Two different answers to two different problems, and we should say that plainly. Zoom is replacing your contact center with voice and video at the center; we are a digital-first chat and AI desk. There is no cost chart on this page because Zoom does not publish a price for the AI.
Every figure below is a published list price, linked to its source and retrieved July 2026. We make a competing product, so we also tell you where Zoom wins and when you should buy it instead.
On June 22 2026 Zoom announced Agent Architect and the Agent Performance Suite for Zoom Virtual Agent, plus an optional outcome-based pricing model billed on resolved or successfully routed interactions across voice and chat. Zoom published no rate for it. The same day Zoom shipped AI On-Prem, and the scope matters: it is a Zoom Node add-on for Zoom Workplace that keeps workloads like captions and transcription inside your own infrastructure, in English, French, German, and Swedish at launch. Zoom Contact Center and Zoom Virtual Agent are not part of it.
At a Glance
AI and live chat for regulated industries
Video-first contact center with a virtual agent attached
Run Your Numbers
Drag your seats and your volume. If the other product lands cheaper at your numbers, the verdict says so, and you should go use it.
Feature by feature
| Zoom | ChatBeacon | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | |||
| What the meter countsThe unit your invoice multiplies. This is the whole ballgame. | Agents, plus a quoted AI line | Seats | |
| Seat price, annualPer full agent, per month, billed yearly. | Disputed: $69 to $149 per agent | $39 / $69 / custom | |
| AI billingWhat you pay when the AI answers instead of a person. | Quote only, tiered by annual request volume | Flat annual, your OpenAI key | |
| Agent copilot billingWhat the AI that helps your human agents costs. | AI Companion bundled in eligible paid plans | Cue, included | |
| Bill when AI works betterWhat happens to your invoice as automation improves. | Unknown. Optional outcome-based model since June 2026 | Flat | |
| Seat cap, self serveWhere you get handed to a salesperson. | None published | None | |
| Fit | |||
| DeploymentWhether it can run inside your own network. | Cloud. Workplace AI on-prem via Zoom Node | Cloud or on premise | |
| Memory across sessionsWhether a returning customer is remembered, and where that memory lives. | Zoom CX context layer, cloud only | Recall CRM / CCH, private vector space, cloud or on premise | |
| OwnershipWho the vendor answers to while your contract runs. | Independent, public (NASDAQ: ZM) | Independent, US, since 2005 | |
| Native integrationsWhat connects without Zapier in the middle. | Large marketplace, deep ties into Zoom Workplace | Fewer. They beat us here. | |
The Product
Two features carry most of ChatBeacon's argument. Here is what they actually do, next to what the products above charge for the same job.
Why Teams Switch
Zoom publishes tier names for Contact Center and quotes you for the part that answers customers. Zoom Virtual Agent is tiered by annual request volume, and since June 2026 there is an optional outcome-based model billed on resolved or successfully routed interactions. ChatBeacon charges per seat, with AI unlimited on your own OpenAI key. You can price us before a sales call, which is the whole point.
This is the card where Zoom does well and we will say so. AI Companion is bundled into eligible paid plans rather than sold per agent, which is the same instinct behind Cue being included rather than metered. The difference is on the customer-facing side, where Zoom's number is a quote and ours is on the pricing page.
About 70% of our banking customers run our cloud and get the full posture: private vector space never used to train public models, automatic masking of SSNs and card numbers, Entra ID SSO, SOC-aligned controls. The other 30% run it fully on-premise, including the chat and the AI. Zoom AI On-Prem covers Zoom Workplace captions and transcription through Zoom Node. Zoom Contact Center and Zoom Virtual Agent remain cloud.
ChatBeacon has been running since 2005 out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Profitable, American-built, not burning venture money toward an exit that changes your contract.
Quick Answers
No. The widget is one script tag, the same as everyone else. Training the AI on your site and documents takes an afternoon, and our team does it with you. Most desks are answering live chats the same week.
Zoom runs Zoom Virtual Agent, with AI Companion bundled into eligible paid plans. ChatBeacon runs Azure OpenAI and GPT models on your own key, trained on your site, your documents, and your resolved chats. Cue drafts operator replies and shows the sources behind each one; the autonomous layer answers on its own using chat history, your vector store, and approved live search, and will not state a fact it cannot verify from your domain.
With ChatBeacon, no. Seats are seats, AI is unlimited on your own OpenAI key, and the Agent Builder package is flat. With Zoom: Virtual Agent is quoted by annual request volume, and since June 2026 there is an optional outcome-based model billed on resolved or successfully routed interactions across voice and chat. Zoom publishes no rate for either, so the answer depends entirely on what you negotiated.
No, and most of our banking customers do not. About 70% run our cloud on Microsoft Azure and get the same posture: a private vector space never used to train public models, automatic masking of SSNs, card numbers and PINs in chat and co-browse, Entra ID SSO with role-based access, and SOC-aligned controls. On-premise exists for the roughly 30% whose examiner or policy requires it. Zoom shipped AI On-Prem on June 22 2026, and it is worth reading the scope: it is a Zoom Node add-on for paid Zoom Workplace plans that keeps meeting workloads like captions and transcripts on your infrastructure. Zoom Contact Center and Zoom Virtual Agent are still cloud, so the customer-facing AI is not covered.
Yes. We import your chat transcripts and knowledge base so the AI trains on your history from day one, and our team handles the widget swap with you. Most migrations run both products in parallel for a week, then cut over.
Zoom is a serious competitor and two things it does are genuinely strong. AI Companion is bundled into eligible paid plans rather than sold as a per-agent copilot tax, which is closer to our model than to Intercom's. And on June 22 2026 Zoom shipped AI On-Prem, so a regulated buyer can process some Zoom AI workloads inside their own infrastructure. If you are replacing a whole contact center with voice and video at the center, Zoom is built for that and we are not. We are digital-first chat and AI. Different job.
AI automation and human agents working together for better customer conversations.
AI answers instantly. Live agents step in seamlessly when it matters most.
Every conversation is remembered, so customers never repeat themselves.
Pinpoints the exact turn that needs a human, with full context attached.
Drafts every reply from your resolved chats, and shows its sources.
Guide customers visually in real time, with no install, to solve problems faster.
Cloud, on-premise, or hybrid. About 70% of our banking customers run our cloud.
Not a demo first. The questionnaire. If we cannot answer every question on it in writing on the first call, you should not buy from us either.
More comparisons
Same calculator, same concessions, same willingness to tell you to buy the other one.
