Intercom already sends email. Onboarding sequences, in-app messages, product tours, support conversations. So why would you use a separate email tool alongside it?

Because Intercom's email is limited. The template editor is basic. Deliverability can be inconsistent for marketing campaigns. Pricing is expensive for large lists. And Intercom is fundamentally a customer messaging platform, not an email marketing platform. It's great for targeted, behavioral messaging to active users. It's not great for newsletters, large campaigns, or sophisticated email automation.

Most SaaS teams end up using Intercom for in-app messaging and support, plus a dedicated email tool for marketing campaigns and lifecycle sequences. The question is how to coordinate between them.

The Coordination Challenge

The risk of using Intercom plus a separate email tool is over-messaging. A user gets an in-app message from Intercom about a new feature AND a marketing email about the same feature from your email platform. Or worse, they get an Intercom onboarding email and a separate onboarding sequence from your email tool.

Good integration means:

Shared contact data: Both tools know who the user is and what they've done
Coordinated messaging: If Intercom sends a message, your email tool knows about it (or vice versa)
Clear ownership: Intercom handles X, email tool handles Y, with minimal overlap

The 6 Best Options

1. Sequenzy

Best for: SaaS teams wanting lifecycle email that Intercom can't do well

Sequenzy handles the email workflows that Intercom struggles with: long-term lifecycle sequences, dunning emails, re-engagement campaigns, and marketing newsletters. Use Intercom for what it's best at (in-app messaging, live chat, product tours) and Sequenzy for everything that hits the inbox.

The division is clean. Intercom owns the in-product experience. Sequenzy owns the inbox. Events from your app trigger automations in both tools independently. Sequenzy's Stripe integration handles payment-related emails automatically, which is something Intercom doesn't do natively.

Pricing: From $29/month Integration: Shared event tracking from application code Pros: SaaS lifecycle focus, Stripe integration, simpler than Intercom email, affordable Cons: No native Intercom integration, requires separate event tracking

2. Customer.io

Best for: Technical teams wanting to replace Intercom's email entirely

Customer.io can handle everything Intercom does on the email side, with more power and flexibility. Many teams use Intercom purely for live chat and in-app messaging while running all email through Customer.io.

The integration works through shared event tracking. Your app sends events to both platforms, or you use a CDP to route events. Customer.io handles all email automations (onboarding sequences, lifecycle campaigns, newsletters) while Intercom handles in-app messaging and support.

Pricing: From $100/month Integration: Shared event tracking, CDP, or Zapier Pros: Replaces Intercom email entirely, deep automations, event-driven, flexible Cons: Expensive combined with Intercom, complex setup, steep learning curve

3. Mailchimp

Best for: Teams wanting Intercom for product messaging and Mailchimp for newsletters

Mailchimp has a native Intercom integration that syncs contacts and lets you manage email campaigns alongside Intercom's messaging. The integration imports Intercom contacts into Mailchimp audiences, including tags and custom attributes.

This pairing works well for teams that want Intercom for product-related messaging (onboarding, support, feature announcements) and Mailchimp for broader marketing (newsletters, promotions, content digests). The integration is simple to set up, though it doesn't support complex bidirectional syncing.

Pricing: Free up to 500 contacts, from $13/month Integration: Native Intercom integration Pros: Native integration, simple setup, good for newsletters, familiar interface Cons: Basic automation, limited Intercom data sync, pricing increases at scale

4. Loops

Best for: Startups that find Intercom's email too limited but want to stay simple

Loops and Intercom serve the same audience (SaaS startups) but do different things. Intercom handles in-app messaging and support. Loops handles email marketing and automated sequences. The two can run side by side with shared event tracking from your application.

Loops is simpler than Intercom's email features in some ways, but more focused. You get clean event-triggered sequences without Intercom's overhead. For a startup that finds Intercom's email builder frustrating but loves its chat and messaging, Loops fills the gap.

Pricing: Free for 1,000 contacts, from $49/month Integration: Shared event tracking from application code Pros: Simple, focused on email, good free tier, developer-friendly Cons: No native Intercom integration, basic automations, limited features

5. ActiveCampaign

Best for: Teams wanting Intercom messaging with full marketing automation

ActiveCampaign integrates with Intercom through its marketplace and Zapier. Intercom events (new conversation, tag added, user qualified) can trigger ActiveCampaign automations. Contact data syncs between platforms.

The combination gives you Intercom's conversational experience plus ActiveCampaign's marketing automation depth. Deal stage changes in ActiveCampaign's CRM can inform Intercom messaging, and Intercom conversations can trigger email follow-ups in ActiveCampaign.

Pricing: From $29/month Integration: Zapier or marketplace integration Pros: Powerful automations, CRM included, can trigger on Intercom events Cons: Complex setup, Zapier adds cost, can feel bloated alongside Intercom

6. Resend

Best for: Developers wanting transactional email separate from Intercom

Resend handles the transactional emails that need to be fast and reliable: password resets, payment receipts, security alerts. These don't belong in Intercom (which is optimized for engagement messaging, not transactional delivery). Resend ensures these critical emails get delivered quickly.

Use Intercom for product messaging and support, Resend for transactional email, and optionally a third tool for marketing campaigns. This three-tool approach sounds complex, but each tool does one thing well.

Pricing: Free for 100 emails/day, from $20/month Integration: Application-level (API calls) Pros: Best transactional delivery, React Email, TypeScript-first, fast Cons: Transactional only, no marketing features, no Intercom integration

Dividing Email Responsibilities

The cleanest way to run Intercom alongside an email tool:

Intercom handles:

In-app messages and product tours
Live chat and support conversations
Targeted messages to active users (based on page views, actions)
Short, contextual nudges

Email tool handles:

Onboarding email sequences
Lifecycle marketing (trial conversion, upgrade, retention)
Newsletters and content campaigns
Dunning and payment-related emails
Re-engagement campaigns (for users who aren't in your app)
Transactional email (receipts, password resets)

The key principle: Intercom reaches users who are in your product. Your email tool reaches users who aren't. There's some overlap (onboarding uses both), but the general division holds.

How to Choose

You want to fully replace Intercom's email features: Customer.io. The most powerful alternative for event-driven email automation.

You're SaaS and need lifecycle email alongside Intercom: Sequenzy. Purpose-built for the email workflows Intercom can't handle well.

You want simple newsletters alongside Intercom messaging: Mailchimp. Native integration, familiar tool.

You want focused simplicity: Loops. Email sequences without the complexity.

You need full marketing automation: ActiveCampaign. The most feature-rich option alongside Intercom.

You need reliable transactional delivery: Resend. Fast, developer-friendly transactional email.

FAQ

Can I turn off Intercom's email and use another tool entirely? Yes. You can disable Intercom's outbound email and only use it for in-app messaging and live chat. Many teams do this to avoid deliverability issues and to use a more capable email tool. Just make sure your replacement handles the onboarding sequences that Intercom was running.

Will I over-message users with two tools? Only if you don't coordinate. Define clear ownership: Intercom handles in-app, email tool handles inbox. Avoid having both tools send email about the same events. Some teams use suppression lists or event flags to prevent overlap.

Is Intercom's email deliverability good enough? For in-app triggered messages to engaged users, it's fine. For large marketing campaigns, it's inconsistent. Intercom shares sending infrastructure across all customers, which means your deliverability is affected by others on the platform. Dedicated email tools give you better control.

Should I use Intercom Series or a separate email tool for onboarding? If your onboarding is primarily in-app (tooltips, product tours, in-app messages), use Intercom Series. If onboarding involves substantial email (multi-day sequences, educational content), use a dedicated email tool. Most teams use both: Intercom for in-app guidance, email tool for inbox-based onboarding.