IntercomThe only helpdesk designed for the AI Agent era
vs
OutlineTeam knowledge base & wiki
Comparison · Knowledge Management · weekly run Nov 3
Intercom vs Outline
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Intercom is the stronger AI pick in Knowledge Management: it has a visibility score of 2.4 versus 1.9 for Outline.
Choose Intercom if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (2.4 vs 1.9)
- You need more native integrations (450+ vs 20+)
- AI answers describe it more positively (41% vs 0% positive)
- You need SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 or ISO 42001 or ISO 27701 or AIUC-1 or GDPR or CCPA coverage
Choose Outline if…
- You want a free plan to start
- You need a self-hosted or on-premises option
- Flat tiers pricing suits your budget better than per seat
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Intercom | Outline |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 2.4% | 1.9% |
| Change vs last week | New | New |
| Rank in Knowledge Management | #28 | #34 |
| Share of voice | 1.1% | 0.4% |
| Mentions this run | 6 | 2 |
| Positive in AI answers | 41% | 0% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Intercom 0pp · Outline 0pp over 0 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Intercom leads on 2 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
IntercomOutline
Head to head in AI answers
0 engine answers name both brands
0Intercom ranked higher
0Outline ranked higher
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Intercom | Outline |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per seat | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | $29 per seat / mo | Free; paid from $4 / mo |
| Free plan | No · 14-day trial | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), with US, EU and AU data hosting | Cloud hosted or self-hosted on your own server |
| Integrations | 450+ | 20+ |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, ISO 27701, AIUC-1, GDPR, CCPA | — |
| Support | — | Email support, Enterprise support contract |
| Founded | 2011 | 2020 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States | San Francisco, California, US |
| Employees | 1,001–5,000 | 11–50 |
| Funding | Debt financing · $242M raised | Series A |
| Best for | Support teams from startups to large enterprises that want AI-first customer service with human agents and an AI agent in one system | Teams that want a fast, collaborative knowledge base in the cloud or on their own server |
Plans side by side
Intercom
Essential$29seat/mo
Advanced$85seat/mo
Expert$132seat/mo
Fin AI Agent (with existing helpdesk)$0.99Fin outcome
Outline
Cloud: 1-10 team members$10month
Cloud: 11-100 team members$79month
Cloud: 101-200 team members$249month
On-Premises Community Edition$0
On-Premises Business$4user/month billed annually, 10 user minimum
On-Premises Enterprise$5user/month billed annually, 100 user minimum
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Intercom
- AI-first customer support with the Fin AI agent
- Strong for in-app messaging and product-led SaaS
- Unified conversation history for smooth handoffs to humans
- Lower per-seat cost when billed annually
- Praised as the best overall chat and AI experience
- Per-seat and usage-based AI charges can add up in cost
Outline
Profile in progress.
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 100%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Intercom vs Outline”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/intercom-vs-outline, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.