Gorgias Alternatives: Where Merchants Actually Go When They Leave

Gorgias alternatives fall into three groups, and the right one depends on why you're leaving. Some stores leave over the bill. Some leave because the AI Agent didn't do what the sales call promised. And some leave because they aren't on Shopify, which is where reviewers say all of Gorgias's AI lives.

Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page, checked on 9 October 2026, in US dollars as shown to a US visitor. Prices change. Check before you sign anything.

Why Stores Look for a Gorgias Alternative#

Usually it's the bill. Gorgias charges per ticket on every plan, and the AI Agent adds a fee per automated interaction on top. On a busy store those two lines grow together. That's when someone tends to post on Reddit.

"We use it and pay about $360USD a month for unlimited seats. About to switch though to richpanel which is about 66% cheaper"
(r/ecommerce)

Some merchants feel the AI Agent didn't do what they were shown.

"We're leaving Gorgias too, they misrepresented the abilities of their AI agent..."
(r/ecommerce)

For WooCommerce and Magento stores it's the platform. Reviewers say the AI features are built for Shopify, so those stores pay for the helpdesk and miss the part they came for.

"All of Gorgias' AI features are exclusively designed for Shopify users."
(Trustpilot review, 5 February 2025)

What You'd Give Up#

Gorgias is good at a lot of things, and leaving costs you some of them. Reviewers on the Shopify App Store keep praising their named customer success managers and the "human oversight" around the AI (Shopify App Store review). One brand says that during peak periods the AI Agent "allowed us to exceed a 40% automation rate" (Shopify App Store review, 19 June 2026). That's one reviewer's figure, so don't read it as a benchmark.

If your Gorgias setup works and only the price stings, I'd push your account manager on it before you move.

The Alternatives, Sorted by Why You're Leaving#

Each entry says who it suits, what it costs today and one thing that'll annoy you. I've put a merchant's own words in where I could find them.

Richpanel#

If you're leaving over the price and still want a full helpdesk, Richpanel comes up a lot in merchant threads. It's built for ecommerce and prices per seat with no per-ticket fees. AI agents are sold as a separate meter.

• Who it suits: Shopify brands with a support team of a few people who want ticket costs to stop scaling with volume.
• Price (October 2026): Helpdesk $119 per seat a month on monthly billing, or $99 a seat on annual. AI agents have a $200 a month minimum, and helpdesk plus AI starts at $299 a month on an annual commitment (richpanel.com/pricing, checked 9 October 2026).
• Drawback: per-seat pricing is cheaper for a small team and dearer for a big one, so do the sum with your own headcount.

"Richpanel works great for my store. Also has contract buy out..."
(r/shopify)

Zendesk#

If you're growing past Shopify, selling on several platforms or running a bigger team, Zendesk is the big general-purpose helpdesk. We've compared the two in detail in Gorgias vs Zendesk for Shopify.

• Who it suits: larger teams that need routing, SLAs and reporting across many channels and brands.
• Price (October 2026): Support Team is $25 per agent a month on monthly billing ($19 annual), and Suite Team is $69 ($55 annual). AI agents bill per automated resolution: $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go, after 5 included per agent a month (zendesk.com/pricing, checked 9 October 2026). Our Zendesk pricing guide has the full picture.
• Drawback: it isn't built around a store, so order context needs apps and setup that Gorgias gave you out of the box.

"I then tried to install the Shopify Support sidebar app so we could view order information inside Zendesk tickets. That repeatedly failed..."
(Shopify App Store review)

Re:amaze#

If you want a Shopify-friendly helpdesk at a lower price point, Re:amaze covers email, chat and social in one inbox, with an AI agent on every paid plan.

• Who it suits: small Shopify teams who want a familiar shared inbox for less.
• Price (October 2026): Basic is $29 per team member a month ($26.10 annual), or a flat $59 a month Starter plan capped at 500 responded conversations. Each plan includes a few AI resolutions per user, then $0.85 each (reamaze.com/pricing, checked 9 October 2026).
• Drawback: the AI is labelled beta on its own pricing page, so test it on your real tickets before you count on it.

"...very difficult to customize, promises made during sales and setup that were not kept and ultimately REALLY difficult to uninstall."
(Shopify App Store review)

Help Scout#

If most of your support is email and you want it to feel like email, Help Scout is the simple option. It's a shared inbox with a help centre. Its AI answers bill per resolution.

• Who it suits: stores whose customers write emails, not chats, and teams who like a simple tool.
• Price (October 2026): Standard shows $25 per user a month on the page's default view, and AI Answers costs $0.75 per resolution (helpscout.com/pricing, checked 9 October 2026).
• Drawback: it's general purpose, so you'll lean on integrations for order data and actions.

"They just announced they are 'upgrading' our plan from 1500 a year to over 7500 a year. So that we can use AI drafts and have 'unlimited seats'..."
(Trustpilot review)

Fin by Intercom#

If the AI Agent is why you're leaving, but you're happy with a helpdesk, Fin is the best-known AI agent you can buy separately from one. Intercom says it works with other platforms, and Gorgias is on its list.

• Who it suits: teams who want an AI agent on top of the helpdesk they already run, including Gorgias itself.
• Price (October 2026): $0.99 per outcome with your current helpdesk, 50 outcomes a month minimum (fin.ai/pricing, checked 9 October 2026).
• Drawback: you pay per outcome, so a busy month is a bigger bill, and it's a general support tool, so check how it reaches your order data.

Hay.chat#

This one's ours, so read it with that in mind. Hay.chat is an AI agent that works alongside your helpdesk. It answers from your own documents, follows plain-language playbooks, takes actions in your store and hands the chat to a person when it should. For the side-by-side, see Hay.chat vs Gorgias.

On Shopify it looks up orders, refunds, cancels, changes the shipping address before dispatch, and handles returns, exchanges and item swaps. On WooCommerce it works through WooCommerce's own API: order and tracking lookups, cancellations before shipping, refunds, address updates and capped goodwill coupons. By default, refunds and cancellations wait for your approval on Shopify, and refunds and coupons on WooCommerce.

• Who it suits: Shopify and WooCommerce stores where the AI Agent bill, or its results, is the reason to move.
• Price: Flat monthly plans with resolutions included, no per-seat fee. Solo €50 a month includes 500 resolutions (pricing page).
• Drawback: it isn't a helpdesk, so you keep one for the tickets your team handles. It doesn't connect to Gorgias today, so that means moving to a desk it does work with, such as Zendesk or Chatwoot. One Shopify store per workspace.

If you'd rather not set it up alone, the Founder Sprint takes 10 stores on any Hay.chat plan. Every week for 90 days, the founders help you set up the agent, go through your documentation and playbooks top to bottom, and improve what it does, at 50% off throughout. You can be live in a day when your help docs and integrations are ready.

Book a Founder Sprint

Or start on your own: 30 days free, no card.

A Person, or Your Platform's Own Inbox#

If your volume is low, you may not need any of the above. Shopify Inbox, your store's own contact form and one person who knows the products will cover more than you'd think. The software bill goes to zero. The cost moves to someone's time instead.

• Who it suits: stores with a steady, manageable trickle of questions and someone who can answer them within the day.
• Price: whatever that person's time costs you.
• Drawback: nobody answers at 2am, and a sale weekend can bury one person fast.

"...We have 2,000+ orders a month and couldn't warrant the costs of Gorgias vs on platform support."
(r/shopify)

Build It Yourself#

If you've got time and a developer's patience, you can build a support bot on a general AI model and your store's API. Some merchants are already trying it.

• Who it suits: technical founders who enjoy the build and want full control.
• Price: the model's usage fees, plus your time, which is the expensive bit.
• Drawback: answers are the easy part. The hard part is doing order actions safely (who approves a refund, what happens when the API fails) and handing the chat to a person at the right moment.

"...thinking about trying to build something out with Claude..."
(r/ecommerce)

Which Gorgias Alternative Fits Your Store#

Start from the reason you're leaving, then check your volume and platform.

If two rows fit, I'd go with the higher one. A store leaving over both the price and the AI could run a cheaper helpdesk with an AI agent next to it.

If the AI Agent is the part of your Gorgias bill you'd cut first, you can keep a helpdesk and put an AI agent next to it. Hay.chat is one option if you're moving to Zendesk or Chatwoot, with resolutions included in a flat monthly plan and money moves waiting for your approval by default. In the Founder Sprint, the founders set it up with you, review your documentation and playbooks, and help you improve it every week for 90 days.

Book a Founder Sprint

Sources#

All vendor pricing pages checked 9 October 2026.

• Gorgias: pricing
• Richpanel: pricing
• Zendesk: pricing
• Re:amaze: pricing
• Help Scout: pricing
• Fin by Intercom: pricing