector list.
The catch: Unresolved conversations are free "in most cases", and some traffic is billed per conversation regardless of outcome. The billable outcome is defined contract by contract.
Decagon
Large enterprises with high volume and a six-figure budget5.8- Price from
- est. US$105,000 per year
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Decagon builds AI agents for chat, email and voice at large consumer, fintech and telecom brands. It publishes no prices and offers no trial. Procurement data puts the median contract at US$432,750 a year.
The catch: No public prices, and the pricing most often observed by buyers is per conversation, so you may pay for conversations the AI does not resolve unless you negotiate otherwise.
Forethought
Teams that want an agent layer across several support systems5.6- Price from
- Quote only
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Forethought sells AI agents for chat, email and voice that sit on top of existing helpdesks. Zendesk completed its acquisition in March 2026 and now sells the product as Forethought AI Agents by Zendesk, including to customers on other helpdesks.
The catch: It is owned by a helpdesk vendor, hosting is in the United States only, and the billable outcome is not defined anywhere public.
Comparison table
| Product | Score | Pricing model | Price from | Works on your existing helpdesk | Self-serve sign-up | EU data residency | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ada | 7.4 | Quote only | est. US$36,079 per year | Yes | No | Yes | Mid-market and enterprise teams that want an agent on top of their current helpdesk |
| Intercom Fin | 9.1 | Per resolution | US$0.99 per resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Teams that want a price they can calculate today |
| Zendesk AI Agents | 7.5 | Seats plus usage | US$55 per seat per month | No | Yes | Yes | Teams already running support on Zendesk |
| Sierra | 6.2 | Quote only | Quote only | Yes | No | Not documented | Very large consumer brands that want a managed build |
| Decagon | 5.8 | Quote only | est. US$105,000 per year | Yes | No | Not documented | Large enterprises with high volume and a six-figure budget |
| Forethought | 5.6 | Quote only | Quote only | Yes | No | No | Teams that want an agent layer across several support systems |
Frequently asked questions
Is Fin cheaper than Ada?
At low and medium volume, almost certainly: Fin has no platform fee and charges US$0.99 per outcome, while Ada's observed contracts start at US$36,079 a year. At very high volume a negotiated Ada contract may cost less per resolution.
Which alternatives also offer European data storage?
Fin, Zendesk, Freshworks, HubSpot and Tidio document EU or EEA hosting. We found no public statement from Sierra or Decagon.
Related pages
- Ada reviewreview
- Ada pricing explainedpricing
- The best AI customer service agents in 2026best list
Sources
- Ada homepage — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Ada platform — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Ada messaging — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Ada integrations — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Service-specific terms — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Understand and improve your AI agent's automated resolution rate — Ada Docs · 18 September 2026
- About multilingual support — Ada Docs · 18 September 2026
- Ada subprocessors — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Ada trust — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Epos Now case study — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Life360 case study — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Ada doubles YoY growth as demand for agentic customer service surges (3 March 2026) — Ada · 18 September 2026
- Ada pricing (buyer data, 114 purchases) — Vendr · 18 September 2026
- Ada company profile — Sacra · 18 September 2026
- Fin homepage — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin pricing — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Intercom pricing — Intercom (Fin) · 18 September 2026
- Fin pricing: outcomes — Fin Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Anthropic customer story — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Lightspeed customer story — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin channels — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Fin integrations — Fin · 18 September 2026
- Use Fin AI Agent in multiple languages — Fin Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Regional data hosting — Fin Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Intercom security — Intercom (Fin) · 18 September 2026
- Fin AI Agent explained — Fin Help Center · 18 September 2026
- Today, Intercom becomes Fin — Intercom (Fin) · 18 September 2026
- Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin — Salesforce · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk AI agents — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk pricing — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- About automated resolutions for AI agents — Zendesk Help · 18 September 2026
- About automated resolution tiers — Zendesk Help · 18 September 2026
- What happens when I exceed my automated resolutions limit — Zendesk Help · 18 September 2026
- Announcing expanded access to AI agent capabilities for all Zendesk customers — Zendesk Help · 18 September 2026
- Community forum comment by a Zendesk product manager on the automated resolution list price (August 2025, unofficial) — Zendesk Community · 18 September 2026
- TeamSystem customer story — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Hello Sugar customer story — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Languages supported by AI agents — Zendesk Help · 18 September 2026
- Regional Data Hosting Policy — Zendesk Help · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk Trust Center — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk says its new AI agent can solve 80% of support issues — TechCrunch · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk acquires agentic customer service startup Forethought — TechCrunch · 18 September 2026
- Sierra homepage — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Sierra product — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Sierra Voice — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Agent SDK — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Trust and reliability — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Outcome-based pricing for AI agents — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Sierra customers — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- WeightWatchers customer story — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Better customer experiences, built on Sierra (funding announcement) — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- AI for call centers — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Sierra achieves AIUC-1 certification — Sierra · 18 September 2026
- Sierra company profile — Sacra · 18 September 2026
- Sierra raises $950M as the race to own enterprise AI gets serious — TechCrunch · 18 September 2026
- Decagon homepage — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Decagon integrations — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Decagon Voice — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Decagon security — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- AI customer support setup — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- What is resolution-based pricing? — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Chime case study — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Rituals case study — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Series D announcement — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Introducing Duet Autopilot — Decagon · 18 September 2026
- Decagon AI raises $250M at $4.5B valuation — SiliconANGLE · 18 September 2026
- Decagon company profile — Sacra · 18 September 2026
- Decagon AI pricing (buyer data) — Vendr · 18 September 2026
- Decagon (company) — Wikipedia · 18 September 2026
- Forethought Solve — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Forethought pricing — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Forethought integrations — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- AI voice agent — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Multilingual support for Solve — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Forethought security policy — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Forethought platform security — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Forethought FAQ — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Grammarly achieves 87% deflection and 4.2 CSAT early with Forethought — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- The secret to scaling CX is hidden in the 3 metrics you already track (YAZIO) — Forethought · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk completes acquisition of Forethought — Zendesk · 18 September 2026
- Announcing Forethought AI agents by Zendesk for customers — Zendesk Help · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk to acquire Forethought in major agentic AI play — Computer Weekly · 18 September 2026
- Zendesk acquires agentic customer service startup Forethought — TechCrunch · 18 September 2026
This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not run hands-on tests of these products. Method: How we review