Who Intercom is great for
Intercom is a complete customer-service platform — inbox, help center, product tours, outbound — with Fin at the front resolving a large share of conversations before a human ever sees them. For a software company with thousands of users, real support volume and a team to run the platform, the economics work: every conversation Fin closes is agent time saved. If that's you, Intercom is the serious option and Fin is genuinely impressive.
Where the models differ
The philosophical difference first. Fin's job is to resolve conversations autonomously — the human is the fallback. In työ it's the reverse: AI drafts a reply from your own knowledge and tone, and the human is the decision. Nothing reaches your customer without a person's review and sign-off — optionally two people for sensitive replies. For a café or salon, where one wrong answer to a regular costs more than ten minutes of typing ever could, we think governed is the right default.
The pricing models are built for different companies. Intercom combines per-seat plans with per-resolution AI fees — sensible when each resolution replaces paid agent time, but hard to predict for a small business. työ has a free plan and flat small-team tiers: not per seat, not per conversation, no resolution meter.
And the operating reality. Intercom is a platform you administer — workflows, reporting, AI configuration. työ is a hub you simply use: customers write in any language from WhatsApp or your branded web messenger, työ translates and routes to the right person, and your team works each in their own language. Your data stays in the EU, and työ is built in Finland. Intercom is a US company; it offers regional hosting options — check what's available on your plan.