Intercom is one of the best-known tools on the market: a mature helpdesk, an omnichannel inbox and the Fin AI agent that resolves requests without an operator. But it's a product for support teams and large organizations, and you pay accordingly — per seat plus for each AI resolution. Looma comes at the task from a different angle: it's not a helpdesk but a bundle of AI chat + smart search + remarketing that understands your catalog and works for store conversion. Below: a quick take on each, two things only Looma does, a full feature table, a pricing comparison and a verdict.

The main difference

Intercom is a heavy tool for a support team: a multi-agent inbox, tickets, branching workflows, SLAs, multi-brand. Fin deflects requests and saves operators' time. If you have a large flow of support requests — Intercom is one of the strongest on the market in that role.

Looma solves a different problem — getting more visitors to buy. It doesn't just reply — it understands your catalog, picks products by meaning, catches customers in search and brings back those who left without buying. It's a sales tool, not a support desk. Two things set Looma apart fundamentally — and neither is part of classic helpdesk platforms like Intercom.

1. Smart search — the advantage helpdesk platforms don't have

This is the key thing to understand. Fin in Intercom looks for answers in your knowledge base and help articles — but not in the product catalog and not in the store's search bar. And that's exactly where a store loses the most money, quietly and invisibly.

Picture it: a customer ready to buy types a query with a typo, in another language or in their own words — and sees an empty screen. To them the store simply "doesn't have" what they came for, even though it's in stock. They leave for a competitor, and in analytics you only see "0 results."

Looma adds smart search on OpenSearch + AI to the chat: it forgives typos, understands synonyms, translates and searches by meaning rather than exact string match. The same AI that answers in chat also suggests products in the search bar. The customer types however they can — and still finds it. Intercom has no separate product search — that leak stays open no matter how much you pay per resolution.

2. Customer recovery — remarketing, not just chat

The second thing helpdesk platforms don't do: most visitors leave without buying — and for regular support, that's where the story ends. Looma looks further.

Looma analyzes customer behavior — what they viewed, what they added to the cart, where they dropped off — and helps bring them back: it captures the contact (a lead) even when the operator is offline, and fires return triggers (an email or a Telegram/Viber message) at the right moment. Intercom has proactive messages, but they're about onboarding and support, not about winning a shopper back based on catalog behavior. Looma covers exactly the e-commerce scenario: bring back someone who almost bought.

Together, search and recovery close the two biggest leaks in a store — at the entrance (didn't find it) and at the exit (left without buying) — which a helpdesk on its own doesn't do.

Where Intercom is strong

Let's be fair: Intercom is a mature enterprise platform. If you need a full ticketing helpdesk, an inbox for dozens of agents, SLAs, multi-brand, 450+ integrations and an AI agent that deflects requests at scale — Intercom is confident here. Looma focuses narrower: e-commerce sales through chat, search and customer recovery, not a universal support desk for enterprise.

Full feature comparison

Intercom data is as of 2026-10-03; verify current features and prices on Intercom's official site.

Pricing

Intercom (as of 2026-10-03): per-seat plans — Essential from $29/seat/mo, Advanced from $85, Expert from $132 (annual billing). The Fin AI agent — from $0.99 per outcome, on top: a resolved request, a handoff to an agent or a completed workflow. Plus add-ons: Copilot ($29/seat), advanced analytics ($99/mo), proactive messages ($99/mo), separate channels (SMS, WhatsApp, phone) — pay-as-you-go. The real bill = seats + resolutions + channels, so it's almost always higher than the "price on the site."

Looma: fixed plans — Starter $29/mo, Growth $59, Business $149, Enterprise on request. Plans scale with your catalog size and number of channels, not per operator (unlimited operators on every plan). AI conversations and search run on credits included in the plan. The key point — smart search and customer recovery are part of the platform, not separate add-ons like the competitors’ AI. Calls from the site and messengers are free for operators; the AI that answers by voice costs 17 credits per minute. Current plans are on the pricing page →

Which to choose

Want to see Looma as a whole — chat, search and analytics in one tool? Start here: What is Looma → or the guide to online chat for online stores →