AR · July 2026 · 8 min read
Usually it is the overage rate that sends people looking
Eight platforms that handle Shopify support, and the volume at which each one becomes the cheaper answer.
Gorgias is genuinely the best Shopify support tool for most merchants. People leave anyway, and almost always at the same moment: the month volume crossed a tier and the bill rose 40% for 20% more tickets.
The number that sends people looking
| Monthly tickets | Gorgias cost | Effective per ticket |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 (Advanced) | $900 | $0.18 |
| 6,000 | $1,260 | $0.21 |
| 8,000 | $1,980 | $0.25 |
Overages run $0.36 to $0.40 per ticket above plan. Cheap to start at $10, expensive to grow into.
Shopify-native alternatives
- 1. Yuma AI — Shopify-only, built purely for autonomous resolution. Works on top of an existing help desk, so no migration.
- 2. Zowie — resolution-focused with a revenue framing. Sales-led with no published pricing.
- 3. Richpanel — leads with a self-service portal and puts AI drafting behind it.
- 4. Siena AI — sells on brand voice rather than deflection rate.
Cheaper at low volume
5. Tidio Lyro. A genuine free plan covering 50 conversations a month, then $24.17 and $49.17. Integrates with Shopify for product recommendations. Far shallower on order actions, and the jump from $49 to $749 with nothing between is worth knowing before you grow.
6. Chatbase. From $40 a month for site deflection. Cannot query your order system, so it handles the informational half only.
General platforms with custom actions
7. Freshdesk at $18 to $95 per agent, or 8. Zendesk at $25 to $149. Both reach order actions through custom actions, which is engineering work rather than configuration. The trade is per-agent pricing that does not spike with ticket volume.
For a store doing 8,000 tickets a month with four agents, Freshdesk Pro is $236 against Gorgias at $1,980. That gap is why general platforms remain on the list despite worse native integration.
Which one
- Under 300 tickets a month: stay on Gorgias, or Tidio if budget is tight.
- High volume with a small team: a general platform with custom actions built.
- Want maximum autonomy on your existing help desk: Yuma.
- Brand voice matters more than throughput: Siena.
- Not really on Shopify: Freshdesk or Zendesk, and skip the specialists.
All figures are published vendor rates read from source. Custom-action feasibility is drawn from vendor documentation, not from our own builds.
Frequently asked
What is the best Gorgias alternative?
Yuma AI if you want Shopify-native autonomy on an existing help desk, Freshdesk if ticket volume has made per-ticket pricing painful, Tidio if you are small.
Why is Gorgias expensive at scale?
Overages run $0.36 to $0.40 per ticket above plan limits, so a 20% volume rise above your tier can produce a 40% cost rise.
Is there a free Gorgias alternative?
Tidio's free plan covers 50 conversations a month. Chatwoot self-hosted is free in licence but costs engineering time and does not natively do order actions.
Can Freshdesk do Shopify order lookups?
Through custom actions, yes, but that is engineering work rather than configuration. Specialists ship the integration already built.
Which alternative handles refunds?
Yuma and Zowie execute order actions natively on Shopify. General platforms need custom actions built first.
What is cheapest for a small Shopify store?
Gorgias Starter at $10 for 50 tickets is hard to beat, or Tidio's free plan if you can live with shallower order handling.
Do I need a Shopify-specific tool?
If order status, returns and refunds dominate your queue, yes. If your tickets are mostly informational, a general platform is cheaper and sufficient.
What about non-Shopify stores?
Most of the specialists' advantage disappears. Freshdesk or Zendesk with custom actions is usually the better shape.
Is Zowie cheaper than Gorgias?
Unknown. Zowie publishes no pricing and is sales-led, so you cannot compare without a sales conversation.
Should I switch or just change tiers?
Model your peak month first. If overages are the problem, a higher Gorgias tier may cost less than migrating.
Tools mentioned
Full reviews, pricing tiers and where each one breaks.
Gorgias
The Shopify-native default, with the deepest order, return and refund actions in this category.
Yuma AI
Autonomous agent built only for Shopify brands, with no pretence of serving anyone else.
Tidio Lyro
One of the few genuinely cheap autonomous agents, bundled with live chat and a basic help desk.
Richpanel
Leads with a self-service portal and puts the AI drafting behind it.
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WRITTEN BY AR · UPDATED 2026-07-29
I read the fine print. Vendor pricing pages, billing definitions, terms, funding filings and acquisition notices — then I do the arithmetic nobody publishes: what a platform actually costs at your volume, what its headline metric is really counting, and who owns it now. I do not run benchmarks, and no page here pretends otherwise.