Migrating from Intercom to Crisp, or from Fin AI to Hugo? This guide helps you translate your setup without breaking your support workflow.

Switching support tools is rarely only about features. Most teams want to know whether they can keep conversations organized, preserve customer context, reuse support content, and adopt AI without rebuilding everything from scratch. Crisp keeps those core ideas, but organizes them around a simpler Inbox, knowledge base, workflows, and Hugo, the AI Agent.

This migration guide covers:

• How AI works inside Crisp → how Hugo compares conceptually with Fin AI
• How Intercom maps to Crisp → the main feature equivalents
• What changes when switching → what to adapt instead of copying directly
• How to migrate step by step → the recommended order for data, content, shortcuts, and AI
• Where to go next → useful resources before launch

How AI works inside Crisp

In Crisp, AI is not a separate add-on. Hugo is part of the conversation workflow and can handle incoming conversations before they reach your team.

A simple AI-first flow

When a user sends a message, Hugo analyzes the request and tries to answer it using your knowledge, instructions, and available context. If the request can be resolved automatically, Hugo handles it. If it needs a human, Hugo escalates it with context.

In practice, this means:

• Simple questions → Hugo can answer immediately
• Complex requests → Hugo can escalate or route them to your team
• Structured flows → workflows and routing rules can guide what happens next

Useful resources: Getting started with Hugo AI Agent and configure escalation.

How it appears in the Inbox

In many setups, conversations first enter the Automated Inbox, where Hugo attempts to resolve them without interrupting the support team. Conversations that need human help are then moved to the appropriate human inbox.

Learn more: Automated Inbox: how Hugo handles conversations automatically.

How Intercom maps to Crisp

Most Intercom concepts have a Crisp equivalent. Conversations, reminders, segments, shortcuts, routing, automation, and AI are still there; they are simply organized differently.

Reminders vs snooze

Intercom uses snooze to temporarily remove a conversation from view and bring it back later. Crisp uses reminders to schedule a clear follow-up without losing the conversation context.

Useful resource: How do Reminders work?.

Conversation status

Crisp uses Open, Pending, and Resolved. Pending is useful when the conversation needs additional work before it can be closed, such as checking something internally, waiting for a third party, or preparing a complete answer.

A simple way to read the statuses:

• Open → needs immediate attention
• Pending → being handled, but not ready to resolve
• Resolved → completed

Tags and segments

Tags in Intercom map closely to segments in Crisp. Conversation segments appear in the sidebar and can be used to identify topic, priority, channel, team, customer type, or any other useful classification.

Segments can be added manually, automatically through workflows, or by Hugo depending on your setup.

Useful resources: segments and set user segments automatically.

Message shortcuts vs macros

Intercom macros are called message shortcuts in Crisp. They are predefined replies agents can insert from the conversation composer.

Manage them from Crisp under Settings → Inbox Settings → Message Shortcuts.

Useful resource: use shortcut replies.

Hugo vs Fin AI

Hugo is configured from the AI Agent section. This is where you manage its identity, training resources, instructions, routing, escalation, and workflows. Rather than being a separate layer, Hugo is connected directly to how conversations are handled in your Inbox.

Useful resource: navigate the Hugo interface.

What changes when switching from Intercom

Switching from Intercom to Crisp does not mean learning customer support from zero. The core concepts remain familiar, but the structure is more focused around the shared Inbox, customer context, and AI-first routing.

You keep the core capabilities

You can still manage conversations across channels, assign and prioritize work, classify conversations, reuse replies, automate flows, and use AI to handle incoming requests.

The goal is not to reduce flexibility, but to make the system easier to operate and maintain.

Avoid recreating every old workflow

The most common migration mistake is rebuilding the previous Intercom setup exactly. Crisp works better when you adapt to its structure: simple conversation states, clear inbox routing, lightweight workflows, useful segments, and Hugo handling the first layer of requests.

Let Hugo simplify the queue

In Intercom, AI and support workflows may be configured around several layers of routing, automation, and team rules. In Crisp, Hugo can sit upstream, answer or classify simple requests, and only escalate the conversations that need human attention.

This usually makes the queue easier to read and reduces repetitive work for agents.

A note on pricing

Pricing is often part of the reason teams compare Intercom and Crisp. This article focuses on the product migration, but it is worth reviewing your current support volume, AI usage, and team size when comparing plans.

You can use Crisp pricing and Crisp vs Intercom to evaluate the commercial side of the switch.

Migration: step by step

A clean Intercom migration starts with the data and content your team needs to work, then moves into AI, routing, and automation.

Step 1: Import contacts

Start by importing users so your team can recognize who they are talking to. Open Crisp, then go to Contacts → Actions → Import Contact Profiles to upload a CSV file and map your fields.

Useful resource: import user data.

Step 2: Import conversations if needed

If your team needs historical context, you can import past conversations using the Crisp API. This is useful for long-term customers or support teams that often rely on previous exchanges.

This step requires development work, so scope it carefully. Many teams migrate the most important data first and keep Intercom accessible during the transition.

Useful resource: Crisp REST API.

Step 3: Import your knowledge base

Your Intercom help center can be imported from Crisp under Knowledge Base → Import articles. Enter the public help center URL, run the import, then review formatting, images, categories, and internal links.

Useful resource: import your Knowledge Base.

Step 4: Import message shortcuts

If you were using macros in Intercom, recreate or import them as message shortcuts. In Crisp, go to Settings → Inbox Settings → Message Shortcuts, then use the import option if you have a CSV file.

Useful resource: import or export message shortcuts.

Step 5: Set up the Inbox and Hugo

Once your contacts, content, and shortcuts are ready, configure the workflow: chatbox, inboxes, sub-inboxes, filters, routing, knowledge base, and Hugo.

Start with Crisp and use AI Agent → Agent → Settings, AI Agent → Train, and AI Agent → Guidance to configure Hugo progressively.

Useful resources: Getting started with Crisp and Getting started with Hugo AI Agent.

Step 6: Test your workflow

Before going live, simulate real conversations. Check that Hugo answers correctly, escalation works, shortcuts are available, segments are applied as expected, and agents are comfortable with the Inbox.

Most teams start with:

• Contacts → identify users from day one
• Knowledge base → support self-service and Hugo answers
• Message shortcuts → preserve common replies
• Hugo setup → automate routine requests safely
• Routing and workflows → refine handoff after the basics work

Ready to make the switch

Switching from Intercom to Crisp does not mean starting over. Your conversations, content, reply templates, and support logic can be translated into a simpler system built around the Inbox and Hugo.

The best migration is not the one that copies every old detail. It is the one that keeps what matters, removes unnecessary complexity, and gives your team a clear workflow from the first day.

Updated on: 03/05/2026