The best AI customer service agent for most teams is one you can price, try and check before you commit. On that basis Intercom Fin ranks first of the twelve products we reviewed, followed by Tidio Lyro for small stores, with Ada the strongest of the enterprise platforms that sell by quote.
This ranking is built from public information: price lists, billing definitions, named-customer results, procurement data, security pages and documentation. We have not run hands-on tests, and the score does not predict your resolution rate. It tells you how much you can verify about a product before you sign, which in this category varies enormously.
Quick picks
- Best documented overall: Intercom Fin — public prices, named results, broad coverage. Silence and configured handoffs are billable.
- Best for a small online store: Tidio Lyro — self-serve and EEA-hosted, with a guaranteed rate on its premium plan.
- Best on Zendesk: Zendesk AI Agents — only verified resolutions bill, but the price is unpublished.
- Best-evidenced enterprise platform: Ada — procurement data and many named results, all below its headline claim.
- Cheapest published price per resolution: HubSpot Customer Agent — $0.50, for existing HubSpot customers only.
Resolution rates: claimed vs reported
Resolution rates: claimed vs reported
claimed by the vendor reported by a named customer or third party
None of these figures were measured by us. Vendors define "resolution" differently, so the numbers are not directly comparable. Each links to its source in the product's review.
The ranking
Intercom Fin
Teams that want a price they can calculate today9.1- Price from
- $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 $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.
Tidio Lyro
Small online stores that want to start this week7.9- Price from
- $24.17 per month
- Pricing model
- Per conversation
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Lyro is Tidio's AI agent for small and mid-sized e-commerce businesses. It works as an add-on to Tidio, on its own, or on Zendesk, Intercom and Salesforce through Lyro Connect. Entry prices are public, data is hosted in the EEA, and it supports 48 languages.
The catch: A conversation thread closes after 15 idle minutes, so a visitor who comes back is billed again, and the free quota never resets.
Freshworks Freddy AI Agent
Small and mid-sized teams already on Freshdesk7.7- Price from
- $0.49 per session
- Pricing model
- Seats plus usage
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires Freshdesk
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Freddy AI Agent is the no-code agent inside Freshdesk and Freshdesk Omni. Prices are public and setup is self-serve, but the billing unit is a session, not a resolution, and the session price rose about fivefold in November 2025.
The catch: A session is consumed whether or not the customer's problem is solved, and the 500 free sessions are a one-time allotment, not monthly.
HubSpot Customer Agent
Companies already on HubSpot Professional or Enterprise7.7- Price from
- $0.50 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Credits
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires HubSpot Service Hub
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
HubSpot's Customer Agent answers customers using your CRM data and knowledge base. It is available only to Service Hub Professional and Enterprise subscribers, and since April 2026 it costs $0.50 per resolved conversation, paid in HubSpot Credits.
The catch: A conversation counts as resolved if the visitor does not ask for a human within 72 hours, and lead qualifications are billed too.
Zendesk AI Agents
Teams already running support on Zendesk7.5- Price from
- $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.
Ada
Mid-market and enterprise teams that want an agent on top of their current helpdesk7.4- Price from
- est. $36,079 per year
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Ada is a Toronto company whose agent works across messaging, email and voice on top of the helpdesk you already have. It sells by quote, but it is the one enterprise vendor with substantial procurement data: a median contract of $72,000 a year across 114 purchases.
The catch: Ada's own AI decides which conversations count as billable resolutions, and the contract allows the count to be calculated from a sampled rate.
Help Scout AI Answers
Small Help Scout teams with a good knowledge base6.8- Price from
- $0.75 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Seats plus usage
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires Help Scout
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
AI Answers is the customer-facing AI inside Help Scout's Beacon chat widget. It costs $0.75 per resolution, among the lowest published prices in the category, and does one thing: answer questions from your help content.
The catch: A resolution is inferred when the customer does nothing further, so abandoned sessions can be billed. Hosting is in the United States only.
Gladly AI
Shopify merchants and consumer brands6.6- Price from
- $1.50 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Mixed
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Gladly AI, formerly Gladly Sidekick, is aimed at retail and consumer brands. It runs inside Gladly's own helpdesk or on top of Gorgias, Zendesk and Salesforce. The only public prices are on the Shopify App Store; everything else is by quote.
The catch: An AI Resolution is not technically defined anywhere we could find, and AI Assists are billed as well.
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.
Salesforce Agentforce
Organizations already committed to Salesforce Service Cloud5.9- Price from
- $2 per conversation
- Pricing model
- Mixed
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires Salesforce
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Agentforce is Salesforce's AI agent platform for Service Cloud. It acts directly on CRM data and offers more pricing models than any rival: per conversation, per action with Flex Credits, per user, and since July 2026 per resolution with Help Agent.
The catch: The $2 per conversation plan bills whether or not the issue is resolved, and the pricing has changed repeatedly.
Decagon
Large enterprises with high volume and a six-figure budget5.8- Price from
- est. $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 $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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom Fin | 9.1 | Per resolution | $0.99 per resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Teams that want a price they can calculate today |
| Tidio Lyro | 7.9 | Per conversation | $24.17 per month | Yes | Yes | Yes | Small online stores that want to start this week |
| Freshworks Freddy AI Agent | 7.7 | Seats plus usage | $0.49 per session | No | Yes | Yes | Small and mid-sized teams already on Freshdesk |
| HubSpot Customer Agent | 7.7 | Credits | $0.50 per resolution | No | Yes | Yes | Companies already on HubSpot Professional or Enterprise |
| Zendesk AI Agents | 7.5 | Seats plus usage | $55 per seat per month | No | Yes | Yes | Teams already running support on Zendesk |
| Ada | 7.4 | Quote only | est. $36,079 per year | Yes | No | Yes | Mid-market and enterprise teams that want an agent on top of their current helpdesk |
| Help Scout AI Answers | 6.8 | Seats plus usage | $0.75 per resolution | No | Yes | No | Small Help Scout teams with a good knowledge base |
| Gladly AI | 6.6 | Mixed | $1.50 per resolution | Yes | Yes | Not documented | Shopify merchants and consumer brands |
| Sierra | 6.2 | Quote only | Quote only | Yes | No | Not documented | Very large consumer brands that want a managed build |
| Salesforce Agentforce | 5.9 | Mixed | $2 per conversation | No | No | Yes | Organizations already committed to Salesforce Service Cloud |
| Decagon | 5.8 | Quote only | est. $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 |
How to choose
Start with what you already run. If your tickets live in Zendesk, Salesforce, Freshdesk, HubSpot or Help Scout, that vendor's own agent is the shortest route to a pilot. If you want an agent that survives a change of helpdesk, look at Fin, Ada, Tidio Lyro, Decagon, Sierra or Gladly, which run on top of other systems.
Then look at how you will be billed, not just how much. Paying per resolution rewards the vendor for success but makes the definition of "resolved" critical. Paying per conversation or per session means paying for failures. Our pricing guide and calculator show how the models diverge as volume grows.
Discount every headline rate. Wherever a vendor advertises an average and also names customers, the named customers usually report less. Treat the lower figure as your planning number and run a pilot.
Verdict
For most teams, Intercom Fin is the place to start, because you can see the price, try it, and check the vendor's claims against named customers. Small stores should look at Tidio Lyro first. If you are already on a platform with its own agent, pilot that one before adding a layer. Enterprises choosing between quote-only platforms should start with Ada for its evidence, and ask Sierra and Decagon for the contract definitions this page could not show you.
For buyers in the United States
There is no federal AI law for customer service bots, but existing rules apply. The FTC treats misleading AI claims as deception, California requires bots to identify themselves when they are used to sell, and AI voices on outbound calls need consent under the TCPA.
Vendors in this category price in US dollars, so the prices on this site are the prices you will be quoted. If you serve customers in Europe, also check whether the product documents EU data residency and a data processing agreement; each review lists both.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI customer service agent?
On our published rubric, Intercom Fin scores highest of the twelve products reviewed, because it combines a complete public price list, named-customer evidence, broad channel and language coverage and documented controls. The best one for you depends on the helpdesk you already run and your volume.
Did you test these products?
No. This ranking is desk research from sources listed on each page. We have not run hands-on tests and we say so on every page. The score rates what can be verified from public information. See how we review.
Why do enterprise platforms like Sierra and Decagon rank low?
Because they publish no prices and cannot be tried without a sales process, they score low on two of five criteria. That is a statement about transparency and access, not about how well they resolve tickets. Our enterprise list reads the same data for large buyers.
How much does an AI customer service agent cost?
Published prices run from $0.50 to $1.50 per resolution and $2 per conversation, often on top of helpdesk seats. Enterprise platforms sell by quote: procurement data shows median annual contracts of $72,000 for Ada and $432,750 for Decagon.
Can I trust the resolution rates vendors advertise?
Treat them as a ceiling. Ada advertises 84% while its named customers report 45% to 75%; Fin advertises 76% while Anthropic reports 50.8%. Definitions differ as well; see what counts as a resolution.
Keep reading
- The best AI customer service agents for small businessbest list
- The best AI customer service agents for e-commercebest list
- The best AI customer service agents for enterprisebest list
- The best AI customer service agents for Zendeskbest list
- The best AI customer service agents for Salesforcebest list
- What counts as a resolution?guide
- How to run an AI agent pilotguide
Sources
- Fin homepage — Fin · September 18, 2026
- Fin pricing — Fin · September 18, 2026
- Intercom pricing — Intercom (Fin) · September 18, 2026
- Fin pricing: outcomes — Fin Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Anthropic customer story — Fin · September 18, 2026
- Lightspeed customer story — Fin · September 18, 2026
- Fin channels — Fin · September 18, 2026
- Fin integrations — Fin · September 18, 2026
- Use Fin AI Agent in multiple languages — Fin Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Regional data hosting — Fin Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Intercom security — Intercom (Fin) · September 18, 2026
- Fin AI Agent explained — Fin Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Today, Intercom becomes Fin — Intercom (Fin) · September 18, 2026
- Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Lyro AI Agent — Tidio · September 18, 2026
- Tidio pricing — Tidio · September 18, 2026
- The Lyro AI agent limit — Tidio Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Lyro, the conversational AI agent — Tidio Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Lyro multilanguage support — Tidio Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Privacy policy and GDPR compliance — Tidio Help Center · September 18, 2026
- Lyro: build and integrate — Tidio · September 18, 2026
- Lyro achieves best resolution rates in industry (31 March 2025) — Tidio · September 18, 2026
- Borrowell case study — Tidio · September 18, 2026
- Tidio support team achieves 58% automation with Lyro — Tidio · September 18, 2026
- Tidio earns SOC 2 Type 2 certification (14 October 2025) — EIN Presswire · September 18, 2026
- About Tidio — Tidio · September 18, 2026
- Freddy AI Agent — Freshworks · September 18, 2026
- Freshdesk pricing — Freshworks · September 18, 2026
- Freddy AI Agent sessions FAQs — Freshworks Support · September 18, 2026
- Manage Freddy AI add-ons — Freshdesk Support · September 18, 2026
- Overview of Freddy AI for ticketing — Freshdesk Support · September 18, 2026
- Voice AI Agent integration in Freshcaller — Freshworks Support · September 18, 2026
- Configure AI Agent responses — Freshworks Support · September 18, 2026
- Freshworks launches new AI capabilities (13 November 2025) — Freshworks · September 18, 2026
- Hobbycraft customer story — Freshworks · September 18, 2026
- Freshworks Q4 2025 earnings call transcript — The Motley Fool · September 18, 2026
- Where are your data servers located? — Freshdesk Support · September 18, 2026
- Freshworks Trust Center — Freshworks · September 18, 2026
- Freshworks — Wikipedia · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot Customer Agent — HubSpot · September 18, 2026
- Service Hub pricing — HubSpot · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot Credits — HubSpot · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot product and services catalog — HubSpot Legal · September 18, 2026
- Customer Agent and Prospecting Agent: now you pay when the task is complete (14 April 2026) — HubSpot · September 18, 2026
- Understand the customer agent — HubSpot Knowledge Base · September 18, 2026
- Set up the customer agent — HubSpot Knowledge Base · September 18, 2026
- Deploy the customer agent to channels — HubSpot Knowledge Base · September 18, 2026
- Set up and customize the customer agent's handoff process — HubSpot Knowledge Base · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot cloud infrastructure and data hosting FAQ — HubSpot Knowledge Base · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot security and compliance — HubSpot · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot Trust Center — HubSpot · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot Q2 2026 earnings call transcript — The Motley Fool · September 18, 2026
- HubSpot switching AI pricing from per-use to per-resolution — SaaStr · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk AI agents — Zendesk · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk pricing — Zendesk · September 18, 2026
- About automated resolutions for AI agents — Zendesk Help · September 18, 2026
- About automated resolution tiers — Zendesk Help · September 18, 2026
- What happens when I exceed my automated resolutions limit — Zendesk Help · September 18, 2026
- Announcing expanded access to AI agent capabilities for all Zendesk customers — Zendesk Help · September 18, 2026
- Community forum comment by a Zendesk product manager on the automated resolution list price (August 2025, unofficial) — Zendesk Community · September 18, 2026
- TeamSystem customer story — Zendesk · September 18, 2026
- Hello Sugar customer story — Zendesk · September 18, 2026
- Languages supported by AI agents — Zendesk Help · September 18, 2026
- Regional Data Hosting Policy — Zendesk Help · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk Trust Center — Zendesk · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk says its new AI agent can solve 80% of support issues — TechCrunch · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk acquires agentic customer service startup Forethought — TechCrunch · September 18, 2026
- Ada homepage — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Ada platform — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Ada messaging — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Ada integrations — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Service-specific terms — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Understand and improve your AI agent's automated resolution rate — Ada Docs · September 18, 2026
- About multilingual support — Ada Docs · September 18, 2026
- Ada subprocessors — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Ada trust — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Epos Now case study — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Life360 case study — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Ada doubles YoY growth as demand for agentic customer service surges (3 March 2026) — Ada · September 18, 2026
- Ada pricing (buyer data, 114 purchases) — Vendr · September 18, 2026
- Ada company profile — Sacra · September 18, 2026
- Help Scout AI features — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- Help Scout pricing — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- AI resolutions pricing — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- AI Answers — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Manage AI Answers — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Help website visitors with AI — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Improve AI Answers — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- AI Answers usage and spend (21 May 2026) — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- Help Scout self-service — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- AIHR customer story — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- Help Scout customers — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- Security at Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Help Scout security — Help Scout · September 18, 2026
- HIPAA at Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · September 18, 2026
- Gladly AI product page — Gladly · September 18, 2026
- Gladly pricing — Gladly · September 18, 2026
- Gladly on the Shopify App Store — Shopify App Store · September 18, 2026
- AI pricing: deflection vs outcomes — Gladly · September 18, 2026
- What is Gladly AI — Gladly Help · September 18, 2026
- March 2026 releases — Gladly Help · September 18, 2026
- Set up the Gladly AI Gorgias integration — Gladly Help · September 18, 2026
- Why your helpdesk needs Gladly — Gladly · September 18, 2026
- Voice and SMS phone number costs — Gladly Help · September 18, 2026
- AI security and compliance — Gladly Help · September 18, 2026
- Gladly customers — Gladly · September 18, 2026
- Breeze Airways customer story — Gladly · September 18, 2026
- Gladly announces agentic commerce capabilities at Gladly Connect Live (6 May 2026) — PR Newswire · September 18, 2026
- Sierra homepage — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Sierra product — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Sierra Voice — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Agent SDK — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Trust and reliability — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Outcome-based pricing for AI agents — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Sierra customers — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- WeightWatchers customer story — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Better customer experiences, built on Sierra (funding announcement) — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- AI for call centers — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Sierra achieves AIUC-1 certification — Sierra · September 18, 2026
- Sierra company profile — Sacra · September 18, 2026
- Sierra raises $950M as the race to own enterprise AI gets serious — TechCrunch · September 18, 2026
- Agentforce — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Agentforce pricing — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Flex Credits Rate Card (21 April 2026) — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Agentforce Help Agent announcement — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Salesforce unveils AI Help Agent with pay-per-resolution pricing — CIO.com · September 18, 2026
- Agentforce customer success stories — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Complete guide to Agentforce pricing options — Salesforce Ben · September 18, 2026
- Agentforce product maturity questioned as KeyBanc cites weak customer traction — CIO.com · September 18, 2026
- Agentforce Help Agent pay-per-resolution analysis — SalesforceDevops.net · September 18, 2026
- Hyperforce public cloud infrastructure — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Salesforce achieves ISO 42001 for Agentforce — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- AI customer service agents — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Fin — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Salesforce Q2 FY27 results — Salesforce · September 18, 2026
- Decagon homepage — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Decagon integrations — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Decagon Voice — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Decagon security — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- AI customer support setup — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- What is resolution-based pricing? — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Chime case study — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Rituals case study — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Series D announcement — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Introducing Duet Autopilot — Decagon · September 18, 2026
- Decagon AI raises $250M at $4.5B valuation — SiliconANGLE · September 18, 2026
- Decagon company profile — Sacra · September 18, 2026
- Decagon AI pricing (buyer data) — Vendr · September 18, 2026
- Decagon (company) — Wikipedia · September 18, 2026
- Forethought Solve — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Forethought pricing — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Forethought integrations — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- AI voice agent — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Multilingual support for Solve — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Forethought security policy — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Forethought platform security — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Forethought FAQ — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Grammarly achieves 87% deflection and 4.2 CSAT early with Forethought — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- The secret to scaling CX is hidden in the 3 metrics you already track (YAZIO) — Forethought · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk completes acquisition of Forethought — Zendesk · September 18, 2026
- Announcing Forethought AI agents by Zendesk for customers — Zendesk Help · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk to acquire Forethought in major agentic AI play — Computer Weekly · September 18, 2026
- Zendesk acquires agentic customer service startup Forethought — TechCrunch · September 18, 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