Support AI pricing compared
Almost every AI support vendor prices the same way: per resolution, sometimes on top of seats, add-ons, and volume tiers. The rates differ, but the shape is identical, and it taxes success. This page lays the models side by side, with the reported rates and the real monthly math, then contrasts them with flat pricing so you can see the structural difference at a glance.
The per-resolution field
- Intercom Fin: around $0.99 per resolution, plus a base near $49 and outcome fees around $9.99. Bill creep is its most-cited complaint.
- Zendesk: roughly $1.20 to $1.50 per automated resolution, on top of per-agent seats and a roughly $50 per agent AI add-on.
- Lorikeet: around $0.80 per resolution.
- Gorgias: ticket-volume tiers with overage, plus per-resolution automation economics.
- Ada: per automated resolution, enterprise sales-led, sitting on top of a separate helpdesk.
Different rates, one shape: the more the AI resolves, the more you pay.
The math at 4,000 resolutions
At 5,000 tickets a month, 80 percent resolved (4,000 resolutions), the per-resolution models land roughly: Fin near $4,009 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 resolution climbs to 90 percent. Flat lands 40 to 60 percent cheaper, and the gap widens as automation improves.
The flat alternative
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.
The point of the comparison is not that one vendor is a few cents cheaper per resolution. It is that every per-resolution model shares the same flaw: cost rises with the outcome you want. Flat pricing is the only model on the list where doing the job better makes your unit economics improve.
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
Which support AI is cheapest?
Per-resolution rates run about $0.80 (Lorikeet), $0.99 (Fin), and $1.20 to $1.50 (Zendesk), but the cheapest per-unit rate still scales cost with resolutions. At meaningful volume, flat pricing tends to win: Resolve Scale is $2,500 flat for roughly 10,000 inbound and does not rise with automation.
Do all these vendors price per resolution?
Most do in some form: Fin, Zendesk, Lorikeet, and Ada price per resolution, and Gorgias meters on volume with per-resolution automation economics. The rates differ but the shape is the same, and it taxes success. Resolve is flat per band with unlimited AI resolutions.
How much cheaper is flat pricing?
At 5,000 tickets and 80 percent resolution, flat pricing lands roughly 40 to 60 percent below the per-resolution field, and the gap widens as automation improves because the flat band does not move while the meters climb.