Shopify AI Chatbot Comparison 2026: Gorgias vs Tidio vs Re:amaze vs Inbox

TLDR

For Shopify stores doing roughly $5k-$50k per month, our short answer is this: start with Shopify Inbox if you need free live chat, use Tidio if you want affordable AI chat with quick setup, consider Re:amaze if you need a helpdesk plus chat, and only move to Gorgias if support volume is already costing you real time every week.

Pricing matters early. Shopify Inbox is free, Tidio starts at $0 with paid plans from $24.17/month and Lyro AI from $32.50/month, Re:amaze starts at $29/month, and Gorgias starts at $10/month but AI Agent adds usage-based costs.

Our top pick for most growing Shopify stores is Tidio. We found it easier to set up than Gorgias, more AI-focused than Shopify Inbox, and less expensive to try than a full ecommerce helpdesk.

Our honest warning: none of these tools should be left alone on product, shipping, return, or discount questions without testing. AI answers can save time, but a wrong answer about delivery dates or return eligibility can create more work than it removes.

What we tested

We tested each chatbot like a store owner, not like a software buyer with a procurement team.

Our test store profile was a Shopify brand doing $5k-$50k per month, with one owner, one part-time support helper, 20-150 orders per month, and common questions about shipping, returns, discounts, product fit, and order status.

We looked at five practical jobs.

First, could the chatbot answer pre-purchase questions without sounding stiff? We tested questions about sizing, shipping thresholds, discount codes, and product recommendations.

Second, could it reduce repetitive support? We tested order-status style questions, return-policy questions, and “where is my package” questions.

Third, could a non-technical store owner set it up? We checked whether setup required a developer, a long knowledge-base project, or a complicated workflow builder.

Fourth, could a human take over cleanly? This matters because stores in this revenue band usually cannot afford an AI tool making support feel careless.

Fifth, was the price clear enough to plan around? We checked public pricing pages and Shopify App Store listings because hidden or usage-based pricing changes the real cost for growing stores.

Evidence we used includes the Shopify Inbox App Store listing, Shopify Inbox help docs, Tidio pricing, Re:amaze Shopify App Store listing, Gorgias pricing, and Gorgias billing documentation.

Pricing breakdown

Shopify Inbox is the simplest price story: it is free. Shopify’s App Store listing states the app is free, and Shopify’s help docs say it is available for stores on Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Shopify Plus plans.

Tidio has a free plan, Starter at $24.17/month, Growth from $49.17/month, Plus from $749/month, and Premium by quote. Its Lyro AI Agent starts at $32.50/month for 50 AI conversations, based on Tidio’s public pricing page.

Re:amaze starts at $29/month for Basic, $49/month for Pro, and $69/month for Plus. The Shopify App Store listing also says Re:amaze offers a free trial and charges additional staff users at the same per-user rate for those tiers.

Gorgias starts at $10/month for 50 tickets, then $50/month for Basic with 300 tickets on annual billing, $300/month for Pro with 2,000 tickets, and $750/month for Advanced with 5,000 tickets. Gorgias also charges for AI Agent interactions, with public pricing showing AI Agent interactions at $0.90 each on annual plans or $1.00 each on monthly plans.

The cheapest tool is Shopify Inbox. The cheapest real AI chatbot path is usually Tidio, if your AI conversation volume is modest.

The most expensive path can be Gorgias if you add AI Agent and ticket volume grows. Gorgias’ own billing docs state that an AI-resolved conversation can be charged as both a helpdesk ticket and an automation fee when the AI resolves it without human intervention.

For stores doing $5k-$50k per month, we would not pick only by the base monthly fee. We would estimate monthly chat volume, support tickets, and the number of questions we actually want AI to answer.

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What we liked

Tidio was the easiest paid AI chatbot to recommend for most small Shopify teams. Its pricing page gives a clear path from free to Starter to Growth, and Lyro can be added when the store is ready to test AI conversations.

We liked that Tidio separates normal support plans from Lyro AI usage. That makes it easier to start with live chat and ticketing, then add AI only after the store has enough repeated questions to justify the cost.

In testing, Tidio felt strongest for common pre-purchase questions. It handled simple product guidance, shipping FAQ prompts, and handoff to a person better than Shopify Inbox.

Shopify Inbox was the best free option. It lives close to the Shopify admin, supports chat from desktop and mobile, and lets the merchant send product links, discounts, and images, according to Shopify’s help docs.

For a store doing $5k-$15k per month, free matters. We liked Shopify Inbox because it can capture live buying questions without adding another software bill.

Re:amaze stood out as the practical middle option. Its Shopify listing highlights live chat, chatbots, a shared inbox, social integrations, workflows, macros, FAQ tools, and Shopify order context.

We liked Re:amaze for teams that already feel scattered across email, Instagram, and chat. It gives more support structure than Shopify Inbox without the larger monthly commitment of a higher Gorgias plan.

Gorgias had the strongest ecommerce support depth. Its pricing page lists integrations with Klaviyo, Recharge, Loop Returns, Yotpo, and more than 150 other integrations, which matters once support questions touch subscriptions, returns, reviews, and repeat-purchase flows.

We liked Gorgias most for stores where support is already a serious operating cost. The ticket-based model can make sense when the team is measuring support volume and response quality every week.

What we did not like

Tidio’s biggest weakness is that the attractive starting price does not tell the full AI cost story. Lyro AI starts at $32.50/month for 50 AI conversations, so a store with active chat traffic can outgrow the entry AI allowance quickly.

We also found Tidio’s plan structure takes a few minutes to understand. There are support plans, billable conversations, Lyro AI conversations, and Flows, so owners should model the real monthly cost before installing it on a high-traffic store.

Shopify Inbox is free, but it is not a full AI support system. Shopify says it offers AI-generated answers and suggested replies, but it does not have the same helpdesk depth, routing, reporting, or multichannel structure as tools like Re:amaze or Gorgias.

That is fine for early stores, but it becomes limiting when the owner is answering the same support threads every morning. If chat, email, Instagram, and returns all need one queue, Shopify Inbox will probably feel too light.

Re:amaze has a fair starting price, but the per-user pricing can become a planning issue. The Shopify listing shows Basic at $29/month and notes $29 per additional staff user, with Pro and Plus following the same per-user pattern at their tier prices.

We also found Re:amaze less focused on AI-first selling than Tidio. It is a helpdesk with AI and chat, not purely an AI sales assistant.

Gorgias has the most complicated cost risk for small stores. The base plan can look affordable, but AI Agent interactions and overage tickets need attention.

Gorgias’ billing docs say merchants are charged for helpdesk tickets and may pay an additional automation fee for AI-resolved interactions. For a $5k-$50k/month store, that is acceptable only if the tool is clearly reducing support time or protecting revenue.

Tidio review

Tidio is our pick for most Shopify stores that want to test an AI chatbot without committing to a full customer support platform.

The evidence is in the price and feature mix. Tidio’s public pricing shows a free plan, Starter at $24.17/month, Growth from $49.17/month, and Lyro AI from $32.50/month.

In our test, Tidio was strongest when the store had clear FAQ content. Questions like “How long does shipping take?”, “Do you ship internationally?”, and “Which product is better for dry skin?” were easier to train than vague complaint-style tickets.

We liked Tidio for pre-purchase chat because it can sit near the buying moment. For stores in this revenue range, one saved sale can matter more than a slightly cleaner support inbox.

The negative is cost creep. If Lyro starts answering enough conversations to be useful, the AI add-on becomes part of the monthly operating cost, not a small extra.

We would use Tidio if the store owner wants chat, email, basic ticketing, and AI in one approachable tool. We would not use it if the team already needs deep return automation, subscription edits, or complex helpdesk reporting.

Score: 8.3/10.

Shopify Inbox review

Shopify Inbox is the best starting point if the store has no live chat today and no budget for another app.

The price is the clearest evidence. The Shopify App Store listing says Shopify Inbox is free, and Shopify’s own Inbox page says it is built into the Shopify admin.

We liked how close it stays to real store data. Shopify’s help docs say merchants can respond from desktop or mobile and send product links, discount codes, and images.

That makes it useful for owner-led stores where the person answering chat also knows the products. A founder can turn a sizing question or shipping concern into a sale without leaving the Shopify ecosystem.

The downside is that Shopify Inbox is not the tool we would choose for serious AI support automation. Its AI-generated answers and suggested replies are useful, but the product is still closer to live chat than a full AI agent.

We would use Shopify Inbox for stores under roughly $15k/month, stores with low support volume, or stores still proving whether chat helps conversion. We would move off it once support becomes a daily bottleneck.

Score: 7.2/10.

Re:amaze review

Re:amaze is a practical choice for stores that want AI chat and a real helpdesk without jumping straight to Gorgias.

Its Shopify App Store listing shows pricing from $29/month with a free trial. The listing also describes email inboxes, social integrations, live chat, chatbots, AI Agent resolutions, workflows, macros, and FAQ features.

In our test, Re:amaze felt strongest for stores that already have conversations in more than one place. If the owner is checking email, Shopify messages, and social DMs separately, Re:amaze solves a real workflow problem.

We also liked that Re:amaze includes chatbots and helpdesk basics on the lower tiers. The Basic plan listing includes unlimited email inboxes, social integrations, live chat and chatbots, workflows and macros, FAQ, and 20 AI Agent resolutions per user per month.

The downside is the staff-user math. A $29/month plan can become more expensive once multiple people need access, and the included AI resolution allowance is not huge.

We would use Re:amaze for brands with two or three support channels and a small team that needs order-aware support. We would not choose it only for a simple AI sales chat widget.

Score: 7.8/10.

Gorgias review

Gorgias is the strongest option here for stores where support has become a real department, even if that department is still one or two people.

Its public pricing is ticket-based, not seat-based. Gorgias lists Starter from $10/month for 50 tickets, Basic from $50/month for 300 tickets, Pro from $300/month for 2,000 tickets, and Advanced from $750/month for 5,000 tickets.

We liked Gorgias because it is built around ecommerce support, not generic website chat. Its pricing page lists Shopify-relevant integrations like Klaviyo, Recharge, Loop Returns, and Yotpo.

That matters when customers ask questions that touch order history, subscriptions, returns, reviews, and discounts. A basic chat widget can answer FAQs, but it usually cannot manage that full support picture.

The negative is billing complexity. Gorgias’ docs say merchants pay based on replied tickets, and AI Agent adds an outcome-based fee for interactions automated by AI Agent.

That means a growing store needs to monitor usage. If an AI-resolved ticket creates both a ticket fee and automation fee, the store needs enough labor savings or revenue lift to justify it.

We would use Gorgias for stores closer to $50k/month, especially if support volume is rising, returns are frequent, or the brand already uses several ecommerce apps. We would not start here for a store that only needs basic chat.

Score: 8.0/10.

Best alternatives to compare

The two closest alternatives for most Shopify owners are Shopify Inbox and Tidio.

If price is the only concern, Shopify Inbox wins because it is free. It gives the store a chat box, customer context, automated messages, and basic AI help without another subscription.

If AI automation is the main goal, Tidio is the better first paid test. The pricing is easier to enter than Gorgias, and the Lyro AI add-on gives the store a focused way to test AI answers.

Re:amaze is the alternative to Tidio when the support inbox matters as much as the chatbot. If the store owner wants email, chat, social, macros, and FAQ support in one place, Re:amaze is more balanced.

Gorgias is the alternative to Re:amaze when support is tied to a bigger ecommerce stack. We would compare it when the store already uses tools like subscription apps, return apps, review apps, and email marketing apps that support agents need to see.

Who it is best for

Choose Shopify Inbox if the store is early, budget-sensitive, and still owner-operated. It is best when the main goal is to answer buying questions quickly without adding software cost.

Choose Tidio if the store wants to test AI chat for pre-purchase and repetitive support questions. It is best for owners who have clear FAQs, moderate traffic, and a desire to reduce repeated replies.

Choose Re:amaze if the store needs a shared support inbox as much as it needs chat. It is best for small teams handling email, chat, social messages, workflows, and order-related questions.

Choose Gorgias if support volume is high enough to measure. It is best for brands with enough tickets, integrations, and support complexity to justify a more expensive ecommerce helpdesk.

For a store doing $5k/month, we would usually start with Shopify Inbox or Tidio. For a store doing $25k/month with regular support questions, we would compare Tidio and Re:amaze.

For a store doing $50k/month and losing hours to support every week, we would include Gorgias in the buying process. At that point, the question is not just app cost; it is whether the tool reduces support labor, improves response time, and protects repeat purchases.

Verdict (score out of 10)

Our overall winner for this Shopify AI chatbot comparison is Tidio at 8.3/10.

It has the best mix of price, AI capability, and setup simplicity for the $5k-$50k/month Shopify owner. The evidence is the accessible entry pricing, the dedicated Lyro AI option, and the fact that it can cover both chat and support basics.

Shopify Inbox earns 7.2/10. It is free and useful, but it is not deep enough for stores that need serious AI automation or a real support desk.

Re:amaze earns 7.8/10. It is a strong fit for multichannel support, but per-user pricing and limited included AI resolutions make it less obvious as a pure chatbot pick.

Gorgias earns 8.0/10. It is powerful for ecommerce support, but its AI and ticket-based billing need closer management than most smaller stores expect.

Our practical recommendation is simple. Start with the least expensive tool that solves the current bottleneck, then upgrade only when support volume proves the need.

For most growing Shopify stores, that means Shopify Inbox if chat is new, Tidio if AI is the goal, Re:amaze if the inbox is messy, and Gorgias if support has become a measurable operating cost.

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