Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Intercom VS Salesforce

Compare Intercom VS Salesforce and see what are their differences

Intercom logo Intercom

Intercom is a customer relationship management and messaging tool for web businesses. Build relationships with users to create loyal customers.

Salesforce logo Salesforce

CRM software solutions and enterprise cloud computing from salesforce.com, the leader in CRM and platform as a service.
  • Intercom Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-05
  • Salesforce Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-04

Intercom features and specs

  • User-friendly Interface
    Intercom offers an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise.
  • Comprehensive Customer Communication Tools
    It provides a suite of tools for live chat, email marketing, in-app messaging, and customer support, all of which can be accessed in one place.
  • Customization and Integration
    Intercom allows for extensive customization and integrates with various third-party applications, enabling businesses to tailor the platform to meet their specific needs.
  • Automation Capabilities
    The platform supports automated workflows, which can save time and ensure consistent customer interactions.
  • Customer Data Management
    Intercom collects and analyzes customer data, providing valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences that can inform business strategies.

Possible disadvantages of Intercom

  • Cost
    Intercom can be expensive, particularly for small businesses or startups. The pricing model is based on the number of users and features, which can add up quickly.
  • Complexity for Advanced Features
    While basic features are user-friendly, some of the more advanced functionalities can be complex and may require a steeper learning curve.
  • Limited Reporting
    The reporting and analytics features, while useful, are sometimes considered less comprehensive compared to specialized analytics platforms.
  • Customer Support
    Some users have reported that Intercom's own customer support can be slow to respond, which can be frustrating when dealing with urgent issues.
  • Notification Overload
    The platform can generate a high volume of notifications, which can be overwhelming and may require careful management to avoid interrupting workflow.

Salesforce features and specs

  • Customizability
    Salesforce offers a high degree of customizability, allowing businesses to tailor the platform to meet their specific requirements through custom objects, workflows, and apps.
  • Comprehensive Suite
    The platform provides a wide range of integrated tools for CRM, marketing, sales, service, and more, making it a one-stop solution for various business needs.
  • Third-Party Integrations
    Salesforce supports a vast array of third-party integrations, enabling businesses to seamlessly connect other applications and services they use.
  • User Community and Support
    Salesforce has a large, active user community and extensive support resources, including documentation, webinars, and a customer success team.
  • Scalability
    The platform is highly scalable, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises.

Possible disadvantages of Salesforce

  • Cost
    Salesforce can be expensive, particularly for small businesses, as the pricing model includes various modules and add-ons that can add up quickly.
  • Complexity
    The platform's extensive features can make it complex and challenging to navigate, requiring significant training and a learning curve for users.
  • Customization Requires Expertise
    While Salesforce is highly customizable, making full use of this capability often requires specialized knowledge or hiring certified Salesforce consultants.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users have reported performance issues, particularly during peak usage times, which can impact business operations.
  • Overwhelming Options
    The sheer number of features and options available can be overwhelming, which can make decision-making and implementation time-consuming.

Intercom videos

Intercom Review & Tutorial - How to Use Intercom for Websites

More videos:

  • Review - Intercom Software Review, Engage, Respond, Educate
  • Review - BTI V6 1200m Bluetooth & Intercom Review

Salesforce videos

Frustrated Review of Salesforce.com 2019 for Small to Medium Business

More videos:

  • Review - HubSpot vs. Salesforce
  • Review - Salesforce CRM - Detailed Review of The CRM Giant (2019)
  • Review - Independent Review of Salesforce CRM Software
  • Review - Salesforce CRM Review 2021 Small Business
  • Review - What is Salesforce (and why is it so good)?
  • Review - Salesforce Review 2023 | CRM Software Analyst's Pros/Cons [1/3]
  • Review - What is Salesforce? | Salesforce in 7 Minutes | Introduction to Salesforce | Simplilearn

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Intercom and Salesforce)
Customer Support
100 100%
0% 0
CRM
62 62%
38% 38
Sales
0 0%
100% 100
Help Desk
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Intercom and Salesforce

Intercom Reviews

  1. Eleanor Bennett
    · Digital Marketing Specialist at Logit.io ·
    An essential communication tool

    Intercom provides a lot of value to us. From live chat to email marketing and even helping us to create support documentation, Intercom handles a lot of key moving parts that are essential to keeping customers happy.


9 Best Tidio Alternatives Compared
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Source: www.tidio.com
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Intercom is an alternative that excels in self-service support. It enables businesses to communicate and engage with their customers in real-time.
Top 11 Freshdesk Alternatives for 2024 (Ranked & Rated)
Intercom provides a useful suite of tools designed to improve your customer engagement. As a Freshdesk alternative, Intercom ticks several boxes when it comes to features:
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Source: www.tidio.com
Top 13 Freshdesk alternatives and competitors for 2024
Intercom offers customer service software while also extending its platform to marketing and sales. Intercom is a newer platform to the CX market and has adopted AI and automation capabilities to keep up with business trends. Intercom features Intercom Messenger, a communication tool that provides customers with self-service or live support options.
Source: www.zendesk.com

Salesforce Reviews

  1. andreewikk
    super

    Salesforce is a powerful customer relationship management (CRM) platform, and I have been using it for business for several months now. Overall, I am pleased with the functionality and capabilities it provides.

    Pros: 1. Full customization - Salesforce allows you to adapt the system to any business needs. There are a huge number of customization tools, which makes it universal for different industries. 2. Powerful analytical tools - The platform provides excellent analytics and reporting capabilities. You can easily track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, analyze customer behavior and build forecasts. 3. Interface - Despite the huge number of functions, the interface is quite intuitive and does not cause difficulties in mastering. Configuration and data management are easy to organize. 4. Integrations - Salesforce supports many integrations with other services and platforms, which simplifies work and allows you to use it in conjunction with other business solutions.

    Cons: 1. High cost - Salesforce can be expensive for small companies. The subscription price, plus additional costs for customization and support, can quickly become significant. 2. Steep learning curve — The sheer amount of functionality can make it difficult for newcomers to get their head around the platform. It takes time to master all of the features. 3. Sometimes feature-heavy — For smaller businesses, some of the features in Salesforce can be redundant and not always necessary. This can cause confusion as you work.

    Overall, Salesforce is a great platform for larger organizations and businesses that need to effectively manage customer data and automate processes. However, for smaller businesses, the cost and complexity can be a barrier. However, if your business is growing, Salesforce is a powerful tool for growth and scaling.


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Source: magenest.com
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The main competitive advantage for Dynamics 365 over Salesforce is its integrated platform. Microsoft made several strategic changes in 2020 to challenge Salesforce in the cloud software market. Most companies use Microsoft’s productivity solutions, increasing Dynamics 365’s advantage over Salesforce. Dynamics 365 makes Microsoft the top Salesforce competitor. [4]
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Salesforce is a leading provider of CRM solutions occupying over 19.6% share of the global CRM market. It provides a powerful and integrated platform for sales, marketing, support, IT, and eCommerce. This unified access to all business data can be leveraged to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Salesforce can help make better business decisions and automate key...
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Salesforce should be more popular than Intercom. It has been mentiond 62 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Intercom mentions (7)

  • Enhancing Customer Support with a Live Chat Widget on Your Website
    Intercom: Famous for its conversational marketing focus, Intercom’s live chat widget offers features like proactive messaging and lead qualification. It also supports deep personalization for enhanced customer engagement. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • I started affiliate marketing, but with a twist
    Use chatbots to automate customer service: Chatbots use natural language processing to communicate with customers and answer their questions. By integrating chatbots into your affiliate marketing strategy, you can automate customer service and increase engagement with potential customers. This can lead to more sales and higher commissions. (Crisp, Intercom). Source: about 2 years ago
  • How to embed a web application into another website via API?
    I am trying to create an application that will work on a customer's website. Much like tawk.to or intercom.com. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Here's how I'd figure out the go-to-market for a Customer Support SaaS
    My way of doing marketing starts with figuring out what my overall project will (or will not) be. In this case, I looked at the vendors like Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, or Help Scout. They all have whizbang features such as live-chat, collaboration stuffs, automations and workflows. They bill per contact and addons. I’d emphasize a straightforward, fuss-free angle instead. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Chat widget with react.js
    I wanted to know the best practices of developing a widget. So I went through the popular implementations of it. I liked Intercom's widget very much. It is written in React. I analyzed how it works. The minimal javascript is loaded async on the webpage. It is injecting an iframe with id intercom-frame. That iframe has a script in it's head with a source URl. Obviously it is React bundle. Source: about 3 years ago
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Salesforce mentions (62)

  • Salesforce Development Company
    Pletra Technology is a prominent Salesforce Implementation and Development company with the expertise needed to drive Salesforce-powered change in your enterprise. Using the Salesforce.com platform effectively, our consultants can help clients provide innovation and value from customer operations. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • MyDMV Portal has a really suspicious address.
    Maybe I'm just paranoid, but this thing screams "phishing link" to me. Why is this not a subdomain of flhmsv.gov ? Why is it a dot com?? I'd heard things about there being malicious links inserted into legit websites through either a hack or browser malware. Just going to force.com also redirects to salesforce.com , which... doesn't answer any questions at all. Is it just... Like this, or is there something... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Etrade hangs on login and other pages
    I noticed when I click on manage cookies there is salesforce.com and a few others that I am not sure what they are trying to do but I am sure they have nothing to do with trading. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Creating a Salesforce Email Report
    Hello! I'm aware that Tableau can capture email activity with EAC. However, I'm looking to add a report within a Salesforce Dashboard. I've attempted to create a report on email messages following the resource on Salesforce.com. But, the results were minimal (657 all-time emails? Since 2017.) For clarity, not for List Emails, just 1-1 sent through Salesforce. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Freelance design contract offer - Regarding the "ownership of work product" - what is really owned? (What are your thoughts on this contract section?)
    It is a fintech company so I do not expect them to, for example, profit much from selling clothes, or posters with my work on it. However, they are interested in the style of branding, illustration and general design of this website https://salesforce.com/ which uses a lot of colourful and playful imagery / illustrations. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Intercom and Salesforce, you can also consider the following products

Zendesk - Zendesk is a beautiful, lightweight help-desk solution.

Zoho CRM - Omnichannel CRM for Businesses of all sizes

Freshdesk - Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support software that lets you support customers through traditional channels like phone and email, social channels like Facebook and Twitter, and your own branded community

Pipedrive - Sales pipeline software that gets you organized. Helps you focus on the right deals, so easy to use that salespeople just love it. Great for small teams.

Drift - A messaging app that helps you grow your business.

HubSpot - Grow Better With HubSpot: Software that's powerful, not overpowering. Seamlessly connect your data, teams, and customers on one CRM platform that grows with your business.