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Gorgias vs Zendesk. Pricing, AI and which to pick.

Gorgias is a help desk for online stores, priced by ticket volume rather than per agent, with its AI Agent billed per automated interaction. Zendesk charges per agent and bills AI per automated resolution beyond those included. Neither has a free plan.

Every price and feature here comes from Gorgias's and Zendesk's own websites, with links. ChatBento, our product, appears as a third column so you can see where a simpler website chatbot fits.

Live chat and help desks

Gorgias

Gorgias is a help desk built for ecommerce brands, especially Shopify stores, with one inbox for email, chat, social and more, and an AI Agent billed per automated interaction. Plans are priced by ticket volume, not per agent.

Starts at
$10per month, Starter (50 tickets), monthly billing only; AI Agent extra
Billing
By ticket volume, plus per AI interaction
Free option
No (7-day trial)

Live chat and help desks

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service suite with ticketing, messaging and live chat, a help center and voice, with AI agents built in, priced per agent seat.

Starts at
$19per agent / mo, billed yearly. Live chat from $55
Billing
Per agent seat, plus per automated resolution
Free option
No (14-day trial)

Gorgias vs Zendesk, side by side

"Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it on that company's site, not that it's missing.

Gorgias, Zendesk and ChatBento compared on price and features
FeatureGorgiasZendeskChatBentoOur product
Free planNo (7-day trial)No (14-day trial)Yes, 50 AI messages/mo
Lowest paid plan$10/mo for 50 tickets, AI extra$19/agent/mo billed yearly; live chat from $55$14/mo (2,000 AI messages)
How the AI is billedBy ticket volume, plus per AI interactionPer agent seat, plus per automated resolutionFlat monthly price, no seats
AI answers trained on your websiteYesYesYes
Install with one script tagYesYesYes
Hand-off to a humanYes, to agents in the help deskYes, to agents in ZendeskYes, by email
Live chat inbox for your teamYesYesNo
WhatsApp, Messenger and other channelsYesYesNot yet
Native integrations (CRM, Slack and others)150+ apps, incl. Shopify1,800+ appsNot yet
Help desk ticketingYesYesNo

Gorgias details checked November 4, 2026; Zendesk details checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so check each company's pricing page before you decide.

Where each one is stronger

Gorgias's strengths

From Gorgias's own site. Check Zendesk's column in the table above for the same rows.

  • Actions inside Shopify

    Gorgias AI Agent can issue refunds, cancel eligible orders, edit orders, update addresses, track packages, start returns and apply discounts. ChatBento answers questions but doesn't take store actions.

    gorgias.com/ai-agent

  • A help desk for every channel

    Email, chat, social and a help center sit in one inbox on every plan, with voice and SMS as add-ons. ChatBento runs on your website only and has no inbox.

    gorgias.com/pricing

  • Trained on your store

    AI Agent learns from your help center, product catalog, policies and past conversations, and follows a brand voice you can set per channel.

    gorgias.com/ai-agent

  • Not priced per agent

    Plans are sized by tickets, not seats: Starter includes 3 user seats and Basic and up include 500.

    gorgias.com/pricing

Zendesk's strengths

From Zendesk's own site. Check Gorgias's column in the table above for the same rows.

  • A complete help desk

    Ticketing, messaging and live chat, a help center and telephony in one suite, with prebuilt analytics dashboards. ChatBento is only the website chatbot.

    zendesk.com/pricing

  • Every channel in one place

    Zendesk connects Facebook, Instagram and X, and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Slack, WeChat and LINE. ChatBento runs on your website only.

    zendesk.com/pricing

  • AI agents beyond chat

    Zendesk AI agents work across messaging, email and voice, support 80+ languages, and can learn from your help center plus sources like Google Drive and PDFs.

    zendesk.com/service/ai/ai-agents

  • A large app marketplace

    Zendesk lists 1,800+ apps and integrations, 90+ telephony providers, and agent mobile apps for iOS and Android.

    zendesk.com/pricing

Gorgias and Zendesk pricing

Each plan as the company lists it, with the fees that come on top.

Gorgias pricing

  • Starterper mo, monthly billing only. 50 tickets, then $0.40 per ticket; 3 user seats$10
  • Basicper mo billed yearly ($60 monthly). 300 tickets, then $0.40 per ticket$50
  • Proper mo billed yearly ($360 monthly). 2,000 tickets, then $0.36 per ticket$300
  • Advancedper mo billed yearly ($900 monthly). 5,000 tickets, through sales$750
  • Customover 5,000 conversations a month, talk to salesCustom
  • AI Agentper automated interaction on yearly plans ($1.00 on monthly); each also counts as a helpdesk ticket$0.90

No free plan; a 7-day free trial with all features, no payment info needed. Checked November 4, 2026 on gorgias.com/pricing.

  • Adding AI Agent adds a monthly bundle of automated interactions to the plan: on Starter it's $30 a month for 30, which brings Starter to $40 a month. Past the bundle, each automated interaction costs $1.50. Source
  • Gorgias counts an automated interaction when AI Agent or another automation resolves a request without an agent. If the shopper still talks to an agent within 72 hours, it is billed as a helpdesk ticket instead. Source
  • Voice and SMS are add-ons, from $25 and $17 a month on annual pricing, scaling with call and text volume. Source

Gorgias pricing, worked out

Zendesk pricing

  • Support Teamper agent / mo, billed yearly ($25 monthly). Email and ticketing, no live chat$19
  • Suite Teamper agent / mo, billed yearly ($69 monthly). Adds messaging and live chat$55
  • Suite Professionalper agent / mo, billed yearly ($149 monthly)$115
  • Suite Enterprisetalk to salesCustom

No free plan; a 14-day free trial of Suite Professional. Checked October 23, 2026 on zendesk.com/pricing.

  • Zendesk AI agents are billed by automated resolution. Plans include 5 per agent a month (10 on Suite Professional); more cost US$2.00 each pay-as-you-go, or a lower committed rate (shown only in pounds on its US page, checked October 30, 2026). Source

Zendesk pricing, worked out

Which to choose

It comes down to who answers your chats and how you'd rather be billed.

Choose Gorgias if

  • You run a Shopify store with a support team that works tickets across email, chat and social.
  • You want the AI to process refunds, cancellations and returns, not only answer questions.
  • You handle hundreds or thousands of tickets a month, and pricing by ticket volume suits you better than per seat.

Choose Zendesk if

  • Your team works tickets across email, chat, phone and social, and needs one help desk for all of it.
  • Several agents answer chats live, so a shared inbox and per-seat pricing make sense for you.
  • You want AI agents on email and voice too, not only on your website.
  • You rely on integrations from a large marketplace, or on telephony.

Choose ChatBento if

Our product

  • You want an AI chatbot on your website that answers from your own pages, Q&As and text, not a full support suite.
  • You'd rather pay a flat $14, $30 or $100 a month than per seat or per resolution, or start on the free plan with 50 AI messages a month.
  • An email hand-off is enough when a visitor needs a person.

Only need AI answers on your website?

ChatBento reads your site in about a minute and answers visitors from it. Free plan forever, paid plans from $14 a month.

ChatBento vs GorgiasChatBento vs Zendesk

Gorgias vs Zendesk. Questions, answered.

Which is cheaper, Gorgias or Zendesk?

It depends on how you'd use them, because they bill differently. Gorgias starts at $10 (per month, Starter (50 tickets), monthly billing only; AI Agent extra), billed as: by ticket volume, plus per AI interaction. Zendesk starts at $19 (per agent / mo, billed yearly. Live chat from $55), billed as: per agent seat, plus per automated resolution. Price your own monthly volume on both before you decide.

Do Gorgias and Zendesk have free plans?

Gorgias: No free plan; a 7-day free trial with all features, no payment info needed. Zendesk: No free plan; a 14-day free trial of Suite Professional.

What is the main difference between Gorgias and Zendesk?

Gorgias is a help desk for online stores, priced by ticket volume rather than per agent, with its AI Agent billed per automated interaction. Zendesk charges per agent and bills AI per automated resolution beyond those included. Neither has a free plan.

Which should I choose, Gorgias or Zendesk?

Choose Gorgias if you run a Shopify store with a support team that works tickets across email, chat and social. Choose Zendesk if your team works tickets across email, chat, phone and social, and needs one help desk for all of it.

Do I need a live chat inbox at all?

Only if someone on your team will answer chats in real time. Gorgias and Zendesk both include one. If you mostly want visitors' questions answered from your website, an AI chatbot with an email hand-off does that without a seat for each person.

Is there a simpler, flat-priced alternative to Gorgias and Zendesk?

ChatBento is an AI chatbot for your website that learns from your pages and Q&As, captures leads and hands off to you by email. It has a free plan with 50 AI messages a month, then $14, $30 or $100 a month, with AI answers included and no seats. It has no live chat inbox, ticketing or messaging channels, so it fits when the website chatbot is the job.

Keep comparing

All comparisonsAI chatbot pricing guide

Gorgias and Zendesk are trademarks of their owners; ChatBento is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.

Sources: gorgias.com/pricing, gorgias.com/ai-agent, zendesk.com/pricing, zendesk.com/service/ai/ai-agents

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