Question 1

What's the difference between Gladly and Intercom?

Accepted Answer

Intercom is a full platform — inbox, AI agent, and agent tools — and it's genuinely good at resolving conversations fast. The difference isn't what's in the stack, it's how the system is organized. Intercom is conversation-centric: each time a customer reaches out, it's a new thread. Gladly is customer-centric: every interaction across every channel lives on one continuous timeline. That distinction matters most when a customer comes back — Gladly already knows them. Intercom starts over.

Question 2

How does Gladly's AI compare to Intercom?

Accepted Answer

Intercom posts strong resolution rates on transactional queries. The difference is what happens around the resolution. Gladly's AI works from lifelong customer context — past purchases, prior conversations, preferences — and shares that context with your team on every handoff, so the other 34% of conversations don't start from scratch.

Question 3

Is Intercom conversation-centric or customer-centric?

Accepted Answer

Intercom is conversation-centric: its architecture creates a separate interaction thread for each contact. Gladly is customer-centric: every interaction across every channel lives on a single, continuous customer timeline. For brands where repeat relationships drive revenue, that distinction is the whole game.

Question 4

How does Gladly pricing compare to Intercom's?

Accepted Answer

Intercom's pricing model is built around AI resolutions — you pay when it closes a conversation on its own. Gladly's model is built around the right outcome, however it's reached — per resolution when AI handles it, per assist when a human does. That distinction matters: Gladly has no incentive to deflect, because we're aligned to the outcome, not the channel that delivered it.

Question 5

Do agents get full context when Intercom escalates?

Accepted Answer

Intercom shares conversation context between its AI and human agents. What Gladly adds is the full customer relationship — every purchase, every prior conversation across every channel, going back to day one. Agents don't just see what happened in this thread. They see the whole customer.

Question 6

How should I evaluate Intercom's high resolution rates?

Accepted Answer

Resolution rates are worth scrutinizing before taking them at face value. The number depends heavily on which conversations are included in the calculation, which use cases have been automated, how handoffs to human agents are counted, and whether the metric reflects all incoming customer demand or only the subset the AI was eligible to handle. A high resolution rate on a narrow slice of volume tells a different story than the same rate across your full contact mix. Gladly's view is that the goal isn't the highest deflection number — it's the best customer outcome at scale. That means measuring what happens to the full conversation, not just the ones AI closed on its own.

Question 7

What results can we expect after switching to Gladly?

Accepted Answer

Brands that move to Gladly cut costs, lift agent efficiency, and grow loyalty — because every conversation is faster and more personal. As one KÜHL leader put it, with their previous system "you had to start fresh every single time"; Gladly links every interaction into one continuous customer view.

Why brands choose Gladly over Intercom

Why Gladly wins

Trusted by leading brands

How Gladly compares to Intercom

One platform for service and sales

Built on the customer, not the conversation

Full context on every handoff

Intercom optimizes your AI layer. You pay per resolution, add seats, upgrade to Copilot, and tack on channel fees — while every new contact starts a fresh thread with no memory of what came before.

Customer service that delivers real results

450M+

65%

$510M+

The Gladly advantage

Feature

Intercom

See why brands believe Gladly is the best Intercom alternative

Gladly vs Intercom frequently asked questions