Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Intercom VS The Old Reader

Compare Intercom VS The Old Reader and see what are their differences

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Intercom logo Intercom

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

The Old Reader logo The Old Reader

Read all your favorite online content in one place. Import your subscriptions in one click, find your friends, and start sharing.
  • Intercom Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-05
  • The Old Reader Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-28

Intercom

Release Date
2011 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Ciaran Lee
Employees
500 - 999

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.

The Old Reader features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    The Old Reader offers an intuitive and clean interface that makes it easy for users to navigate through their feeds and articles.
  • Social Features
    The service includes social features allowing users to follow friends, share articles, and see what others are reading.
  • Compatibility
    The Old Reader is compatible with various platforms and provides seamless synchronization between desktop and mobile devices.
  • Import/Export OPML
    Users can easily import or export their feeds using OPML files, making switching to and from other feed readers convenient.
  • Free Plan
    The Old Reader offers a free plan that is suitable for casual readers, although it comes with some limitations compared to the premium plan.

Possible disadvantages of The Old Reader

  • Limited Free Plan
    The free version has restrictions, such as a limit on the number of feeds you can subscribe to and the frequency of updates.
  • Ads in Free Plan
    Users on the free plan are subject to advertisements, which might be distracting for some.
  • No Mobile App
    The Old Reader does not have an official mobile application, although the web interface is mobile-friendly.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report occasional performance issues, such as slow loading times, especially with a large number of feeds.
  • Premium Cost
    The premium plan, although feature-rich, comes with a cost that may be considered high by some users compared to other similar services.

Analysis of Intercom

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Intercom is generally viewed as a good solution for businesses seeking to improve customer communication and support. Its robust features and flexibility make it a strong contender in the customer engagement space.

Why this product is good

  • Intercom is considered a good platform because it offers a comprehensive suite of tools for customer engagement. It integrates messaging, live chat, and help desk functionalities, providing a seamless experience for both users and customers. The platform is known for its user-friendly interface, customization options, and advanced integration capabilities with various third-party applications.

Recommended for

    Intercom is recommended for businesses of all sizes that wish to enhance their customer service and communication strategies. It is particularly beneficial for companies that want to offer personalized customer interactions through messaging, automate customer support processes, and gain insights from customer interactions. It's suitable for SaaS businesses, e-commerce platforms, and tech startups that prioritize customer experience.

Analysis of The Old Reader

Overall verdict

  • Yes, The Old Reader is considered a good RSS reader by many users.

Why this product is good

  • The Old Reader is praised for its classic, clean user interface that closely resembles Google Reader, making it familiar and easy to use for past Google Reader users. It offers features like social sharing, tagging, and a discovery section to find new content. Users appreciate its ability to effortlessly organize and follow numerous feeds and enjoy its blend of simplicity and functionality. The service is also known for its reliability and active community support.

Recommended for

  • Users who were fond of Google Reader and are looking for a similar experience
  • Individuals who prefer minimalistic and straightforward interfaces
  • Those who want to follow multiple RSS feeds efficiently
  • People interested in sharing content with others and discovering new blogs or sites
  • Anyone looking for a reliable and stable RSS reader with community support

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

The Old Reader videos

How to use The Old Reader

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Intercom and The Old Reader)
Customer Support
100 100%
0% 0
RSS Reader
0 0%
100% 100
CRM
100 100%
0% 0
RSS
0 0%
100% 100

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 The Old Reader

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
Intercom is a customer engagement platform that serves mostly large and enterprise businesses. The software is known for its versatility, offering live chat, messaging, and in-app support, combined with advanced automation, AI bots, and customer data tracking.
Source: www.tidio.com
10 Best Freshdesk Alternatives for Businesses in 2024
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:
9 Best ManyChat Alternatives & Competitors in 2024
Intercom’s main features are its helpdesk interfaces and chatbots. But it also includes lead qualification and nurturing functionalities. It offers product tours and resolution bots that can solve many customer concerns at once, freeing your reps’ time for the most complex queries. You can also make use of its Messenger integration and a provided chatbot to improve your...
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

The Old Reader Reviews

19 Best Feedly Alternatives To Track Insights Across The Web
The Old Reader The Old Reader is an RSS reader that is designed to be simple and easy to use. It offers a minimalist interface, and allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds and import your subscriptions from other readers. Web
17 Best RSS Feed Reader And News Aggregation Apps
If you’re tired of using RSS apps in isolation and want to share content with your friends, then The Old Reader is the app for you.
Best Feedly Alternatives to always Keep in Handy!
If you and your friends all like reading the same types of content, The Old Reader is an easy way to share your recommendations with each other. Following people on The Old Reader is again a great medium to find new blogs, news sites, and content channels to follow.
Source: blog.elink.io
Top 6 Free Online RSS Readers
The Old Reader is another great reader that has a slick and minimal look. It's free to use for up to 100 RSS feeds, and if you decide to connect your Facebook or Google account, you can see if any of your friends are using it too so you can follow them.
The 10 Best Free RSS Reader Apps
This is a great way to discover new blogs, sites, and channels to follow—as well as share your favorites with your friends. And even if you don't have any friends using The Old Reader to connect with, you can check out the content in its "Trending" tab to see a list of the pieces that have received the most recent likes from other people who use The Old Reader.
Source: zapier.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, The Old Reader should be more popular than Intercom. It has been mentiond 37 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 / 7 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: over 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: about 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
View more

The Old Reader mentions (37)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Intercom and The Old Reader, you can also consider the following products

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

Feedly - The content you need to accelerate your research, marketing, and sales.

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

Inoreader - Dive into your favorite content. The content reader for power users who want to save time.

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

NewsBlur - NewsBlur is a personal news reader that brings people together to talk about the world.