As an Essential customer, I completely understand that some advanced features should remain exclusive to higher-tier plans.
However, Workflows feel less like an advanced feature and more like a core part of running a modern support team. Simple automations such as sending an inactivity reminder, automatically closing inactive conversations, assigning conversations, or triggering basic actions are fundamental support capabilities.
Upgrading from Essential to Advanced just to access Workflows is a significant price jump, especially for startups and small businesses that don't need the additional Advanced features.
A great compromise would be to offer Workflows as an optional paid add-on for Essential customers.
This would:
- Give small businesses access to essential automation without forcing a full plan upgrade.
- Create an additional revenue stream for Intercom.
- Allow growing companies to adopt automation earlier while still leaving Advanced and Expert plans attractive for their additional capabilities.
I believe this would make Intercom much more accessible to startups while benefiting both customers and Intercom.