Crisp → Intercom

Plan mapping at the entry paid tier

The lowest non-free, non-custom tier on each side. Use this for the "if I'm on $X with Crisp, what's the equivalent on Intercom?" gut check.

Step-by-step migration

1. 01

   Export your list from Crisp

   Pull a fresh CSV of every active subscriber. Capture the fields you actually use downstream: email is required, name is standard, signup date and tier (free/paid) are useful when Crisp provides them.

2. 02

   Provision Intercom

   Sign up, set sender identity, and verify your sending domain (DKIM, SPF, DMARC). Do this before importing the list; sending from an unverified domain is the single fastest way to land in spam at the moment of cutover.

3. 03

   Import the list and map fields

   Upload the CSV. Map email + name + any custom fields. Decide whether to import as one list or split into segments/tags. Crisp-style organization rarely maps 1:1, so plan the split before the upload, not after.

4. 04

   Rebuild automations and templates

   Intercom's automation builder is structurally similar but won't import Crisp's flows directly. Rebuild only what you actively use; the move is a chance to delete the unused ones rather than lift-and-shift dead infrastructure.

5. 05

   Send a test broadcast

   Pick a small segment and send a real broadcast (not just a preview). Verify deliverability, link clicks, and unsubscribe flow. If anything's off, you find it before the announcement, not after.

6. 06

   Announce the move and cut over

   Send your last broadcast from Crisp announcing the new sender domain and what to expect. Cut over DNS and sending from Intercom on the same day, not staggered. A dual-send week creates more confusion than it prevents.

Crisp-to-Intercom specific gotchas

Universal steps cover most of the work. These are the failure modes unique to this exact pair.

• #1

  Channel-emphasis swap: Crisp's product centers on omnichannel inbox (web chat + WhatsApp + Instagram DMs + SMS unified); Intercom's centers on messenger + email with omnichannel as a secondary feature on Advanced+. The migration is also a channel-prioritization swap. If your existing flow is omnichannel-heavy, plan to either rebuild equivalent integrations on Intercom Advanced (extra cost) or accept the channel narrowing.

• #2

  Conversation history export: Crisp exports conversations via API or CSV; Intercom imports support data via Custom Imports or migration tooling but the rich Crisp features (chatbot transcripts with bot-handoff context, omnichannel-thread continuity, Crisp-specific metadata) don't fully transfer. Plan a 30-90 day overlap where both inboxes are live for historical lookups.

• #3

  Knowledge-base port: Crisp's knowledge base structure doesn't 1:1 map to Intercom Articles (collections + folders + articles). Re-author the load-bearing 20% of articles in Intercom's editor; don't try to port everything via API import.

• #4

  Workflow rebuild: Crisp's routing rules + automation use a different model than Intercom's Custom Bots + Series + Workflows. Intercom's logic primitives are more sophisticated (event-triggered, conditional branches with multi-channel forks, customer-data-driven routing) but the rebuild requires re-thinking the automation architecture, not translating UX-to-UX.

• #5

  Chatbot architecture difference: Crisp's chatbot is a flow-builder where you define question-and-answer trees with bot handoff. Intercom's Custom Bot uses a different builder with answer-bot-vs-resolution-bot distinction; Fin AI Agent layers on top with LLM-driven resolution. Document each existing Crisp chatbot flow before migrating; rebuild the load-bearing 5-8 flows in Intercom rather than the entire library.

• #6

  Per-seat cost forecasting: Crisp's flat $45/$95/$295 pricing is predictable; Intercom's per-seat ratchet means cost grows with team headcount. BEFORE migrating, forecast 12-month team-size growth and compute the Intercom invoice at each headcount checkpoint. Many teams underestimate the cost compounding and the migration ROI doesn't hold up post-month-12.

Compare on price across the category

This guide is Crisp to Intercom specifically. To see both side by side with every other live chat tool we track on a single price-only table, see the live chat pricing comparison . Useful before committing to the migration, in case a third option fits the cost-and-feature combination better than either side of this guide.

Common questions

Is Intercom cheaper than Crisp?

At the entry tier, Crisp is cheaper (Free vs $29/mo). The reasons to migrate are usually feature scope or pricing model, not headline price; see "Why migrate" above.

Will my data transfer cleanly?

Most live chat data transfers, but rarely 1:1. The "Pair-specific gotchas" section above is hand-curated for this exact migration: it covers what exports from Crisp, how it imports into Intercom, and which structural pieces (workflows, integrations, custom domains) require rebuild rather than direct port. The constraint usually isn't the data export; it's the rebuild work for anything Intercom models differently.

How long does the migration take?

A clean migration for this pair is typically 1-2 weeks of focused work: data export, integration reconnection (CRMs, webhooks, payment processors), feature rebuild for whatever doesn't port directly, test run, cutover. The constraint is rarely the export itself; it's the integration reconnection and the rebuild work for any feature that Intercom models differently from Crisp.

Are Crisp and Intercom direct competitors?

Yes. Both are primarily live chat tools, which is why this is a defensible head-to-head migration rather than a cross-category consolidation.

Where can I see Crisp vs Intercom side-by-side?

The /compare/crisp-vs-intercom page on TierGauge shows side-by-side plans, headline pricing, included features, and limit comparison at the entry paid tier. This migration guide is the long-form decision narrative; the compare page is the data-only dashboard.