What AI customer service costs per resolution
Five vendors, five pricing units. This guide sets out what each one counts, what it leaves out and how to compare them on the same footing.
Contents
AI customer service is one of the few software markets that prices by the result rather than the seat. That is useful, but only if buyers read what each vendor counts as a result.
The pricing units
| Vendor | Unit | Published price | What counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom Fin | Outcome | $0.99; qualifications $9.991 | A resolution (no further help requested after Fin's last answer), a procedure handoff, a disqualification or a self-serve routing |
| Zendesk | Automated resolution | Allowance per plan, then additional2 | A request resolved by an AI agent without escalation to a person |
| Salesforce Agentforce | Conversation or action | $2 per conversation; $500 per 100,000 Flex Credits3 | A conversation, or each action an agent takes |
| Gorgias | Automated interaction | Included allowance, then $1.504 | An interaction the AI Agent handles |
| Freshdesk | Session | 500 included, then $49 per 1005 | A unique interaction; for email, a 72-hour window from the first message |
Sierra prices by outcome but does not publish rates6. Decagon and Ada publish no prices.
What the units leave out
Platform and seat costs. Fin on Intercom's own help desk adds $19 per seat a month; on another help desk, a minimum of 50 outcomes a month applies1. Freshdesk's agent comes with a per-agent plan from $19 to $89 a month5. Agentforce sits within Salesforce editions and licenses3.
Definitions. Intercom counts a resolution when no further help is requested after Fin's last answer1. That is a reasonable proxy, but a customer who gives up and calls instead is also a "resolution" by that rule. Repeat contacts are the check.
Handoffs. Intercom does not charge when a conversation is passed to the team without an outcome, but does charge for a configured procedure that ends in a handoff1. Zendesk bills only requests resolved without escalation2.
A worked comparison
Take 5,000 AI-handled conversations a month, of which 3,500 end in a billable resolution. At list prices, before platform and seat costs, and using our own arithmetic:
| Vendor | Calculation | Monthly AI cost |
|---|---|---|
| Intercom Fin | 3,500 outcomes × $0.99 | About $3,465 |
| Salesforce Agentforce | 5,000 conversations × $2 | $10,000 |
| Freshdesk | 4,500 sessions beyond the 500 included × $0.49 | About $2,205 |
The Gorgias and Zendesk results depend on the plan allowance, so they are not shown. The comparison is only a starting point: Freshdesk counts sessions, not resolutions, and the help desk around each agent costs more or less depending on team size.
A different model: owning the platform
OpenLazarus prices the platform rather than the conversation. Its published prices are plans at $100 or $300 a month including the same amount in AI credits, managed hosting from $150 a month and engineering support from $4,500 a month, with a 5.5% fee on AI credits78. There is no per-resolution or per-seat fee for the support agent, but AI usage is paid through credits and the company runs its own system. Its support page compares the model with per-seat help desks, using list prices it dated December 20259. The comparison favours volume: the more conversations, the more a per-resolution price adds up.
Before signing
- Get each vendor's definition of the unit in writing.
- Ask what is billed when the AI hands over.
- Price your busiest month, not your average.
- Add platform, seat and integration costs to every quote.
- Track repeat contacts, so that cheap "resolutions" do not hide unresolved customers.
A plan for budgeting
- Count last quarter's conversations by channel and reason.
- Estimate the share each reason can be fully resolved, conservatively.
- Price each shortlisted vendor with its own unit at that volume, plus its platform costs.
- Run a one-month pilot and replace the estimate with real resolution and repeat-contact rates.
- Re-price annually, because volumes and vendor prices both move.
The goal is a cost per genuinely resolved customer that the finance team can check every month. For how the agent should hand over, see escalation design.
Questions buyers ask
How much does an AI resolution cost?
Intercom Fin charges $0.99 per outcome. Salesforce Agentforce charges $2 per conversation for customer-facing agents. Gorgias charges $1.50 per automated interaction beyond its plan allowance. Freshdesk sells extra AI sessions at $49 per 100, or $0.49 each. Zendesk bills per automated resolution beyond a plan allowance.
Is per-resolution pricing better than per-seat pricing?
It aligns cost with work the AI actually completes, which is why Intercom, Zendesk and Sierra use outcome-style units. It also makes the bill rise with volume, so a busy month costs more. Check how the vendor defines a resolution and whether you pay when the AI hands over.
Do we pay when the AI hands the customer to a person?
It depends. Intercom says you are not charged when a conversation is simply passed to your team without an outcome, but a configured procedure that ends in a handoff is billable. Zendesk bills only requests resolved without escalation. Agentforce’s per-conversation price applies to the conversation.
Sources
- Fin pricing. Intercom. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- About AI agents. Zendesk Help. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Agentforce pricing. Salesforce. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Gorgias pricing. Gorgias. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Freshdesk pricing. Freshworks. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Better customer experiences. Sierra. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Questions about OpenLazarus. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Pricing. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- AI Support Agent: replace Zendesk, Intercom and Freshdesk. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
Updated 8 Nov 2026: First published.