Per-resolution AI pricing, in plain English

Jay Biros

Founder

jay-biros

August 6, 2026

8 min read

Abstract grid of squares, part of it filled, illustrating usage counted against an allowance.

Updated October 19, 2026.

Prices as of October 19, 2026. Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page or help docs. Vendors change pricing often, so check the linked pages before you sign anything.

Short answer: per-resolution pricing means you pay when the AI agent finishes a conversation, not for every seat. HubSpot charges $0.50 per resolved conversation, Fin (formerly Intercom) from $0.99 per outcome, Salesforce Agentforce $2 per conversation, and Zendesk's pricing page lists $1.50 per extra automated resolution on a committed volume or $2.00 pay as you go. Each plan includes either a set number of resolutions or a dollar allowance per agent each month, depending on the account's pricing model. Gorgias sells AI Agent tiers that include a set number of automated interactions. What each vendor counts as a resolution decides your bill more than the rate does.

Who this is for: support leads and finance owners budgeting for an AI agent in HubSpot, Fin (formerly Intercom) with the Intercom helpdesk or another help desk, Salesforce, Zendesk or Gorgias.

Seat pricing charges per person, whether the software does anything or not. Per-resolution pricing ties the invoice to what the AI agent finishes, so your bill moves with your ticket volume.

What do the numbers look like today?

Vendor	What you pay for	Listed rate	Included
HubSpot customer agent	Resolved conversation, paid in HubSpot Credits	$0.50 per resolution (50 credits)	Some subscriptions include monthly credits
Fin (formerly Intercom)	Outcome, at most one per conversation	From $0.99 per outcome; $9.99 per qualification (chat and email)	None on standard plans (14-day trial and Early Stage program aside)
Salesforce Agentforce	Conversation, or actions paid in Flex Credits	$2 per conversation; Flex Credits $500 per 100,000	Ask Salesforce sales
Zendesk	Automated resolution, with resolutions or a dollar allowance included per agent	Pricing page: $1.50 per extra resolution committed, $2.00 pay as you go. Allowance model: tier prices from Sales	Older model: monthly automated resolution allowance per agent, by plan. Allowance model: $2 to $10 per agent seat per month (up to $5,000 a year)
Gorgias	Automated interaction, in a monthly AI Agent tier	From $30/mo for 30 interactions	The interactions in your tier

HubSpot customer agent: $0.50 per resolved conversation, paid with HubSpot Credits at 50 credits per resolution. It changed from $1.00 per conversation on April 14, 2026, and needs HubSpot Professional or Enterprise.
Fin (formerly Intercom): Fin charges per outcome. Resolutions, Procedure handoffs, disqualifications and self-serve routings are $0.99 each; qualifications (Fin for Sales) are $9.99 each. These prices apply to Fin over chat and email with the Intercom helpdesk. All Intercom plans include access to Fin. There are no included outcomes on standard plans; the 14-day trial gives unlimited outcomes, and the Early Stage program for startups includes 300 free Fin AI outcomes per month in year one. With another help desk, a minimum commitment applies (fin.ai lists 50 outcomes per month) and there are no seat costs. Fin for Sales needs an Intercom plan; it isn't currently available with Fin for other platforms.
Salesforce Agentforce: $2 per conversation, or Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000 credits. In one of Salesforce's own examples, a single "Answer Question with Knowledge" action uses 20 Flex Credits, which is $0.10. Salesforce says the page "is subject to change."
Zendesk: per automated resolution. Its pricing page lists $1.50 per resolution on a committed volume and $2.00 pay as you go, as of October 19, 2026. Accounts on Zendesk's newer resolution allowance model get a dollar allowance per agent seat instead, and Zendesk doesn't publish per-tier prices for that model; it says to contact Sales. AI agents are included in every Suite and Support plan.
- Included: Zendesk's pricing page lists a monthly automated resolution allowance per agent, set by plan. Zendesk's help center describes this as the allocation on its older automated resolutions platform. Accounts on the newer resolution allowance model get a dollar allowance per agent seat each month instead: $2 on Suite Team, $5 on Suite Growth and Professional, $10 on Suite Enterprise and Enterprise Plus, and $2 on Support plans, up to $5,000 a year. Light agents don't count.
- Extra: the pricing page lists $1.50 per automated resolution on a committed volume, or $2.00 pay as you go. On the resolution allowance model, Zendesk doesn't publish per-tier prices and points you to Sales.

Watch out: confirm which model your account is on before you budget. Zendesk says the resolution allowance model replaces the former automated resolutions model, and it gives 30 days' notice before it upgrades an account. The older model includes a set number of resolutions per agent; on the allowance model, per-tier prices come from Sales. To see which model you're on, check Admin Center: Zendesk's help center says older-model accounts have the automated resolutions dashboard, and allowance-model accounts have the resolution usage and resolution allowance dashboards.

Gorgias: AI Agent tiers include 30 automated interactions for $30/mo (Starter and Basic), 190 for $190/mo (Pro) and 530 for $530/mo (Advanced) on monthly billing. Billed annually, Basic is $27/mo, Pro $171/mo and Advanced $477/mo. That works out to $0.90 to $1.00 per included interaction.

A lower headline rate is not the same as a lower bill. The definitions below decide how many times you pay it.

Which word decides your bill?

A resolution is not a conversation. Each vendor decides what counts, and that definition drives most of the budget.

HubSpot: a conversation counts as resolved when the customer agent shared a content source or took an action, and there was no visitor-initiated handoff to a human within 72 hours of the last visitor response. After that, "messages from a live agent, a transfer request, or negative feedback, will not change the resolution status."
Fin: a customer who leaves after Fin's answer without asking for more help counts as an assumed resolution, and that is billed. If the customer comes back to the same conversation for more help, the resolution is deducted.
Zendesk: on the resolution allowance model, a language model checks each conversation when it ends. Only verified resolutions draw from your allowance; assisted escalations and contained resolutions don't.
Gorgias: an interaction counts as automated if the customer doesn't need a human agent within 72 hours. When AI Agent resolves a ticket on its own you pay a ticket fee and an automation fee; if it hands over, you pay only the ticket fee.

Read the HubSpot line twice: a conversation can be billed as resolved and still be a bad experience, because negative feedback after the window doesn't change the status.

Why is this a configuration problem, not a finance problem?

Under seat pricing, an over-eager bot costs you goodwill. Under per-resolution pricing it can also cost you money twice: once for the resolution it claimed, and again for the person who handles the customer when they come back. Whether you pay twice depends on the vendor's definition above.

The questions the AI agent is allowed to close should be the ones it closes cleanly, not the ones it can technically answer.
Reopen rate stops being only a quality metric and becomes a cost metric.
A deflection target without a quality gate is just a target to spend money against.

What math should you run before you renew?

Take last quarter's conversations and split them by topic.
Mark the topics you would let software close without a person reading them.
Multiply that subset by the per-resolution rate. That is your realistic floor.
Add the reopen rate you already see on those topics, because some of those get handled twice.
Compare the total with what a human-handled conversation costs you today.

What should you check before you sign?

Get the definition in writing. HubSpot locks status after 72 hours, Fin bills assumed resolutions, Zendesk verifies at the end of the conversation, and Gorgias waits 72 hours. Ask how each would count your most common conversation.
Ask whether handoffs are billed. A Fin Procedure handoff is a billable outcome. Zendesk's assisted escalations don't draw from the allowance. A Gorgias handover is billed as a helpdesk ticket only.
Check minimums and commitments. Fin with another help desk: minimum commitment applies (fin.ai lists 50 outcomes per month). Zendesk prices committed and pay-as-you-go resolutions differently. Salesforce lists pre-purchase, pre-commit and pay-as-you-go buying models.
Find out what happens at the limit. Zendesk lets you pause features or pay overages. HubSpot's customer agent stops being assigned new conversations until your reset date or until you buy more credits. Fin offers usage alerts and hard limits. Gorgias charges overage per extra automated interaction. The rate depends on your plan tier and shows on the Billing & usage page, so confirm it for your plan before you sign.
Count the non-AI automation. On Gorgias, Flows and Order Management can count as automated interactions too.
Price voice separately. Fin Voice is custom priced and currently available to select customers through sales. Get the voice price in writing. HubSpot lists its customer agent on voice at $0.50 per minute.
Confirm the currency. Fin outcomes and Intercom plans are billed in USD only. Zendesk lists USD, EUR, GBP and BRL.

What we will not do

We will not quote you a deflection percentage before seeing your data. What we will do is measure containment and reopen rate, so the number you give your CFO is measured rather than guessed.

For how Zendesk's tiers work in detail, see Zendesk AI resolution tiers: check your bill. For the sales side of Fin pricing, see Fin now sells. That is a different configuration problem.

Recap

HubSpot $0.50 per resolution; Fin: from $0.99 per outcome ($9.99 per qualification), at most one per conversation; Salesforce $2 per conversation; Gorgias tiers with included automated interactions.
Zendesk: per automated resolution, with resolutions or a dollar allowance included per agent. The pricing page lists $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay as you go for extras.
The definition of a resolution matters more than the rate.
Tighten escalation before you scale the AI agent, because reopens can cost you twice.

FAQ

What is per-resolution AI pricing?

You pay when the AI agent finishes a conversation instead of paying for every seat. Each vendor defines what counts, and that definition drives the bill.

How much does each vendor charge?

HubSpot charges $0.50 per resolved conversation. All Intercom plans include access to Fin. Most Fin outcomes are $0.99 each; a qualification is $9.99. Salesforce Agentforce lists $2 per conversation. Zendesk's pricing page lists $1.50 per extra automated resolution on a committed volume or $2.00 pay as you go; on the resolution allowance model, Zendesk doesn't publish per-tier prices and points you to Sales. Gorgias sells AI Agent tiers from $30 a month for 30 automated interactions. Prices as of October 19, 2026.

Does a handoff to a human cost anything?

On Zendesk, an escalated request isn't billed as an automated resolution on the older model. On the resolution allowance model it counts as an assisted escalation, which doesn't draw from your allowance. On Fin, a Procedure handoff is a billable outcome, but a plain handoff with no outcome isn't. On Gorgias, a handover is billed as a helpdesk ticket only. On HubSpot, only a visitor-initiated handoff within 72 hours stops a conversation from counting as resolved.