You already run a helpdesk and want AI inside it
Compare
Sourceteller vs the alternatives.
An honest side-by-side of AI customer-support assistants — Intercom Fin, Zendesk AI, Chatbase, Tidio, CustomGPT.ai, SiteGPT and Botpress — on price, sources, channels and languages. Including where they are the better choice.
Facts from each vendor’s own pages, checked 5 October 2026
How to choose
You have developers and want to build custom flows
You need WhatsApp or Messenger, or live chat for your team, today
You want cited answers, pay-as-you-go, with a phone line and Telegram
Side by side
Scroll sideways on small screens. Tap a product name for the full comparison.
| Feature | Sourceteller | Intercom Fin | Zendesk AI agents | Chatbase | Tidio (Lyro) | CustomGPT.ai | SiteGPT | Botpress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | One-off credit packs. No subscription; credits never expire | $0.99 per resolved conversation, plus helpdesk seats if you use Intercom | Per-agent helpdesk subscription, plus per automated resolution | Monthly subscription with message credits | Subscription plans plus a Lyro AI add-on billed by conversation quota | Monthly subscription capped by queries | Monthly subscription with a message quota | Subscription with a conversation quota, plus AI usage at cost |
| Lowest paid entry | $5 one-off pack | $0.99 per outcome, 50-outcome monthly minimum | $19/agent/month (annual), 5 resolutions per agent included | $40/month (Hobby): 700 credits, 2–6 credits per message | Lyro from $32.50/month (annual) for 50 AI conversations | $99/month ($89 annual), 1,000 queries | $59/month ($39 annual), 4,000 messages on the smaller model | Plus $150/month (annual): 250 conversations, $25 AI usage |
| Free option | 1,000 free credits, no card | 14-day trial, no card | 14-day trial | Free plan, 50 credits/month; idle agents deleted after 14 days | Free plan with a one-time 50 Lyro conversations | 7-day trial, card required | 7-day trial, card required | Free plan, 25 conversations/month (AI usage not included) |
| Shows sources to customers | Every answer links to the exact passage, including PDFs and scans | Source links in chat and email; none for PDFs, or on WhatsApp and social | Optional setting shows article links | Not stated on official pages | Source links under answers, on by default | Citation on every response | Links to web pages, not to uploaded files; can be hidden | Citations available for builders to display |
| AI phone line | Your own number over SIP, 36 spoken languages, from the first pack | Fin Voice for select customers, through sales | Voice AI agent on Suite plans; availability varies | AI phone agent, from Standard ($150/month) | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Voice channel on Enterprise; Twilio Voice integration |
| Telegram | Built in | Not listed | Through Sunshine Conversations, Suite Professional and up | Not listed | Not listed | Through an API script you deploy | Not listed | Yes |
| WhatsApp / Messenger | Not yet, on the roadmap | WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS | WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram | WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram | WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram | WhatsApp by API script; Messenger and Instagram in beta | WhatsApp as a $39/month add-on; Messenger from Growth | WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram |
| Shopify | Widget through your theme today; App Store app with order lookups coming | Shopify app; reads order status | App for human agents; AI order lookups need a custom API step | Shopify app with order, cart and returns actions | Native; Lyro can check order status | Widget pasted into your theme | Embed code in your theme | Product sync integration |
| Languages | 72 written, 36 spoken, plus Banglish | 45 languages | 80 languages | 95+ languages | 48 languages | 90+ languages | 95+ languages | Multilingual; no count published |
| Handoff to a person | Gives customers your own contact route; no live-chat inbox | Full Intercom helpdesk, or works with yours | Full Zendesk helpdesk | Escalation to live chat and helpdesk | Live chat and tickets | “Talk to a human” button; no live takeover | Human takeover on every plan | Human handoff on Plus and up |
| Your data kept out of AI training | Never used to train models | LLM providers barred from training on it | Third parties don’t train on your inputs | Not used to train models | Not stated publicly | Never used to train models | Never used to train models | “No training on your data” stated on the Enterprise page |
Yes With conditions No Not published by the vendor
Read the full comparison
Sourceteller vsIntercom FinAI agent from Intercom, charged per resolved conversationRead the comparison Sourceteller vsZendesk AI agentsAI agents built into the Zendesk helpdeskRead the comparison Sourceteller vsChatbaseAI agent builder sold as a monthly credit subscriptionRead the comparison Sourceteller vsTidio (Lyro)Live chat and helpdesk for online stores, with the Lyro AI agent as an add-onRead the comparison Sourceteller vsCustomGPT.aiCitation-focused AI chatbot sold as a monthly subscriptionRead the comparison Sourceteller vsSiteGPTWebsite AI chatbot sold monthly, with human takeoverRead the comparison Sourceteller vsBotpressBot-building platform for teams that design their own flowsRead the comparison
We built this from each vendor’s public pricing, product and help pages on 5 October 2026. Prices change; where a vendor publishes nothing, we say “not published” rather than guess. Each comparison page lists its sources. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Questions
Which AI chatbots show their sources to customers?
Sourceteller links every answer to the exact passage, including PDFs and scans. Tidio Lyro and CustomGPT.ai show source links by default; Intercom Fin shows them for public web content in chat and email; SiteGPT links web pages but not uploaded files; Zendesk has an optional setting; Botpress leaves it to the builder.
Which AI customer-support tools have no monthly subscription?
Of the tools compared here, Sourceteller is the one sold as one-off credit packs (from $5, about 1 cent per answer, credits never expire). Intercom Fin is usage-based at $0.99 per resolution but has a 50-outcome monthly minimum; the others are monthly or annual subscriptions, some with a limited free plan.
Which can answer a phone line?
Sourceteller connects to your own number over SIP from the first pack. Chatbase has an AI phone agent from its $150-a-month Standard plan; Zendesk offers a voice AI agent on Suite plans; Intercom offers Fin Voice to selected customers through sales; Botpress lists voice on Enterprise.
Start here Give it your website.
Give it your website.
Ask it one question.
That is the whole evaluation. If the answer comes back in your customer’s language with the right passage attached, you already know whether this works for you.
No card · credits never expire · every language from day one
- 1Sign upNo card. Your free credits land straight away.
- 2Add your website or filesPaste an address, drop your documents — it reads them in minutes.
- 3Put it liveWidget, phone line, Telegram or a share link. Same answers on all of them.