Per-resolution vs flat pricing for AI support
Almost every AI support vendor charges per resolution: Intercom Fin around $0.99, Zendesk near $1.50, Lorikeet around $0.80. It sounds fair, you pay for outcomes, but it hides a perverse incentive. The better the AI performs, the more you pay. Flat pricing takes the opposite stance. This page lays out both models side by side so you can see which one actually rewards good automation.
How per-resolution pricing works
Under a per-resolution model, you are billed each time the AI resolves a conversation. Common rates are around $0.99 (Fin), roughly $1.20 to $1.50 (Zendesk), and about $0.80 (Lorikeet). It feels aligned because you only pay when the AI does something.
The problem is direction. The entire goal is to resolve more tickets automatically. Every point of auto-resolution you gain adds to the meter. So the model taxes exactly the outcome you are trying to maximize, and your unit economics get worse as your automation gets better.
How flat pricing works
How Resolve prices instead
Resolve decouples price from resolutions entirely. You pay a flat monthly rate for a band of inbound contact volume, with unlimited seats and unlimited AI resolutions inside that band. The published tiers are Launch at $250 a month for roughly 750 inbound contacts, Growth at $900 for roughly 3,000, and Scale at $2,500 for roughly 10,000, with a custom flat Enterprise tier above that. If you go over a band, you bump to the next band, never a per-unit surprise.
The promise is one sentence: your bill never goes up because the AI did its job. It only changes when your business grows. That is the opposite of a per-resolution meter, where the better the automation performs, the more you owe.
Under flat pricing, improving your automation lowers your cost per ticket instead of raising your bill. If you resolve 90 percent instead of 80 percent inside the same band, your flat price does not move, so every additional auto-resolution is effectively free. The incentive finally points the right way.
The math at 4,000 resolutions a month
Take a team at 5,000 tickets a month, 80 percent auto-resolved, which is 4,000 resolutions. Per-resolution models land roughly: Fin near $4,009 a month all-in, Zendesk near $6,000 in resolutions alone, Lorikeet around $3,200. Resolve's Scale tier is $2,500 a month flat for roughly 10,000 inbound, and it does not move if auto-resolution climbs to 90 percent. Flat lands 40 to 60 percent cheaper, and the gap widens as your automation improves.
One caution on any cost-per-resolution math: a "resolution" is only worth paying for if it actually solved the customer. Resolve reports verified resolution (confirmed by survey, confirmation, or no 72-hour recontact) separately from deflection, and treats reopen rate as the lie detector. A per-resolution bill that counts deflections, where the customer simply gave up, charges you for tickets that were never really solved. Grounding the price in verified resolution is the only honest way to compare cost.
Frequently asked
Is per-resolution pricing ever cheaper than flat?
At very low volume, a per-resolution meter can be cheaper simply because you resolve few tickets. But that inverts as you grow and as automation improves, because the meter scales with the exact outcome you want more of. Flat pricing wins as soon as your resolution volume is meaningful.
Why is per-resolution pricing called a success tax?
Because it charges you more precisely when the AI succeeds more. Every additional resolution adds to the bill, so better automation raises your cost. Flat pricing removes that penalty by including unlimited AI resolutions in your band.
What does Resolve charge instead?
A flat monthly rate per volume band with unlimited seats and unlimited AI resolutions: $250 for roughly 750 inbound, $900 for roughly 3,000, $2,500 for roughly 10,000, and custom flat above that. Your bill only changes when your business grows, not when the AI does its job.
Does flat pricing mean lower quality?
No. Resolve grounds every answer in real content or live data, runs a supervisor check before send, and reports verified resolution separately from deflection. Flat pricing is about the billing model, not the guardrails. The quality bar is set by the trust stack, not the meter.