Gorgias vs Zendesk 2026: Pricing, Plans and Key Differences

Choose Gorgias if most support work concerns ecommerce orders and agents need Shopify actions inside the conversation. Choose Zendesk if retail support sits alongside other service operations and you need a broader ticket platform with specialist routing and enterprise controls. Both connect Shopify; the difference is the surrounding workflow and how support volume changes the bill.

Commerce workflow and cost model

Prices were checked October 18, 2026 using Gorgias pricing and Zendesk pricing. USD annual rates are monthly subscription equivalents.

Decision	Gorgias	Zendesk
Price unit and entry limit	Helpdesk Starter $10/month: 50 billable tickets, three seats; $0.40 per extra ticket.	Support Team $19/agent/month annually; Suite Team $55. No team-wide minimum is stated in the reviewed public table.
Five-agent order support	Basic: 300 tickets and 500 seats; $50/month annually or $60 monthly.	Five Suite Team seats: $275/month annually before usage and extras.
Shopify actions	Ticket widget and macro actions can refund, cancel, edit or duplicate orders.	Installed Shopify app displays orders and supports refunds/cancellations.
SLAs and routing	All Helpdesk plans support SLA policies, team rules and capacity-aware auto-assignment.	Suite Professional at $115/agent/month annually adds SLAs and skills routing.
Knowledge base	Native branded help centers; unavailable during the free trial.	Knowledge base included in Suite Team; Professional supports five branded centers.
AI usage boundary	A successful automation can incur both the helpdesk ticket fee and an AI automation fee.	Automated resolutions beyond allowance are separately billed; Copilot also costs extra.

When the ecommerce specialization matters

A Shopify brand handling delivery questions, address corrections and cancellations has a clear Gorgias evaluation path. Its Shopify action documentation covers agent execution inside the ticket, including editing and refunds. Price the workflow against the documented restrictions: archived orders, orders older than 60 days and different-currency orders have editing restrictions; split payment gateways constrain refunds. A generic integration checkbox does not answer those cases.

Zendesk is also an actionable Shopify integration, rather than just a customer record lookup. Its official setup guide documents refund and cancellation controls and multiple storefront connections. A business supporting consumer orders plus dealer installation cases can therefore preserve commerce actions within a wider ticket organization. Zendesk's specialist routing and internal ownership requirements should be evaluated against the relevant Suite tier.

Gorgias changes the staffing arithmetic. A five-agent team cannot use its three-seat Starter plan, but Basic's large seat allowance lets seasonal staff join without a per-seat Helpdesk increase. Ticket volume still matters: three hundred included tickets is a consumption allowance, not unlimited support. A seasonal promotion can increase the bill even when headcount stays constant.

The Gorgias billing guide counts a ticket when a human, AI Agent or rule sends a message. Successfully automated conversations can then add an AI fee; automated replies do not make helpdesk consumption disappear. Model an ordinary month and your busiest promotion using billable tickets, automated interactions, Voice and SMS. Zendesk's seat baseline is easier to calculate from staffing, but AI and channel usage remain additional cost lines.

Buyer questions

Does Gorgias include unlimited agents?

Use the current plan allowance: Starter includes three seats and Basic lists 500. Describing every plan as unlimited would misstate the entry plan.

Is Gorgias the only option for Shopify refunds?

No. Zendesk's installed Shopify app also supports refunds and cancellations. Compare your required actions and order restrictions.

See the Shopify shortlist, Gorgias cost breakdown and Zendesk review.