Comparison · Updated April 2026
FairDesk vs Gorgias: side-by-side comparison
Gorgias is the e-commerce helpdesk built around Shopify. Pricing is per-ticket on a tiered subscription — Starter is $10/month for 50 tickets ($0.20/ticket), the Advanced plan is $900/month for 5,000 tickets ($0.18/ticket), and AI Agent is metered separately ($0.50-2.00 per AI resolution depending on tier). FairDesk is $0.03 per ticket resolved with AI included. Here is the honest comparison — pricing math, the 40-skill matrix, three workflows, and where Gorgias still wins.
FairDesk
$0.03 / ticket resolved
AI included · unlimited agents
No subscription
Gorgias Pro
$300/mo (2,000 tickets) + AI Agent metered
Tiered subscription · overage charges
7-day trial
Pricing — at the same workload
A 5-agent Shopify store handling 2,000 tickets per month. Gorgias pricing from their public page in March 2026. AI Agent fee assumed at the typical tier rate, applied to 50% of tickets (1,000 AI resolutions).
| Plan | Base | Tickets included | Effective $/ticket | 5 agents · 2,000 tickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FairDesk | $0 | Unlimited | $0.03 | $60/mo |
| Gorgias Starter | $10/mo | 50 | $0.20 | Plan capped — 2,000 tickets requires upgrade |
| Gorgias Basic | $60/mo | 300 | $0.20 | Plan capped |
| Gorgias Pro | $300/mo | 2,000 | $0.15 | $300 base + $750 AI Agent (~50%) = ~$1,050/mo |
| Gorgias Advanced | $750/mo | 5,000 | $0.15 | Over-spec at 2,000 tickets |
At 2,000 tickets/month with AI on, Gorgias Pro + AI Agent is roughly 17x more than FairDesk. Gorgias's per-ticket model looks fairer than per-agent at first glance — but the tier structure forces over-provisioning (you pay for 2,000 tickets even on a 1,200-ticket month) and AI Agent pricing stacks on top.
The 40-skill feature matrix
Gorgias is e-commerce-first. Their strength is deep Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento integration — order data, refund automation, returns. Their weakness is everything outside e-commerce. "Native (Shopify)" means it works through the Shopify connector. "Add-on" means a paid integration or higher tier.
| Category | FairDesk skill | Gorgias equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket Management | ticket-triage | Native (Rules) · AI version requires Auto-respond add-on |
| inbox-zero | Not in scope | |
| auto-tag | Native (Rules) | |
| merge-tickets | Native | |
| sla-monitor | Native (Pro+) | |
| ticket-summarize | Native (AI Agent — counted as resolution) | |
| whatsapp-support | Native (channel) | |
| Customer Intelligence | customer-360 | Native (Shopify customer panel) — strongest in category |
| vip-alert | Native (rules on lifetime spend — Shopify-only) | |
| sentiment-check | Native (AI Agent — resolution charge) | |
| contact-sync | Native (Shopify customer sync) | |
| lead-enrich | Not in scope | |
| email-verify | Not in scope | |
| root-cause | Not in scope | |
| Communication | draft-reply | Native (AI Agent) — resolution charge applies |
| response-templates | Native (Macros) | |
| csat-followup | Native (Pro+) | |
| customer-winback | Add-on (Convert product — paid) | |
| tone-rewriter | Native (AI Agent — resolution charge) | |
| translate-ticket | Native (AI Agent — resolution charge) | |
| angry-customer-playbook | Not in scope | |
| Analytics & Reporting | support-metrics | Native (Statistics — Pro+) |
| weekly-digest | Partial (manual exports) | |
| Workflow Automation | escalate | Native (Rules) |
| bug-report | Add-on (Jira / Linear integration) | |
| handoff-notes | Partial (internal notes — manual) | |
| refund-processor | Native (Shopify refund flow) — strongest in category | |
| macro-builder | Native (Macros — manual creation) | |
| Quality & Training | knowledge-search | Native (Help Center — Pro+) |
| qa-response | Add-on (third-party QA tool) | |
| chatbot-review | Native (AI Agent review) | |
| Feedback & Surveys | nps-collect | Add-on (third-party survey) |
| feedback-digest | Not in scope | |
| Sales & Outreach | outreach-campaign | Add-on (Convert) |
| proposal-draft | Not in scope | |
| call-summary | Not in scope | |
| Advanced Operations | subscription-cancel-flow | Partial (Shopify subscription apps integration) |
| escalation-rules-engine | Native (Rules) | |
| agent-performance-coach | Not in scope | |
| proactive-outreach | Add-on (Convert) |
Gorgias natively covers ~17 of 40 skills (Shopify-tilted), has ~6 behind AI Agent metering, ~5 behind paid add-ons, and ~12 not in scope. Gorgias wins decisively on customer-360 and refund-processor for Shopify stores.
Three workflows, side by side
Workflow 1: VIP customer enters with an angry message
Gorgias:
- Rule on Shopify lifetime spend > threshold tags as VIP. Strongest tier-1 customer recognition in category.
- AI Agent attempts resolution (resolution charge applies).
- If escalated, agent sees full Shopify customer panel: orders, refunds, lifetime value.
- No standalone de-escalation playbook.
FairDesk:
- customer-360 reads contact, deals, and engagement (FairCRM).
- sentiment-check + vip-alert + angry-customer-playbook run in parallel.
- Agent gets a 5-step de-escalation script with placeholder substitutions. Total skill cost: $0.043.
- Note: for pure-Shopify shops, FairDesk's customer panel does not yet match Gorgias's depth on order data. This will close in Wave 3.
Workflow 2: Refund request
Gorgias:
- Native Shopify refund flow inside the ticket — best-in-class for e-commerce.
- Agent processes refund without leaving the helpdesk.
- Auto-respond can fully resolve standard refund requests (resolution charge applies).
FairDesk:
- refund-processor reads order metadata from connected commerce source. For Shopify, this works through the FairFlow Shopify connector.
- Honest assessment: Gorgias's Shopify-native refund UX is currently smoother. FairDesk's advantage is that the same flow works for Stripe, WooCommerce, and custom commerce — not Shopify-locked.
Workflow 3: Multi-channel routing
Gorgias:
- Strong on email, chat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp — designed for D2C brands.
- Routing via Rules engine.
- Voice and SMS require add-ons.
FairDesk:
- Email, chat, WhatsApp included. Instagram and Facebook through FairFlow connectors.
- Routing via ticket-triage + auto-tag + vip-alert.
- Comparable for D2C; Gorgias has deeper native social DM support today.
When Gorgias is the right call
- You are pure-Shopify (or BigCommerce / Magento) and your support workflow is 80% order, refund, and returns. Gorgias's native commerce integration is best-in-class.
- You handle 100-1,000 tickets per month and the Pro tier's 2,000-ticket cap is comfortable headroom. The per-ticket effective price is reasonable in that band.
- You need Instagram and Facebook DM integration as a primary channel and don't want to wire it through a separate connector.
- Your team is already trained on Gorgias and the switching cost outweighs 12 months of run-rate savings.
When FairDesk is the right call
- You are not Shopify-locked. SaaS, marketplace, services, custom commerce — Gorgias is over-fit for your use case.
- Your ticket volume is unpredictable. FairDesk's pure per-ticket pricing means a slow month costs $30, not $300.
- You want operations skills (root-cause, agent-performance-coach, customer-winback) outside the commerce-only scope.
- You don't need Gorgias's native social DM channels — email and chat cover your support surface.
Migration / switching guide
FairDesk imports from Gorgias via CSV (tickets, customers, macros) and Help Center bulk export. Shopify reconnects directly through the FairFlow Shopify connector — no data lost on the customer panel. Rules translate to FairDesk's escalation-rules-engine. The realistic switching cost for a 5-agent Shopify shop is 1 week of admin work and pays back in the first month at the workload above. For Shopify-heavy teams, run both systems in parallel for 30 days — most teams retain a small Gorgias seat for Shopify-specific UX preferences during transition.
Try FairDesk free
5 standalone tools at fairdesk.ai/tools/. First use is free, no signup.
Open the tools →