What an AI support chat costs and how a hard cap on the bill works

A support chat's bill grows in two ways: a fee per operator grows with the team, and a fee per AI outcome grows with traffic and with how well the bot works. A hard cap means the month's total is known in advance: when the AI limit is reached, conversations go to operators, and nothing is charged on top of the plan. In Tolkly the cap is part of every plan: Start is $49 a month for 1,000 AI conversations, Business is $149 for 5,000, and the number of operators does not change the bill.

Below: how three pricing models work, one worked example on the same figures, and how the cap works in practice.

What pricing models do support chats use?

Competitor prices are from their pricing pages; check the current ones before you decide.

Why does paying per outcome grow the bill?

Paying per outcome looks fair: you pay only when the AI helped. But it has two catches.

1. The bill grows with success. The more conversations the AI closes, the more you pay. Traffic doubles during a sale, and this part of the bill doubles too.
2. The vendor defines «resolved». Intercom counts a conversation as resolved when the customer confirmed the answer, or when they «exit the conversation without requesting further assistance» (assumed resolution). A customer who left without an answer can end up on the bill too. A handoff to a person by a procedure you set up can also be billed ($0.99).

In Tolkly, «resolved» and «billed» are different things. What is billed is an AI conversation: a conversation where the bot gave an answer that passed the source check. Only what the visitor confirmed counts as resolved: the «It helped» button or «Yes» to «Did we solve your question?». Silence counts in neither.

A worked example: 3,000 conversations and 5 operators a month

Assumptions: an online store, 3,000 chat conversations a month, 5 operators. For Intercom we assume the AI closes 40% of conversations.

What changes when the conditions differ:

• The AI closes 60%, not 40%: Intercom's outcome part grows to 1,800 × $0.99 = $1,782, or $1,927 with five yearly seats. Tolkly's bill stays the same.
• The team grows to 15 operators: Intercom costs 15 × $29 = $435 for seats alone. On Tolkly Business, operators have no limit.
• Fewer than 1,000 AI conversations: not every conversation becomes an AI conversation. Honest refusals and conversations handed to people at once are not counted. Then Start at $49 is enough for a team of up to 10.

Where Tolkly costs more, honestly: with one Essential seat paid yearly ($29) and fewer than about 20 Fin outcomes a month, Intercom is cheaper than Tolkly's Start; with the new-customer price ($19), below about 30 outcomes. And if you need no AI at all and have one or two operators, a per-seat chat without AI can cost less than Tolkly. Tolkly pays off when you want an AI that answers from your rules, and when you have more than a few operators.

How does the hard cap work in Tolkly?

1. The plan sets the month's limit: 1,000 AI conversations on Start, 5,000 on Business. The month follows the UTC calendar.
2. Only an answer with a source counts. An AI conversation is counted at the bot's first answer that kept a link to a source. It counts again when the bot answers 24 hours after the last counted answer, and for every further 10 answers in one conversation.
3. Not counted: silence, an honest refusal, a conversation handed to a person at once, «Operators only» mode, a file on its own.
4. A warning at 80%. Owners get a message in the company's Telegram group, and the app shows a strip above the page.
5. At the limit, people answer. The bot hands every new conversation to operators until the next month starts. Nothing is charged past the limit.
6. The decision is yours. To have the AI answer again sooner, move to a higher plan: it starts at once, and the paid days not used are credited against its price. Or buy 1,000 more AI conversations for $10, for the current month.

Besides the monthly limit, each project has a daily one: by default 300 answers with a checked source per day, plus a separate limit on all of the AI's work, refusals included. It guards against spikes and abuse: past the daily limit the visitor reads «The AI assistant has reached its limit, so an operator will answer. Bringing one in.», and the conversation goes to your operators. Sites you have blocked do not spend the limit at all.

An example: a sale on the Start plan

A store is on Start ($49, 1,000 AI conversations). In the month of a sale, visitors ask questions the bot would answer 1,400 times.

1. At the 800th AI conversation, the owner gets a message in the Telegram group.
2. The owner decides to stay on Start. After the 1,000th AI conversation, new conversations go to operators: 400 conversations until the month ends.
3. The month's bill is $49. Nothing is added.

Had the owner decided the operators could not cope, they would have moved to Business: the plan starts at once, the AI keeps answering, and the unused days of Start are credited against its price.

Do other services have a cap?

Some do, and it is worth comparing fairly. Intercom says in its help center that you can «set usage reminders and hard limits», and its pricing page says «Spending limits and alerts keep your costs predictable». What the visitor sees when Intercom's limit is reached, Intercom does not say, and we have not checked: that needs an account.

In Tolkly the cap is part of every plan, not a setting you have to find: when it is reached, the visitor is not left without an answer, and the conversation goes to your operators, in Telegram or in the web inbox.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an AI support chat for a website cost?

It depends on the pricing model. Per seat, Intercom charges from $19 to $139 per operator a month, by plan and billing; per AI outcome, $0.99 each. Tolkly costs $49 a month for 1,000 AI conversations and up to 10 operators, or $149 for 5,000 and operators without limit; the first month is free.

What happens when the AI conversations run out?

Tolkly's bot hands new conversations to operators until the next month starts, and nothing is charged on top of the plan. Owners are told at 80% of the limit and when it is reached.

Do I pay for every operator?

Not in Tolkly: on Start up to 10 operators are included in $49, and on Business operators have no limit.

Are conversations the bot did not answer counted?

No. In Tolkly an honest refusal, a conversation handed to a person at once, «Operators only» mode and a file on its own are not counted.

How much does a year cost?

A year of Tolkly costs as much as 10 months: two months free.

Try it on your site

Open tolkly.io/#try and type your site's address: in a minute the chat answers from your pages, in your colours. No sign-up needed. The first month at tolkly.io is free: 250 AI conversations, up to 3 projects, and if the month ends unpaid, the AI simply stops answering and conversations go to operators. Nothing is charged by itself.

Sources

• Intercom. Pricing, 2026-11-08
• Intercom. Fin AI Agent outcomes, 2026-11-08
• Intercom. Seats, 2026-11-08
• Tolkly. Plan, payment and limit (docs), 2026-11-08
• Tolkly. How Tolkly answers (docs), 2026-11-08