How Heartbeat and Intercom compare
Heartbeat is a friendly place to start a paid community without a big budget. For $49 a month you get channels, threads, chat, voice rooms, DMs, unlimited courses and events, a custom domain, checkout pages, five automation workflows, and Pulse, an AI that actually sets up channels, offers, and pages for you. Grow adds unlimited workflows, DM rules, an affiliate program, and white-label email; Scale adds a branded app. For a founder with a small group who wants courses and calls next to the conversation, Heartbeat covers a lot for the price.
Intercom is the customer service platform SaaS teams grow into. The Fin AI agent resolves conversations on its own, the inbox gives agents AI copilot help, and help center, product tours, outbound messages, and deep reporting round out a system designed for support at scale. It is expensive and it is excellent.
Where they are different
Heartbeat
- Heartbeat's landing page is the door to a private space.
- Heartbeat emails members through workflows and a weekly digest.
- Heartbeat's events sync to members' calendars.
- Heartbeat charges 5% to 1.25% on payments.
Intercom
- Intercom lives inside your product.
- Intercom answers anyone.
- Intercom messages users in-app.
Choose Heartbeat when a small paid community with courses, calls, and member chat is the product.
Choose Intercom when you run software support at scale and want AI to resolve most of it.
Compare features
What's on Heartbeat and Intercom
A check means that capability is available. Heartbeat and Intercom are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.
Site and brand
- Workspace siteHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Not included
Audience and email
- AudienceHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Included
- Email on your domainHeartbeat: Not includedIntercom: Included
- Marketing emailsHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Included
- Campaign workflowsHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Included
Messaging
- Built-in chatHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Included
- Messaging CenterHeartbeat: Not includedIntercom: Included
Commerce
- Shop paymentsHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Not included
Team
- Admin usersHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Included
- Per-admin permissionsHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Included
- AI AssistantHeartbeat: IncludedIntercom: Included
* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Heartbeat or Intercom, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Heartbeat or Intercom may add or remove features that are not shown here.
Heartbeat vs Intercom pricing
Compare plans, prices, and what it costs to get started.
Heartbeat
Current plans and prices
See what Heartbeat charges on their pricing page.
Intercom
Current plans and prices
See what Intercom charges on their pricing page.
Cardel: An alternative to
Heartbeat and Intercom
You don't pay until you publish.
Cardel provides a home for your craft. Share and sell your work, grow your audience, and bring your community together on a site of your own.
Common questions
Is Cardel an alternative to Heartbeat or Intercom?
Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Heartbeat or Intercom when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Heartbeat and Intercom are marked.
Can I use Cardel with Heartbeat or Intercom?
Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Heartbeat or Intercom for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.
How much does Cardel cost compared with Heartbeat and Intercom?
You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Heartbeat and Intercom set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.
How do I switch from Heartbeat or Intercom to Cardel?
Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.