A Gorgias alternative for stores that would rather not pay per ticket
Gorgias is built around the Shopify support desk, priced by monthly ticket volume with the AI Agent billed per resolution. Helpo answers from your catalogue and your policies on a flat monthly plan, with citations on every answer.
The short version
Gorgias is the deepest Shopify-native helpdesk there is: order actions, refunds and macros sit right in the ticket, and big brands run their whole CX on it. The trade-off is the meter — plans scale with monthly ticket volume and the AI Agent is charged per conversation it resolves, so a good month costs more. Helpo includes a daily allowance of AI questions in a flat monthly price and treats your product catalogue as a first-class knowledge source.
Small and mid-size Shopify or WooCommerce stores who want catalogue-grounded AI answers with citations, on a flat monthly plan rather than a per-ticket bill.
Established ecommerce brands who need deep Shopify order actions, refunds and returns driven from inside the helpdesk, plus voice and SMS in the same tool.
Side by side
What each product does out of the box. Compared as of September 2026.
| Capability | Helpo | Gorgias |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge & AI | ||
| AI answers grounded in your own docs (RAG) | ||
| Citations on every AI answer | ~ | |
| Site crawl as a knowledge source | ~ | |
| Shopify / WooCommerce catalog as knowledge | Shopify-first | |
| Confidence threshold → hand off to a human | ||
| Helpdesk | ||
| Embeddable chat widget | ||
| Shared real-time inbox | ||
| One-click human takeover | ||
| Tickets with lifecycle & assignment | ||
| Lead capture mid-conversation | ~ | |
| Platform | ||
| Typed REST API + OpenAPI docs | ||
| Webhooks | ||
| Per-seat pricing | No — seats included | No — ticket tiers + AI resolutions |
| Start free without a card | ~ | |
Why teams move from Gorgias to Helpo
Your catalogue is the knowledge base
Connect Shopify or WooCommerce and Helpo indexes products, variants, price and stock. “Is the linen shirt in stock in navy?” is answered from live catalogue data, not a help article.
A busy month doesn't change your tier
Gorgias tiers scale with monthly ticket volume and charge again per AI resolution. Helpo includes a daily allowance of AI questions — 500 a day on Pro — and past it charges $0.50 per 100, so a traffic spike doesn't push you into a new tier.
Citations you can audit
Every Helpo answer shows the source it came from — a product record, a shipping policy, a help article. When a customer is told the wrong returns window you can find the page that said it.
WooCommerce is a first-class citizen
Helpo treats WooCommerce like Shopify rather than a second-tier integration, which matters if you run more than one storefront — each project keeps its own catalogue and knowledge base.
Pricing, plainly
Free with 100 AI questions a day and no card. Pro is $19.99/mo for 500 AI questions a day, then $0.50 per 100, with team seats included.
Plans priced by monthly ticket volume rather than per agent, with the AI Agent billed only when it resolves a conversation, plus usage-based voice and SMS add-ons.
Competitor pricing as published on their website; check their pricing page for current figures.
Common questions
Is Helpo a good Gorgias alternative for a Shopify store?
For small and mid-size stores, yes. Helpo connects your Shopify or WooCommerce catalogue as a knowledge source, answers product, stock and policy questions with citations, and hands off to a shared inbox with tickets — on a plan sized by AI questions rather than by ticket volume. If your team works orders, refunds and returns directly inside the helpdesk all day, Gorgias's native Shopify actions are deeper and worth the meter.
Does Helpo connect to Shopify?
Yes. Install from Integrations and your products sync as a knowledge source with live price and stock, so the AI recommends real items rather than paraphrasing a catalogue page. WooCommerce works the same way.
Can Helpo issue a refund or edit an order?
No. Helpo answers questions and escalates to a human with the full transcript and the AI's sources attached; your team completes the action in Shopify. Gorgias is the better fit if you want those actions inside the ticket.
How does Helpo's pricing compare on a busy month?
Pro includes 500 AI questions a day and Premium 1,000 AI questions a day, with team seats included. Past the daily allowance, questions are $0.50 per 100, so a November spike is billed by the question instead of moving you up a tier. Volume-based helpdesks and per-resolution AI charges move with your traffic.
Switching from Gorgias?
Tell us about your current setup and we'll map out a migration — usually a same-day job.