Gorgias alternatives for Australian Shopify stores, with AUD prices

The best Gorgias alternative for most small Australian Shopify stores is Shopify Inbox if you want free, Matey if most of your questions come before the sale, and Re:amaze if you need a cheaper helpdesk that works like Gorgias. Stores with a bigger support team should look at Freshdesk, Richpanel, or Zendesk.

Below are all seven, with their prices in Australian dollars, who each one suits, and its drawbacks. Matey builds custom AI chatbots for Australian online stores, so we're one of the options, and we'll say when we're not the right one. For what every kind of chatbot costs, see chatbot cost.

What are the best Gorgias alternatives?

The best Gorgias alternatives for Australian stores are Shopify Inbox, Matey, Tidio, Re:amaze, Freshdesk, Richpanel, and Zendesk.

Prices are from each company's own pricing page, on monthly billing where it's offered, converted at the Reserve Bank's rate of about A$1.43 to the US dollar (RBA). Freshdesk shows Australian dollars to Australian visitors. Re:amaze and Richpanel don't name a currency on their pricing pages; they're American companies, so we've treated their prices as US dollars.

1. Shopify Inbox

Shopify Inbox is Shopify's own free chat app, and it's the best free Gorgias alternative for a Shopify store. Its Inbox agent can chat with customers by itself, answering from your catalogue, policies, and store pages, and your staff get suggested replies for the chats they answer.

Best for: small Shopify stores that want something free and have someone around to pick up the chats it hands over.

Drawbacks: it's a chat inbox, not a full helpdesk. Your team can't refund or edit orders from the chat, and it only works on Shopify.

Price: free.

2. Matey

Matey is the Gorgias alternative for stores whose questions come before the sale. A matey is a custom AI chatbot built for your store: it reads your whole catalogue every night, checks stock before it recommends anything, shows products with their prices in the chat, and adds them to the cart. It answers shipping, returns, and payment questions in your own policy's words, with a link to the page.

When a customer needs a person, a matey passes them to your team with the request already written, in your store's own chat inbox or by email. A first version is usually ready within 24 hours, and it works on Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Neto, Magento, Wix, Squarespace, and custom sites.

Best for: stores with a real catalogue, lots of "which one should I buy?" questions, and an owner with no time to train a bot.

Drawbacks: a matey isn't a helpdesk. It doesn't give you an email inbox, refund or edit orders, or answer your Instagram messages. If "where's my order?" is most of your day, you need a helpdesk, with or without a matey beside it.

Price: a flat $149 AUD a month, or $1,490 a year, for stores with under 10,000 products. Stores with 10,000 or more are $249 a month, and catalogues of 25,000 or more are quoted. Every matey is built and installed free, the first month is free, conversations are unlimited, and you cancel with an email.

3. Tidio

Tidio is a live chat tool with an AI chatbot called Lyro, and it's the cheapest Gorgias alternative you set up and train yourself.

Best for: small stores with a short list of common questions and an owner who likes tinkering.

Drawbacks: you do the setup, the training, and the fixing, and the AI is billed by the conversation, so a busy month costs more.

Price: Starter is US$29 a month (about $42) for 100 conversations. Lyro adds US$39 a month (about $56) for 50 AI conversations, rising to US$700 a month (about $1,004) for 1,000.

4. Re:amaze

Re:amaze is a helpdesk for online stores that does much of what Gorgias does, with an AI agent included in its per-seat plans. It's the closest like-for-like Gorgias alternative at a lower price for a small team.

Best for: stores that need a real support inbox but find Gorgias too dear.

Drawbacks: it's priced per seat, so the bill grows with your team, and the AI allowance is small.

Price: Basic is $29 a seat a month (about $42), with 5 AI resolutions a seat included, then $0.85 (about $1.22) for each extra one. Its Starter plan is $59 a month (about $85) for unlimited seats and up to 500 answered conversations.

5. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a general helpdesk from Freshworks, used well beyond ecommerce, and it's the only option here that shows Australian dollar prices to Australian visitors.

Best for: stores that want a helpdesk billed in Australian dollars, and businesses that sell more than just online.

Drawbacks: it isn't built around Shopify orders the way Gorgias is, so expect more setup to get orders showing beside tickets.

Price: Growth is A$35 an agent a month on monthly billing. Its Freddy AI Agent comes with 500 free sessions once per account, then A$75 for every 100 sessions.

6. Richpanel

Richpanel is a helpdesk for online stores, built around order questions and customer self-service, and it's a Gorgias alternative for stores with a lot of them.

Best for: stores with a support team and hundreds of order questions a month.

Drawbacks: every plan is a yearly contract, which is a big commitment for a small store, and its self-service AI costs extra.

Price: Pro is $69 an agent a month (about $99), billed yearly at $828. Its Sidekick AI, which drafts replies and answers repeat questions, is free. Its self-service AI is extra, charged per AI-handled conversation.

7. Zendesk

Zendesk is one of the biggest helpdesks in the world, built for large support teams across many channels, and it's the Gorgias alternative for stores that have outgrown an ecommerce-only tool.

Best for: stores with a large support team, or a retailer running shops, wholesale, and online through one helpdesk.

Drawbacks: it's priced per agent and built for big teams, so it's the dearest option for a small store, and it takes the most setting up.

Price: Suite Team is US$69 an agent a month (about $99) on monthly billing, with 5 AI resolutions an agent included. Extra AI resolutions are US$2 each (about $2.87) on pay as you go. Its Australian pricing page still shows US dollars.

How much does Gorgias cost in Australia?

Gorgias bills Australian stores in US dollars, per ticket, with its AI Agent charged on top for every automated interaction. Here are the plans from Gorgias' own pricing page, on monthly billing, converted at about A$1.43 to the US dollar.

Three things push the Gorgias bill up:

• AI past your allowance costs more. Inside the allowance, each automated interaction is US$1 (about $1.43). Past it, each one is US$1.50 (about $2.15).
• Every AI answer is also a ticket. It counts towards your plan's tickets, and tickets past the limit cost US$0.40 (about 57 cents) each on Starter and Basic.
• Yearly billing is cheaper but locks you in. Basic drops to US$50 a month for the helpdesk, and AI to US$0.90 an interaction, on an annual contract.

There's a 7-day free trial with no credit card needed.

Why do Australian stores look for a Gorgias alternative?

Australian stores usually look for a Gorgias alternative because of the bill, and because a helpdesk doesn't sell.

• The busiest month costs the most. Black Friday, Christmas, and EOFY bring the most questions, so per-ticket and per-AI pricing makes those the most expensive months of the year.
• It's in US dollars. The price moves with the exchange rate, and your card may add an overseas transaction fee.
• It's built for a support team. Rules, views, macros, and routing are great with five people on support. With one, you're paying for a lot you'll never use.
• A helpdesk is built for after the sale. Gorgias' AI can recommend products too, but the helpdesk, the rules, and the pricing are all built around tickets. In a small store, the questions that win sales come before anyone buys: "Does this run small?", "Will it fit a 2019 Hilux?", "Which tent for a family of four?"

Is there a cheaper alternative to Gorgias?

Yes, and the gap is biggest in a busy month. Here's what it costs a one-person store whose AI answers 300 chats a month, on each tool's monthly billing, from its own pricing page.

The numbers move with your volume, your plan, and the exchange rate, so run your own busiest month through each pricing page before you choose. The pattern holds, though: per-answer pricing is cheap when you're quiet and dear when you're busy.

Who should stay on Gorgias?

Stay on Gorgias if you have a support team and most of your questions come after the sale. Gorgias is the better call when:

• "Where's my order?" fills your inbox. Gorgias shows the order beside the ticket, and its AI Agent can track it and start a return.
• Your team refunds, edits, and cancels orders all day. Doing it from inside the ticket saves real time.
• You answer on email, chat, SMS, Instagram, Facebook, and the phone, and want it all in one inbox.
• You have three or more people on support, with rules for who gets which ticket.
• You want your data kept in Australia. Gorgias' pricing page says it runs on Google Cloud data centres in the US, the EU, and Australia.

None of the cheaper options do all of that as well. If that's your store, Gorgias is probably money well spent.

Matey vs Gorgias: what's the difference?

Matey and Gorgias do different jobs. Gorgias is a helpdesk for answering customers after they've bought. A matey is a custom AI chatbot that helps customers choose and buy, built and kept accurate for you.

Plenty of stores end up wanting both jobs done. If your inbox is mostly order questions, start with a helpdesk. If it's mostly "which one should I buy?", start with a matey. Here's a matey on a made-up outdoor store, putting a first camping kit together for a family on a budget:

What can a Gorgias alternative say about refunds in Australia?

Any Gorgias alternative that answers refund questions for an Australian store has to follow Australian Consumer Law, whatever country the software comes from. Under the consumer guarantees, a customer with a faulty product is entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund, and with a major problem they choose between a refund and a replacement (ACCC).

A few rules for whatever tool answers your customers:

• Never "no refunds". The ACCC says it's illegal to rely on policies like "no refunds" or "no refunds or exchanges on sale items".
• Change of mind is your call. You don't have to refund a change of mind, but if your policy offers it, you have to honour it.
• Never "contact the manufacturer". A business can't send a customer with a faulty product to the maker.
• Quote your own policy word for word. An AI that writes a "typical" returns policy can promise something you don't offer, or deny something the law gives.

How do you choose a Gorgias alternative?

Use the Matey helpdesk test: seven questions to answer before you leave Gorgias or sign up for anything else.

1. Count your questions for a week. How many come before someone buys (sizing, stock, which one, shipping cost), and how many after (where's my order, returns)? Before-sale questions need a tool that knows your products. After-sale questions need a helpdesk.
2. Price your busiest month in Australian dollars. Black Friday, Christmas, or EOFY, not an average week.
3. Count who answers. If it's just you, a helpdesk built for teams means paying for seats and rules you'll never use.
4. Check who answers at 9pm. A tool that only helps your staff answer faster does nothing after you've knocked off.
5. Ask a real product question in the trial. "Does the size 10 run small?" or "Will this fit a 2019 Hilux?" If it can't answer from your catalogue, it can't sell.
6. Ask what happens to your history. Can you export your tickets and customers, and what gets left behind?
7. Ask where your customers' details are stored. If your business is covered by the Privacy Act, you're responsible for personal information you send overseas (OAIC).

If you're still working out what a chatbot should do for your store, start with AI chatbot for ecommerce, or see how the best AI chatbot for small business options compare. Want to see a matey answer real shopping questions? Try a matey on the homepage.