How-to · Migrate from Intercom

How to migrate from Intercom to Clearly Agent.

11 steps, 2-4 hours total, zero downtime. Most Shopify merchants on Intercom + Fin AI save $300-2,000+/mo on this migration alone. The work is in migrating your Help Center content and matching your brand voice; the cost savings are immediate.

Free tier means no commitment — you can try the swap before canceling your Intercom plan.

Step-by-step

1. 01

   Export your Intercom Help Center

   ~5 minutes

   In Intercom: Settings → Help Center → Export. Select all articles; export as ZIP of Markdown files (or HTML if Markdown isn't available on your plan). This is your authoritative knowledge base — what you'll re-use in Clearly.

2. 02

   Export your Intercom conversation history

   ~5 minutes

   Settings → Data → Export Conversations. Pull CSV of last 90 days. Useful for: (a) keeping a record before Intercom downgrade/cancel, (b) reviewing common question patterns to inform your Clearly knowledge base.

3. 03

   Cancel Fin AI billing FIRST (cost stop)

   ~2 minutes

   Intercom's Fin AI is the per-resolution add-on that's likely the cost driver. Settings → Billing → Fin AI → Cancel. Stops accumulating per-resolution charges immediately. Keep core Intercom seats active until migration is done.

4. 04

   Install Clearly Agent from the Shopify App Store

   ~5 minutes

   Open the App Store listing, approve Shopify permissions. Clearly Agent installs in ~2 minutes. Widget is NOT yet visible; you'll enable it after configuration.

5. 05

   Configure brand voice to match your Intercom setup

   ~10 minutes

   Settings → Voice. Paste any tone instructions you had in Intercom's "AI behavior" or "Fin custom instructions" fields. Add specific rules ("use lowercase only", "never use exclamation marks", "always offer free shipping when asked"). The brand voice field is more flexible than Intercom's — be specific.

6. 06

   Migrate your Help Center to the Clearly knowledge base

   ~60 minutes (depends on article count)

   Settings → Knowledge. Paste your top 30 Help Center articles as raw text (paragraphs, not strict Q&A). The Clearly agent reads narrative content — no need to restructure. For articles with images/embedded media: copy the text content, drop the images (the agent reads text, not images).

7. 07

   Configure handoff/escalation rules

   ~10 minutes

   Settings → Handoff. Mirror your Intercom assignment rules: which keywords route to human, which to specific team members, which to your support manager. For Plus stores with multiple support agents, configure team-member-specific routing.

8. 08

   Test before disabling Intercom

   ~20 minutes

   Settings → Preview shows the widget on a sandbox version of your storefront. Ask 10-15 of your most common customer questions. Verify the agent answers correctly, sounds like your brand voice, and escalates the right things.

9. 09

   Disable Intercom Messenger on your storefront

   ~2 minutes

   In Intercom: Settings → Messenger → Embed code → Disable. The Messenger widget disappears from your storefront immediately. Keep Intercom installed for ~7 days as a fallback while you confirm Clearly handles everything.

10. 10

    Enable Clearly Agent widget

    ~2 minutes

    In Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds → toggle Clearly Agent ON. The widget appears on every storefront page immediately.

11. 11

    Monitor for 7 days, then cancel Intercom

    ~ongoing for 1 week

    Watch the Clearly merchant inbox for the first week. Tune knowledge base + brand voice based on actual conversations. Once you're confident (typically 5-7 days), cancel your Intercom subscription entirely. Most stores save $300-2000+/mo on this migration alone.

Why Shopify merchants are switching

• Cost. Intercom + Fin AI compounds with conversation volume. Clearly is flat $0/$299.
• Shopify-native catalog awareness. Intercom integrates with Shopify; Clearly is built FOR Shopify (live products, variants, inventory).
• Setup time. Intercom takes 2-12 weeks of onboarding. Clearly is 2 minutes.
• Branding. Intercom\'s Messenger is recognizable; Clearly is white-labeled.
• Free tier. Intercom has no real free plan; Clearly is forever-free at ~50 conversations/mo.

FAQ

Will there be downtime during migration?

No. You install Clearly while Intercom is still running. The swap takes ~30 seconds (disable Intercom embed, enable Clearly embed in Shopify theme). Customers don't see a gap.

Can I migrate Fin's training data directly?

Not directly — Fin and Clearly use different knowledge models. Fin trains on uploaded content sources; Clearly reads narrative knowledge base entries. Best practice: paste your top 30 Help Center articles as raw text into Clearly's KB. Agent quality is generally comparable after this migration.

What about Intercom's analytics — do I lose history?

Yes — conversation history stays in Intercom (the CSV export preserves a copy). Clearly Agent starts fresh — no history import. For most stores this is fine; if you need historical compliance/audit records, keep Intercom on a minimal plan for archive access.

How much do I save?

Depends on your Intercom usage. Typical Shopify merchant on Intercom Essential ($39/seat) + Fin AI ($0.99/resolution): for 1,000 conversations/mo with 3 seats, that's $117 seat + ~$990 Fin = $1,107/mo. Clearly Pro: $299/mo. Savings: ~$808/mo. Larger stores save proportionally more.

What if I have custom Fin Actions / workflows?

Fin custom Actions (cart actions, order lookups) are built-in to Clearly Agent natively — you don't need to recreate them. For custom Salesforce / HubSpot integrations on Intercom, contact [email protected]; we can scope integration work for Plus volume tiers.

What about Intercom's Inbox / multi-team workflows?

Clearly's merchant inbox is simpler than Intercom's ticketed inbox. If you have complex multi-team workflows (multiple departments routing tickets), you may want to keep Intercom as a downstream helpdesk and use Clearly only for the storefront chat layer. Bridge integration on roadmap.

How long does the full migration take?

2-4 hours of focused work for a typical Shopify store with a moderately populated Help Center. The longest step is migrating articles — depends on volume. Stores with 10-20 articles finish in under 2 hours.

What if I want to roll back?

Keep Intercom installed during the trial week. To roll back: disable Clearly in Shopify App embeds, re-enable Intercom Messenger. Total time: 30 seconds. Clearly's free tier means no cost if you decide it's not the right fit.