The best AI customer service software on published price is HubSpot’s customer agent at $0.50 per resolution, 1st in the per-resolved-conversation group of the AI price per outcome leaderboard. Help Scout follows at $0.75, Lorikeet charges $0.90 on its Scale plan, as does Gorgias on annual billing, and Intercom and eDesk share $0.99. This list covers twelve vendors and ranks them by AI price per outcome inside that group, the largest set of prices charged at most once per conversation and never when the AI cannot answer, with ties broken by native channel coverage. Prices are list prices as of 8 October 2026.
Salesforce and Freshdesk come next, each in its own unit group, because a conversation and a session are different things to pay for. Ada, Decagon and Sierra publish no AI price; they close the list unranked, with their channel and language coverage.
How this list is ranked
Every price comes from the October 2026 AI price run, with each vendor’s unit definition printed beside it. The ranked group holds prices per resolution or per outcome where the vendor charges at most one unit per conversation and nothing when the AI cannot answer. Inside that group, lower is better, and each vendor ranks on its lowest published rate: Lorikeet on its Scale plan at $0.90, Zendesk on its committed rate at $1.50. Intercom ties eDesk at $0.99 and ranks ahead on native channels, seven to five.
Prices in a different unit never share a rank with that group. Salesforce and Freshdesk follow in their own groups, and the order between groups is not a price comparison. Vendors with no published price come last and are never shown as zero. The rules for units, minimums and platform fees are set out on the testing method page.
The bill at 2,000 AI resolutions a month
| Vendor | Unit | Price | Monthly bill at 2,000 |
|---|
| HubSpot | resolution | $0.50 | $1,000 |
| Help Scout | resolution | $0.75 | $1,500 |
| Intercom | outcome | $0.99 | $1,980 |
| Jira Service Management | AI agent resolution | $1.00 | $2,000 |
| Zendesk | automated resolution (committed) | $1.50 | $3,000 |
| Salesforce Agentforce | conversation | $2.00 | $4,000 |
Each bill covers the AI line alone, before included allowances and before seats. For the per-resolution and per-outcome vendors it is an upper bound, since a conversation is charged once at most. Lorikeet, Gorgias and Freshdesk have no bill here: Lorikeet adds a monthly platform fee, Gorgias publishes no overage rate, and Freshdesk bills sessions, which do not map to conversations one to one. Seats come on top for every helpdesk vendor, and the seat-cost leaderboard ranks those separately.
What a resolution means at each vendor
The same word covers different events. HubSpot counts a resolution when a conversation is not handed to a human for 72 hours. Jira Service Management waits for 24 hours of inactivity. Help Scout drops the charge if the customer searches the knowledge base or asks for more help. Intercom bills procedure handoffs and routings as outcomes alongside resolutions. Those differences change what a $0.99 or a $0.50 buys, and the resolution rate guide works through them. Claimed resolution rates are not ranked anywhere on this site, for the reasons set out in the customer service metrics guide.
Picking by team
- Already on HubSpot CRM: the customer agent at $0.50, once the team is on Professional.
- Email-led small teams: Help Scout’s AI Answers on any paid plan. The AI help desk software list ranks the helpdesks that sell AI this way.
- Chat-first software companies: Intercom’s Fin, on Intercom or on another help desk. The Intercom alternatives list ranks the options around it.
- Atlassian service desks: Jira Service Management at $1.00, with no minimum.
- Large multichannel teams: Zendesk, compared head to head in Zendesk vs Intercom.
- Enterprise buyers on custom contracts: Ada, Decagon or Sierra, each priced only by quote.
The short answer
HubSpot has the lowest published AI price at $0.50 per resolution, with Help Scout 2nd at $0.75. Intercom at $0.99 is the pick for chat-first teams that want Fin on any help desk, and Zendesk at $1.50 is the pick when the AI has to sit inside the widest channel set on this list. For the seat side of the same purchase, the help desk software ranking orders the platforms by what 25 agents cost a year.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI customer service software?
On published price, HubSpot's customer agent is the best AI customer service software at $0.50 per resolution, though it needs Service Hub Professional or Enterprise. Help Scout's AI Answers at $0.75 suits email-led teams on any paid plan, Intercom's Fin at $0.99 suits chat-first teams, and Zendesk at $1.50 suits large teams that want nine native channels.
How much does an AI customer service agent cost per resolution?
Among the published per-resolution prices, HubSpot charges $0.50, Help Scout $0.75, Lorikeet $0.90 on Scale and $0.99 on Start, Intercom and eDesk $0.99, Jira Service Management $1.00 and Zendesk $1.50 on committed volume. Lorikeet adds a platform fee of $5,100 a month on Scale or $2,100 on Start.
Why are Sierra, Decagon and Ada not ranked?
None of them publishes an AI price. Sierra says customers pay for outcomes but gives no price or outcome definition, Decagon describes resolution-based pricing without a figure, and Ada's pricing page is a demo request. A vendor without a published price is never shown as zero.
Is a session the same as a resolution?
No. Freshdesk bills a Freddy AI Agent session, a 24-hour chat window or 72-hour email window, whether or not the AI resolves anything. A resolution is charged only when the AI resolves the conversation, so the two prices are ranked in separate groups.
Do vendors publish their AI resolution rates?
Tidio's quote-only Premium plan guarantees a 50% resolution rate as a contract term. Queue Bench does not rank claimed resolution rates, because each vendor defines a resolution differently and the figure lives in each customer's own data.