Complete comparison · Updated March 2026 · 12 min read
Gorgias is the default Shopify helpdesk recommendation. Tidio is the challenger with a free tier that handles 70% of common queries automatically. One costs £0–$29/month. The other costs £60–£300/month. This is the honest comparison — free alternative first, paid upgrade only when it genuinely earns its cost.
Most Tidio vs Gorgias comparisons frame this as a feature fight. That misses the point. The real difference is architecture: Gorgias is built around a unified helpdesk inbox — all customer conversations across every channel (email, chat, social, SMS) pulled into one place with Shopify order data in the sidebar. Tidio is built around an AI-first chat layer that resolves queries automatically before they reach a human agent.
For most Shopify stores, the helpdesk inbox model is overkill. The majority of support queries — order status, shipping questions, returns — don't require a human to read them, triage them, and write a reply. They require accurate data and a consistent response. Tidio's Lyro AI provides that. Gorgias assumes a human is in the loop for every conversation.
This distinction matters most when you look at the cost curve. Gorgias's pricing is ticket-volume based — the more conversations you handle, the more you pay. Tidio's pricing is AI conversation based — the more Lyro resolves automatically, the more you save. For stores where Lyro handles 50–70% of queries, Tidio's effective cost per resolved ticket decreases as volume grows. Gorgias's increases.
Tidio's Lyro AI is trained on your FAQ content and Shopify product catalogue — handling order status queries, returns questions, and product FAQs in real time without human intervention. The free tier's 50 AI conversation cap handles the full support volume of most stores under £30k/month GMV. For stores needing more, the $29/month Communicator plan removes that cap and adds unlimited agent seats.
The native Shopify integration pulls live order data — status, tracking, items ordered, purchase history — directly into the chat sidebar. Every agent and Lyro AI sees the same customer context without switching systems. This is the feature that makes Tidio genuinely useful for Shopify support rather than generic live chat.
What Tidio doesn't do: Tidio does not unify email, Instagram DMs, Facebook messages, and live chat into a single inbox the way Gorgias does. If your support volume comes across multiple channels simultaneously and you need a single agent managing all of them in one view, Tidio's current architecture requires channel-by-channel handling. This is the primary reason to choose Gorgias over Tidio at higher volumes.
The Tidio free plan is not a 14-day trial or a feature-crippled preview. It is a permanently free plan with specific limits:
For stores receiving under 50 AI-resolvable queries per month, this is a complete, permanent replacement for Gorgias at £0/month.
A Lyro conversation is counted when Lyro AI actively handles a query — not every chat session. If a customer opens chat and immediately reaches a human agent, that doesn't consume your 50 Lyro conversations. The cap only activates when Lyro AI is the one responding. In practice, stores with 200–300 monthly support contacts often use 40–60 Lyro conversations because Lyro handles only the automatable subset of that volume.
Gorgias is purpose-built for Shopify and does one thing better than any competitor: it gives your support agents a single inbox for every customer conversation across every channel — email, live chat, Instagram DMs, Facebook messages, and SMS — with Shopify order data, edit-order capabilities, and refund initiation directly in the sidebar. Agents never leave Gorgias to resolve a query.
The Shopify integration is genuinely deeper than Tidio's. Gorgias agents can modify orders, apply discounts, initiate refunds, and create returns directly from the support interface — without switching to Shopify admin. For high-volume support teams handling complex queries across multiple channels, this is a real productivity multiplier.
The honest limitation: Gorgias's AI automation is macro-based — pre-written response templates triggered by keyword rules — not a generative AI that reads and understands novel queries. When Gorgias uses the word "AI" in its marketing, it typically means rule-based automation, not large language model resolution. Tidio's Lyro AI reads and responds to queries it has never explicitly been trained on, using its language model to synthesise an appropriate answer from your knowledge base. For genuinely new queries, Lyro outperforms Gorgias's macro system.
Gorgias prices by ticket volume — every month you exceed your plan's ticket limit, you move to a higher tier automatically. The Starter plan ($10/month) includes only 50 tickets per month. The Basic plan ($60/month) includes 300 tickets. Stores that grow past their ticket tier see costs jump significantly and unpredictably. Run your last 3 months of support volume against Gorgias's pricing tiers before committing.
Scored 1–10 across the dimensions that matter most for Shopify operators. Scores reflect value delivered per pound spent, not raw feature count.
Tidio wins on every cost, AI, and simplicity dimension. Gorgias wins on omnichannel coverage and deep Shopify agent tooling. The correct tool depends on which dimensions your store actually needs — not which has the higher total score. A store that doesn't receive multi-channel support queries doesn't benefit from Gorgias's omnichannel strength at any price.
| Feature | Tidio (Free) | Tidio ($29/mo) | Gorgias (£60/mo) | Gorgias (£300/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 forever | $29/month | £60/month | £300/month |
| Ticket/conversation limit | Unlimited live chat | Unlimited | 300 tickets/mo | 2,000 tickets/mo |
| Generative AI (LLM-based) | 50 Lyro convos/mo | 200–unlimited Lyro | ✗ Macro-based only | ✗ Macro-based only |
| Shopify order data in chat | ✓ Live order data | ✓ Live order data | ✓ + edit orders | ✓ + edit orders |
| Edit orders from chat | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Initiate refunds from chat | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email support unified | ✗ | Limited | ✓ | ✓ |
| Instagram DMs | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Facebook Messenger | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Visual chatbot flow builder | ✓ Included | ✓ Advanced | Macro rules only | Macro rules only |
| Free trial / permanent free | ✓ Free forever | 7-day trial | 7-day trial only | 7-day trial only |
| Setup time | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 2–4 hours | 2–4 hours |
| Make.com / webhook integration | ✓ Via webhook | ✓ Via webhook | ✓ Native | ✓ Native |
| GDPR compliant (UK) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Best for | Stores <£50k/mo | Stores £50k–£150k/mo | Stores £150k–£500k/mo | Stores £500k+/mo |
Prices correct March 2026. Gorgias pricing is ticket-volume based and increases automatically when monthly ticket limits are exceeded. Tidio Lyro conversation limits apply to AI-handled queries only — unlimited human chat is included on all plans.
The right choice depends on your store's support volume, channel distribution, and team size — not on feature lists. Use this framework:
For the majority of Shopify stores — those under £150k/month GMV processing under 500 tickets/month with support coming primarily through live chat and email — Tidio delivers a better cost-to-outcome ratio than Gorgias at every price point. The free tier is a genuine product that handles real support volume. The $29/month paid plan replaces Gorgias's £60/month Basic plan with equivalent or better AI resolution for a third of the cost. Start on Tidio's free tier before committing to any paid helpdesk.
Gorgias's omnichannel inbox, deep Shopify order editing, and macro automation framework are genuinely the best in class for high-volume Shopify support operations. If you're running a dedicated support team handling 500+ tickets/month across email, Instagram, Facebook, and chat simultaneously — Gorgias's unified view delivers real agent productivity ROI. At that scale and channel distribution, it justifies its cost. Below that threshold, you're paying for infrastructure you're not using.
50 Lyro AI conversations/month · Native Shopify order sync · Chatbot flow builder · Permanent free tier
Get Tidio Free → Full setup guideIf you've decided Tidio is the right tool, here's the condensed setup path. The full step-by-step guide with screenshots covers every configuration in detail.
Review every Lyro escalation daily for the first 7 days. Each escalation is a gap in your FAQ training data — add a Q&A pair for each one. Most stores reach 60–70% Lyro resolution rate within 3–4 weeks. After that, the system is largely self-maintaining.
The cheapest functional Shopify helpdesk in 2026 · Lyro AI resolves 70% of queries · Native Shopify order sync · Live in 30 minutes
Get Tidio Free → Full setup guide