Gorgias vs Zendesk AI (2026)

Gorgias

by Gorgias

Zendesk AI

by Zendesk

Pros

• ✓Native Shopify actions let AI Agent process refunds, edit orders, update addresses, and generate discount codes autonomously mid-conversation, without handing the customer to a human agent.
• ✓Helpdesk plans are priced by ticket volume rather than per agent, with 500 user seats on every tier above Starter, so support headcount can grow without changing the plan.
• ✓Fully public pricing across every helpdesk tier, with a $10/month Starter plan and an AI Agent add-on billed only on conversations the AI fully resolves.
• ✓The MCP server is included in any paid plan at no extra cost and does not require the AI Agent add-on, so a helpdesk-only team can query its own tickets and analytics from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor.

Limitations

• –AI Agent is billed separately from the helpdesk plan at $0.90 per resolved conversation on most plans and $1 on Starter, so total monthly cost is the plan fee plus resolution fees.
• –Ticket-based pricing rises with seasonal volume. A Black Friday spike can push teams over the plan limit, where extra tickets cost $0.36 to $0.40 each on top of AI Agent fees, and automated interactions beyond the allowance are charged at $1.50 each.
• –Built around ecommerce data. AI Agent's actions run against store platforms such as Shopify, and the preferred integrations are ecommerce apps such as Loop Returns, Yotpo and Recharge.

Pros

• ✓AI agents come with every Support and Suite plan on the pricing page, with an included allowance of automated resolutions per agent and outcome-based billing beyond it.
• ✓One platform for ticketing, messaging, voice, knowledge base and AI, with Copilot for agents, Forethought AI agents for complex workflows and Specialized Agents for commerce.
• ✓The trust center lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 42001, FedRAMP LI-SaaS, PCI DSS and HIPAA with a BAA.

Limitations

• –Copilot is a $50 per agent per month add-on below Enterprise, and automated resolutions above the plan allowance cost $1.50 committed or $2.00 pay-as-you-go.
• –Suite Enterprise + Copilot, which carries full intelligent triage, sandbox environments and custom agent roles, is priced only through sales.
• –Zendesk trains its own non-generative models, including cross-account models, on sanitized customer data, and its AI data pages describe no opt-out.