Switching from Intercom to SilentChat: step by step

Up front: what isn't automatic

SilentChat cannot import Intercom data directly — neither conversations nor contacts, articles or macros. Plan the switch as a fresh start with your knowledge carried over, not as a data migration. Export any conversations you need to keep from Intercom beforehand.

1. Create an account and run the assistant

After signing up, an assistant guides you through five steps: profile, data processing agreement, reading your website, embed code and a test chat. The trial lasts 7 days on the Professional plan, no credit card.

2. Bring over your knowledge

• Read your website: the assistant reads up to 50 pages per pass; it finds further pages through your sitemap. The ongoing crawler with automatic re-reading is available from Growth. Only domains you have verified via DNS are crawled.
• Import articles: help articles can be imported as CSV or JSON — with title, content, excerpt, category, tags, status and meta fields. Export your Intercom articles and bring them into this format.
• Snippets: transfer macros manually as snippets; there is no import for them.

3. Embed the widget

Replace the Intercom script with this code. You'll find your key in the dashboard under Chat Systems → Widgets → your widget → Install.

<script
  src="https://cdn.silentchat.de/silentchat.min.js"
  data-widget-key="pk_YOUR_WIDGET_KEY"
  data-api-url="https://api.silentchat.de"
  data-ws-url="wss://ws.silentchat.de"
  async
></script>

Set the colour, chat button shape and texts in the widget editor; the widget speaks ten languages. There is a JavaScript interface for consent tools. Optionally, the widget only answers on your verified domains.

4. Set up team and flows

• Invite your team: invite agents by email; the number depends on the plan (Starter 3, Growth 5, Professional 15). Departments are available from Growth, custom roles from Professional.
• Automation: triggers are available from Starter, workflows from Growth — both with templates to adopt.
• Configure the AI: decide when the AI answers and when it hands over to a human.

5. Test in parallel and switch over

Keep Intercom running until switchover day and test SilentChat on a test page first. On switchover day, swap the script on your live site. Cancel Intercom only once your exports are safe.

For an overview of the differences, see the SilentChat and Intercom comparison; the full embedding guide is in the documentation.