Gorgias vs Zendesk: Pricing and Shopify Fit Compared

Gorgias and Zendesk bill support software on different units: Gorgias charges for the tickets you answer, from $10 a month for 50 tickets to $900 for 5,000, and Zendesk charges per agent, from $19 to $115 per agent per month with annual billing on its published plans, as of October 7, 2026. For a Shopify store, the comparison comes down to how many agents you have, how many tickets they answer, and how each tool documents its work with Shopify.

Everything below comes from each company's own pages: Gorgias's pricing page and Help Center, Zendesk's pricing page and help documentation, and both Shopify App Store listings, read on October 7, 2026, in US dollars.

How do Gorgias and Zendesk compare at a glance?

Sources: Gorgias pricing, Zendesk pricing, Gorgias on the Shopify App Store, Zendesk on the Shopify App Store, as of October 7, 2026.

What are the plans and prices on each side?

Gorgias (Helpdesk, per month):

Zendesk (per agent, per month):

Sources: Gorgias pricing page and Zendesk pricing page, as of October 7, 2026.

Zendesk's App Store listing shows a slightly different lineup (Suite Team at $55, then Suite Growth, Suite Professional and Suite Enterprise). The pricing page is the reference for a new subscription; confirm the plan names at checkout. For Gorgias's AI Agent bundles and billing rules in detail, see our Gorgias pricing guide.

What would each cost at three store sizes?

The three stores are fictional. Each row uses the same inputs for both tools and the monthly-billing prices from the tables above. Gorgias depends on tickets, Zendesk on agents, so both inputs are given.

With annual billing, the same rows become:

Calculated from the prices displayed on the two pricing pages on October 7, 2026. AI usage, add-ons and overage are not included.

How to read the tables:

• The plans in a row are not equivalent products. Zendesk describes Support Team as email-based ticketing essentials and the Suite as its all-in-one solution with messaging, live chat, help center and voice. Gorgias's plans share the same channels (email, chat, social, help center) and differ by volume, onboarding and support tier. Match the row to the channels you need before comparing prices.
• Agents move Zendesk's price, tickets move Gorgias's. Add two part-time agents for the holidays and the Zendesk bill grows while the Gorgias bill does not. Double your ticket volume with the same team and the reverse happens.
• Gorgias has overage. A store on Basic that answers 450 tickets pays $60 + 150 × $0.40 = $120 that month.
• Starter has 3 user seats on Gorgias; the other plans list 500.

How does each one charge for AI?

Both vendors price their AI agent on outcomes, with different units.

Sources: Gorgias pricing page, Gorgias Help Center, Zendesk pricing page, as of October 7, 2026.

A fictional month with 200 conversations fully resolved by AI, for a 5-agent team:

• Gorgias Pro with AI Agent: 190 automated interactions are included in the $550 monthly price. The 10 extra cost 10 × $0.90 = $9.
• Zendesk Suite Team: 5 agents × 5 = 25 automated resolutions included. The other 175 cost 175 × $1.50 = $262.50 if committed in advance, or 175 × $2.00 = $350 pay-as-you-go, on top of the seats.

On Gorgias, remember that a ticket resolved by AI Agent alone also counts toward the ticket allowance.

What does each vendor document about Shopify?

Gorgias. Its pricing FAQ describes the Helpdesk as an all-in-one support hub "designed specifically for ecommerce and Shopify", and the plan comparison lists Shopify and Shopify Plus under channels and integrations on every plan. Its App Store listing describes a unified inbox across email, chat, social, voice and SMS, an AI Agent that handles support end to end, and an AI shopping assistant that recommends products. The listing shows the app working with Shopify Checkout, Shopify Flow and the Shopify admin.

Zendesk. Its help article describes a Shopify integration app displayed in the ticket sidebar in Support and Chat. Agents see an order summary and a list of orders, with the order date and value, customer notes, payment status, fulfillment status and tracking numbers, and can process refunds and cancellations from the ticket. The data is retrieved by matching the requester's email address or phone number, once the ticket is saved. Zendesk states that the integration is available on all Suite plans, and that Support customers must also have Chat to use it. Its App Store listing adds that live chat can be embedded in a storefront.

The scope differs in each vendor's own words: Gorgias presents a helpdesk built around ecommerce, and Zendesk presents a customer service platform with a Shopify app in the agent sidebar, plus sections of its pricing page for employee service and contact centers.

What else differs in each vendor's documentation?

Sources: Gorgias pricing page and Zendesk pricing page, as of October 7, 2026.

Zendesk's pricing FAQ also notes that plan changes can affect billing and may apply immediately or at renewal depending on your subscription terms.

How to choose between Gorgias and Zendesk

Frame it with your own numbers.

• Count agents and answered tickets. Divide tickets by agents. A small team with high volume and a large team with low volume land on opposite sides of the tables above.
• List your channels. Email only, or email plus chat, social, phone and a help center. On Zendesk, that decides between Support and Suite. On Gorgias, phone and SMS are add-ons.
• Check seasonality. If you add temporary agents in peak season, per-agent pricing moves with headcount. If your ticket volume triples in November, per-ticket pricing moves with volume, at the overage rate or on a higher tier.
• Estimate AI resolutions. Use each vendor's rate and included volume, as in the 200-conversation example.
• Look beyond Shopify. If the same helpdesk must serve other departments, read Zendesk's employee service and contact center sections. If support is ecommerce only, read how each tool shows order data to agents.

Our rankings of the best Shopify customer service apps and the best Shopify live chat apps cover more tools.

Where does WhatsApp fit with your helpdesk?

Whichever helpdesk you choose, WhatsApp conversations can arrive in it. Kanal, our WhatsApp marketing app for Shopify, integrates with both: the Gorgias integration and the Zendesk integration route WhatsApp conversations into the helpdesk as tickets, agents reply from the workspace they already use, and the customer receives the answer in WhatsApp. Our guide to WhatsApp customer support on Shopify describes the setup.

Gorgias vs Zendesk in short

Gorgias publishes four plans priced on billable tickets, with user seats included and overage above the allowance. Zendesk publishes per-agent plans, from email ticketing to a full suite, with enterprise tiers through sales. Both charge AI on resolved conversations and both document a Shopify connection. Put your agent count and your answered-ticket count into the tables, add AI and add-ons at your own volumes, and compare the totals for the channels you need.