The best Shopify live chat and helpdesk apps in 2026, and what each bill counts

A chat app puts a chat box on your store. A helpdesk puts chat, email and social in one inbox. Order data sits beside each message. A store with one person answering needs chat. A team answering email and Instagram DMs needs a helpdesk.

Shopify Inbox: free chat

Shopify Inbox is free. It adds chat to your online store. An optional AI agent answers questions on products, shipping, returns and sizing. It reads your catalogue, policies and store pages to do it. Chat through the Shop app ended on 19 February 2025. Inbox has no tickets or order actions, so it stays a chat tool.

Tidio: free chat that grows

Tidio covers live chat, email, Messenger and Instagram in one inbox. It has a free plan. Starter costs $29 a month, or $24.17 billed yearly, for 100 conversations. A conversation counts only once a human agent replies. Replies from Flows or the Lyro AI agent do not count. Lyro has its own quota and bill, from $39 a month for 50 AI conversations.

Gorgias: the helpdesk built on Shopify orders

Gorgias puts email, chat and social in one inbox. Agents can cancel, refund, edit or duplicate a Shopify order from the ticket. Starter costs $10 a month for 50 tickets. Basic costs $60 for 300. A ticket counts once any reply goes out. Agents, rules and the AI Agent all count. Going over adds a fee per ticket, and sending never stops.

The AI Agent bills per automated interaction. That is one where no human steps in within 72 hours. Gorgias's own pages quote different AI prices, so check the live page. Edits do not work on orders over 60 days old. You can pay through your Shopify bill or directly.

Zendesk: per agent, for larger teams

Zendesk is a full helpdesk suite with Shopify order data in each ticket. Suite Team starts at $55 per agent a month, billed yearly. AI agents bill by automated resolutions on top. Each plan includes a few per agent. The trial lasts 14 days. Some charges may be billed outside your Shopify invoice.

Re:amaze: per seat or per conversation

Re:amaze combines a helpdesk, live chat and an AI agent on every plan. Its pricing page shows per-seat plans at $29, $49 and $69 a month. A flat Starter plan costs $59 a month for 500 answered conversations. Starter allows unlimited team members. The trial lasts 14 days.

Richpanel: AI-first helpdesk

Richpanel is a helpdesk built around AI agents that resolve tickets end to end. The trial lasts 14 days. Its listing and its website describe pricing in different ways. Get a live quote before you compare it with Gorgias.

Where Idukki fits (ours)

We make Idukki. It answers some questions before anyone types them. A customer photo with height and size answers "will it fit?". A video answers "what does it look like on?". Idukki shows those on the product page, tagged to the cart. For the full set of jobs, read the best Shopify apps to increase conversion. For two of these head to head, read Gorgias vs Tidio.