Hobson
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Hobson vs Intercom Fin: predictable AI support

Fin is a mature autonomous AI agent. Intercom charges per seat, plus $0.99 for each Fin outcome, and an outcome includes a customer who simply stops replying.

Hobson drafts every conversation for a flat monthly price, a person approves, and auto-send is earned per category.

Choose Fin if you want a well-established autonomous agent. Choose Hobson if you want to know next month’s bill and approve what the AI says until it has proved itself.

14-day free trial. Hobson starts in shadow mode, so nothing reaches your customers until you choose. Hobson is opening to new stores soon, so for now you join the waitlist.

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Updated 11 October 2026. Competitor prices checked on each vendor’s own site.

At a glance

FeatureHobsonIntercom Fin
Pricing modelFlat monthly plans by conversations, every feature on every planPer seat, plus $0.99 for each Fin outcome
Starting price£59 a month for 300 conversations (£590 a year billed annually)Essential $29 per seat a month billed annually ($39 monthly), Advanced $85 ($99), Expert $132 ($139)
AI feeNone. Drafting and auto-send are included in the plan$0.99 per outcome. An outcome includes a resolution, a customer who stops replying after Fin answers, or a completed workflow including a handoff
Over the limitNo overage charges. At the limit Hobson stops drafting new conversations until you upgrade or the next period startsBilled per outcome. Fin on another helpdesk has a 50-outcome monthly minimum
SeatsUnlimited seats on every planCharged per seat
AI draftingA draft on every conversation, includedCopilot $29 per agent a month billed annually, $35 monthly

Prices as listed on each vendor’s own pricing page, checked on the dates under Sources. Prices exclude VAT.

What it costs in practice

Three example stores on monthly billing at list prices. Each competitor figure counts its seats and its fee for each conversation its AI resolves, on the plan shown. Drafting add-ons are left out, which favours the competitors. US dollar prices are converted at £1 = $1.33. Hobson’s AI drafting pauses at your plan limit, and you’re never billed overage.

Small store

300 conversations, 2 agents, 30% (90) resolved by AI

Hobson Starter
£59
Intercom Fin Essential
≈ £126
  • 2 seats × $39US$78
  • 90 Fin outcomes × $0.99US$89.10
Change the numbers

Growing store

1,000 conversations, 3 agents, 40% (400) resolved by AI

Hobson Growth
£179
Intercom Fin Essential
≈ £386
  • 3 seats × $39US$117
  • 400 Fin outcomes × $0.99US$396
Change the numbers

Busy store

3,000 conversations, 8 agents, 50% (1,500) resolved by AI

Hobson Scale
£399
Intercom Fin Essential
≈ £1,351
  • 8 seats × $39US$312
  • 1,500 Fin outcomes × $0.99US$1,485
Change the numbers

How the AI works

Hobson drafts every conversation and a person approves it. It recommends auto-send for a category, such as order status or returns, once it has at least 20 reviewed outcomes, a 95% confidence lower bound of 70% or more acceptable, and facts changed in no more than 10% of replies. Policy categories like refunds stay locked until your policy is in the knowledge base. Every auto-send waits a minute so you can undo it, and a category goes back to asking first if corrections rise.

Intercom Fin charges for its AI by usage, so the bill rises as it does more. Hobson’s price stays the same.

Where Intercom Fin is better

  • Fin is a mature autonomous agent, with procedures for multi-step answers.
  • Voice and a large app ecosystem.
  • A well-known brand with a long track record.

Where Hobson is better

  • A flat monthly price. Your bill doesn’t rise when the AI does more.
  • Drafting included, where Copilot is $29 to $35 per agent a month.
  • Shopify order actions approved with the reply.
  • Priced in pounds, for UK businesses.

Switching

Connect Gmail in two clicks or forward your support email, and Hobson starts in shadow mode: it drafts every reply and sends nothing until you choose. Your history in Intercom Fin stays where it is.

Questions

No. Hobson is a flat monthly price. The bill stays the same however many replies the AI drafts or sends.

One customer’s thread on any channel, however many messages go back and forth. Imported history and spam don’t count.

Hobson tells the owner at 80% and 100% of the plan’s conversations. At the limit it stops drafting replies to new conversations until you upgrade or the next period starts. Messages still arrive and your team can still reply. There are no overage charges.

Yes. Hobson can show the customer’s account from your own lookup endpoint, escalate bugs to Linear and send the “it’s fixed” reply when the issue closes, and run your own actions with approval.

Yes. Hobson can propose a refund, cancellation, address change, replacement order or discount code with its reply. Nothing runs until a person approves it, and agents have a money limit above which an owner or admin must approve.

Attachments and raw inbound email are stored in AWS in Ireland (eu-west-1). Conversation text is stored in our database on Neon. AI drafting uses providers in the US under standard contractual clauses. OAuth tokens and API keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, each with its own key, wrapped by a master key held outside the database.

Sources

  1. Intercom pricing, checked 14 November 2026

Prices are list prices excluding VAT, voice, SMS and add-ons unless shown, and can change at any time. Check the vendor’s own page before you decide. Intercom Fin is a trade mark of its owner. Hobson is not affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@hobson.support and we’ll correct it.

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