Intercom Translation Pricing: Full Cost Breakdown (2026)
Advanced plan = $85/seat minimum. Translation adds $79-500/month on top. See the complete breakdown: platform tiers, translation options, and real examples.
TranslateDesk Team
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Going multilingual with Intercom requires the Advanced plan. That's $85/seat/month minimum.
Once you've made that commitment, you still need to actually translate your content. This guide breaks down the full cost: what Intercom charges for the platform, what translation costs on top of that, and how teams manage both.
Important: If you're on Intercom Essential, multilingual help centers aren't available to you. This guide is for teams on Advanced or Expert plans (or planning to upgrade).
Intercom's 2026 Pricing Tiers
Intercom locks multilingual help centers behind its Advanced tier.
| Plan | Price | Multilingual Help Center |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | $29/seat/month | ❌ Not available |
| Advanced | $85/seat/month | ✅ Included |
| Expert | $132/seat/month | ✅ Included |
For a 5-person team, Advanced costs $425/month. That's your baseline before any translation work begins.
The Two Costs of Going Multilingual
Teams often focus on the Intercom plan upgrade and forget about translation costs. In practice, translation can exceed your platform costs if you do it manually.
Cost 1: Intercom Platform (Fixed)
Your Intercom Advanced seats are a fixed cost. For multilingual, you need this tier. No way around it.
- Solo founder: $85/month (1 seat)
- Small team (5 seats): $425/month
- Mid-size team (15 seats): $1,275/month
Cost 2: Translation Work (Variable)
This is where costs vary wildly depending on your approach.
Option A: Translation Agency
- $0.10-0.20 per word
- 50 articles × 500 words × 3 languages = $7,500-15,000 upfront
- Monthly updates for 5 revised articles: $150-300
- Formatting rebuild: Additional hours of manual work
Option B: In-House Translation
- Skilled translator: $40-60/hour
- 50 articles into 3 languages: 75-120 hours = $3,000-7,200
- Plus coordination, QA, and formatting time
Option C: Automated Translation Tools
- TranslateDesk: ~$158 for 50 articles (3 languages) with credit packs, pay-as-you-go for updates
- Swifteq: Similar credit-based model
- DIY (Google Translate + manual cleanup): "Free" but poor quality and heavy formatting work
Real Cost Scenarios
5-Person Team, 50 Articles, 3 Languages
| Approach | Year 1 Cost | Year 2+ Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Intercom Advanced (baseline) | $5,100 | $5,100 |
| + Agency translation | +$11,250 setup, +$2,700 updates | +$2,700 |
| + Automated tool (TranslateDesk) | +$158 setup (credit packs) | Varies by update volume |
The difference: Agency approach costs ~$19,000 in year one. Automated approach costs under $6,000. Same Intercom plan, same number of languages.
15-Person Team, 100 Articles, 5 Languages
| Approach | Year 1 Cost |
|---|---|
| Intercom Advanced | $15,300 |
| + Agency translation | +$37,500 setup, +$9,000 updates = $61,800 |
| + Automated tool | +$395 setup (5 credit packs), updates vary = ~$16,000 |
At scale, automated translation saves $45,000+ per year.
Why Manual Translation Gets Expensive
The Formatting Problem
Intercom articles use rich formatting: callouts, images, code blocks, embedded videos. When translators work in Google Docs or Word, all of that disappears.
Someone has to rebuild formatting for every translated article. For 50 articles in 3 languages, that's 150 articles to manually format. Hours of tedious work.
The Maintenance Problem
Your help center isn't static. Articles get updated, new ones added, old ones retired. Each change needs to propagate to all language versions.
Without automation:
- Track which source articles changed
- Send changed content for translation
- Receive translations and reformat
- Publish and QA across all languages
This coordination tax compounds over time. Most teams either pay for it (expensive) or let translations drift out of sync (bad customer experience).
How Automated Translation Tools Work
Tools like TranslateDesk and Swifteq connect directly to your Intercom help center and translate articles automatically.
What they do:
- Use AI translation engines (DeepL, GPT-4o) for quality output
- Preserve all Intercom formatting (callouts, images, code blocks)
- Detect when source articles change and flag stale translations
- Publish translations directly as native Intercom articles
What you pay: Credit-based pricing, typically $20-60/month for active help centers. One-time setup for existing content runs $100-300 depending on volume.
Comparison:
| Factor | Agency | Automated Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | Varies by translator | Consistent (DeepL/GPT) |
| Speed | Days to weeks | Minutes |
| Formatting | Manual rebuild | Automatic |
| Ongoing maintenance | Manual tracking | Auto-detection |
| Monthly cost | $200-500+ | $20-60 |
Other Intercom Pricing Factors
Fin AI Charges Per Resolution
Intercom's AI agent costs $0.99 per resolution. If Fin answers a question using your translated help center, that counts. High-volume teams can see $500-2,000/month in Fin charges alone.
EU Data Hosting
GDPR-compliant hosting in the EU requires Advanced or higher. European companies often can't stay on Essential regardless of multilingual needs.
Currency Fluctuation
Intercom bills in USD only. Non-US companies face currency risk. A 10% swing in EUR/USD means 10% variance in your support costs.
Making the Decision
If you're on Essential and considering multilingual:
- Plan for $85/seat minimum (Advanced required)
- Budget translation costs separately from platform costs
- Automated tools pay for themselves quickly if you have 20+ articles
If you're already on Advanced/Expert:
- Your platform cost is fixed
- Focus on translation efficiency to control total spend
- The more articles you have, the more automation saves
The math: For most B2B teams, automated translation costs 80-90% less than agency work while delivering comparable quality. The ROI is clear once you're past the platform upgrade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I translate my Intercom help center on the Essential plan?
No. Intercom's multilingual help center feature requires Advanced ($85/seat) or Expert ($132/seat) plans. Essential plan users cannot display articles in multiple languages.
Does Intercom have built-in translation?
No. Intercom lets you host content in multiple languages (on Advanced+), but doesn't translate it. You create translations yourself or use a tool.
What's the cheapest way to go multilingual with Intercom?
The platform cost (Advanced plan) is fixed. The variable is translation. Automated tools like TranslateDesk use pay-as-you-go credit pricing (from $79/100 articles) vs. $200-500/month with agencies.
How much does TranslateDesk cost?
TranslateDesk uses credit-based pricing. Start with 5 free translations, then purchase credit packs from $79/100. Initial translation of a typical help center (50 articles, 3 languages) costs ~$158. Ongoing updates are pay-as-you-go based on how many articles change.
Is automated translation good enough for customer-facing content?
Modern AI translation (DeepL, GPT-4o) performs well for technical and business content. TranslateDesk uses DeepL as its primary engine. For highly specialized industries, human review of automated output is recommended.
Ready to translate your Intercom help center? TranslateDesk works directly with Intercom Advanced and Expert plans to automate translation at a fraction of agency costs.
Related Guides
- Intercom Translation: Complete guide to translating your Intercom Help Center
- Does Intercom Support Translation? Native Features vs Tools: Full comparison of your options
- TranslateDesk vs Swifteq: Side-by-side tool comparison
- Best Intercom Translation Apps for 2026: All the tools ranked
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