Intercom data hosting EU: The Complete 2025 Guide

If you have customers in Europe, you know the data privacy headache is real. Keeping up with GDPR and getting data residency right isn't just about ticking a compliance box; it's about earning and keeping your customers' trust. Intercom offers regional data hosting to help with this, but there are a few critical details you’ll want to understand before jumping in.

This guide will give you a straight-up look at how Intercom's EU data hosting works, what its limitations are, and a simpler way to get compliant without tearing your current setup apart.

What is Intercom data hosting EU?

When you sign up for Intercom’s EU data hosting, it means your customer data gets processed and stored in Amazon Web Services (AWS) facilities in Dublin, Ireland. The whole point is to keep sensitive information within the EU, which helps you meet those regional data rules.

According to Intercom, this covers the core data you work with daily:

• Visitor and contact info collected through the Messenger.

• All the conversation data from your chats.

• Any data attributes or events you collect.

But it’s just as important to know what’s not included, because for some teams, this can be a deal-breaker. Certain data is still processed outside the EU, mostly in the US. This includes things like:

• Your own account information (name, email, credit card details for billing).

• Admin data for your workspace that Intercom’s global support team might need to see.

• Usage metadata, like which features you use or what kinds of messages you send.

If you’re not sure where your data lives, you can take a quick look at your workspace URL. An EU-hosted account will always have app.eu.intercom.com in the address bar.

How to set up Intercom data hosting EU

Getting an EU-hosted workspace in Intercom isn't as easy as flipping a switch in your settings. It’s a pretty involved process that takes planning and a whole lot of manual effort. Let’s break down what it really takes.

Step 1: See if you qualify

First off, EU data hosting isn’t available to everyone. It’s an enterprise feature that’s only open to customers on specific annual, sales-led plans, the Advanced and Expert tiers. This means you can't just sign up and pick your region; you have to talk to Intercom's sales team to even get the ball rolling.

That alone can be a big hurdle, especially for smaller companies. The feature is also off-limits for their Early Stage startup program, which cuts out a lot of new businesses trying to grow their customer base in Europe.

Step 2: Create a brand new workspace

This is probably the most important thing to grasp: you cannot switch an existing US workspace over to an EU-hosted one. Intercom has to set up a completely new, separate workspace for you from scratch.

What does that mean for you? It means you’re starting over. All your settings, workflows, team roles, custom inboxes, and bots have to be manually rebuilt in the new workspace. It’s not a transfer; it’s a total do-over.

Step 3: Manually move your data

Once your new, empty EU workspace is up and running, the next big job is getting your data into it. Intercom doesn't provide a migration tool, so the entire task is on you and your team.

The official method is to use CSV exports and imports for your user and company data and then use their API for the rest. It's a technical, slow process. Even worse, Intercom is very clear that some of your most important data can't be easily migrated:

• Conversation history: This is the heart of your customer support, full of context your team needs.

• Ongoing messages: Active chats have to be managed somehow during the switch.

• Assignment rules: All the logic you’ve built to keep your inbox running smoothly is gone.

This manual process creates a huge operational burden. You risk losing years of historical context that your agents depend on and that any AI models use for training. It’s the kind of project that can drag on for weeks or months, pulling your team away from actually helping customers.

Key limitations of Intercom data hosting EU

Beyond the messy setup, there are a few other drawbacks to think about before you commit to Intercom's EU hosting solution. These can affect your workflows, tools, and your team's ability to move quickly.

The massive, risky migration project

Let’s be honest: moving to Intercom's EU hosting is a full-blown migration project, not just a setting change. It requires a lot of time from your developers and admins to pull data, reformat it, and push it into the new system. The biggest risk is losing all that historical conversation data, which is essential for giving customers consistent support and for training new agents or AI. Without it, you’re basically starting from zero.

Incompatible apps and integrations

Most teams rely on a stack of apps to get things done. Unfortunately, not all of them will work with an EU-hosted workspace. Intercom’s own help docs list several of their own apps that aren't supported on EU workspaces, including common tools like Microsoft Teams, Mixpanel, and Marketo.

They also add a little warning that they "cannot guarantee that all 3rd party apps will work with regional data hosting." That uncertainty means you could end up breaking key workflows and losing tools your team depends on, forcing you to find clunky workarounds or entirely new solutions.

A simpler path: Enhance your helpdesk instead

The goal is to be GDPR compliant, but a massive helpdesk migration adds a ton of operational risk you probably don't need. Instead of uprooting your entire helpdesk, you could integrate an AI platform that works with your current setup and offers dedicated EU data residency.

For example, a platform like eesel AI connects directly to the Intercom workspace you already have. You can get advanced AI features and choose EU data hosting (it's available on the Business plan) without any migration, disruption, or rebuilding. You get to keep the helpdesk you know while adding the compliance and automation you need.

A workflow diagram showcasing how an AI platform can integrate with an existing helpdesk for EU data compliance, as a simpler alternative to Intercom data hosting EU.

Intercom data hosting EU pricing vs. a flexible alternative

Cost is always part of the conversation, and the price tag for Intercom’s EU hosting is pretty hefty. Here’s a quick comparison with a more flexible option.

Intercom data hosting EU pricing

To get EU hosting, you have to sign an annual contract for either the Advanced or Expert plan. This locks you into a high per-seat cost for at least a year, and that's before you even factor in the cost of their AI agent, Fin.

Plan	Price (Billed Annually)	Key Feature	Additional Costs
Advanced	$85 per seat/month	Workflows, Multiple Inboxes	$0.99 per Fin resolution
Expert	$132 per seat/month	Multibrand, SLAs, SSO	$0.99 per Fin resolution

eesel AI: Clear pricing with EU data residency

In contrast, eesel AI’s pricing is designed to be flexible and predictable. There are no per-resolution fees so you won't get a surprise bill at the end of a busy month. You can even start on a monthly plan and cancel whenever you want.

Most importantly, EU data residency is included in the Business plan. This gives you a clear and affordable way to get compliant without being pushed into a long-term contract for a bunch of features you might not even need.

Plan	Effective Price (Annual)	Key Unlocks	EU Data Residency
Team	$239 / month	AI Copilot, Slack integration	No
Business	$639 / month	Train on past tickets, AI Actions, Bulk Simulation	Yes
Custom	Contact Sales	Advanced controls, custom integrations	Yes

Intercom data hosting EU: The smart path to EU data compliance

Intercom does offer a path for EU data hosting, but it's not a simple one. It demands a complex, manual migration, locks you into expensive annual plans, and has real limits on app compatibility. For any team that needs to stay agile, it's a huge undertaking.

The smarter way to get compliant is to enhance the tools you already have, not replace them. eesel AI gives you a powerful, self-serve way to meet your data residency needs while also adding powerful AI automation, all without the migration headache. You can get set up in minutes, keep your current helpdesk, and enjoy predictable, transparent pricing.

A screenshot of the eesel AI platform showing how users can simulate and test their AI agent before deployment, offering a seamless setup for Intercom data hosting EU compliance.

Ready to simplify EU data compliance without the hassle?

Getting started with an AI that respects your data residency needs shouldn't be a months-long project. With eesel AI, you can connect your helpdesk and launch an AI agent with EU data hosting in just a few minutes. Try it yourself or book a demo today.