Benchmarks
Cost per Contact
Cost per contact scales with how much human time a channel consumes: self-service and AI cost cents-to-a-few-dollars, while phone is the most expensive assisted channel.
What is Cost per Contact? Read the definition| Figure | Segment | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1.84 | Self-service | Unthread, Support Cost per Resolution (Gartner data) | 2025 |
| $13.50 | Human-assisted (all channels, median) | Unthread, Support Cost per Resolution (Gartner data) | 2025 |
| $17-25 | Phone / voice | Unthread, Support Cost per Resolution (Which-50 data) | 2025 |
| $8-15 | Unthread, Support Cost per Resolution (Which-50 data) | 2025 | |
| $10-16 | Live chat (human-assisted) | Unthread, Support Cost per Resolution (Which-50 data) | 2025 |
| $0.50 | AI agent / chatbot | Unthread, Support Cost per Resolution (Fullview data) | 2025 |
Benchmarks describe other teams, not yours. Read them as a sanity check on direction, not a target to hit — the right number depends on your channel mix, customers, and how you define the metric.
Continue exploring