Gorgias vs HelpScout

Gorgias and Help Scout both offer unified omnichannel inboxes, AI automation, and integrations, but they serve different comfort zones. Gorgias is laser-focused on ecommerce: it natively integrates with Shopify for order management (view, cancel, discount, upsell) and uses an AI Agent pre-trained on 1B+ ecommerce conversations to automate up to 60% of tickets. It also offers proactive engagement triggers, AI coaching with real-time tips, and revenue attribution reporting. In contrast, Help Scout’s AI Answers claims to autonomously resolve 73% of interactions (per a service level, not a maximum), plus AI drafts and summarization. It includes a knowledge base builder (Docs) and proactive messages for surveys and NPS. Help Scout supports multiple inboxes per department and has collision detection. However, Help Scout lacks native Shopify order actions — it only connects via a basic app. Gorgias also supports SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and voice; Help Scout's social integrations are less built-in. For non-ecommerce uses, Help Scout is more flexible.

Gorgias uses a subscription + AI Agent per-resolution cost ($0.90–$1.50/resolved conversation). Legacy plans start at $10/mo, but new pricing requires contacting sales. This can scale quickly for high volume. Help Scout offers a freemium plan (up to 25 tickets, 2 users) and paid plans from $25/user/mo (Standard) that include AI Answers usage-based billing (per resolution). Both have usage costs for AI, but Help Scout’s monthly user pricing is more straightforward for smaller teams. Gorgias is more expensive overall especially for ecommerce brands needing deep Shopify features — but the AI automation ROI can offset costs for high-ticket volumes. Help Scout’s free plan is a plus for testing.