Zendesk vs Gorgias for an existing helpdesk: measure order-ticket share, map store context, understand permission and SLA changes, and run a parallel test before migrating.
Zendesk
GorgiasIf your team already runs Zendesk and you sell through Shopify, this page is about the decision you face before adding Gorgias: how much of your queue is order work, and what happens to the service that is not. The answer shapes whether you migrate, keep both systems, or leave the queue you already run in place. The same price facts also appear in the reverse Gorgias contre Zendesk comparison; here they are applied to your starting point. For a broader look at helpdesk options, our help desk comparison covers the full set.
TL;DR: Measure your current Zendesk workflow with the Shopify Support app enabled before comparing it with Gorgias. Move a storefront queue when Gorgias improves the verified order outcome or reduces the work needed to get there while preserving approval, handoff and service levels. Test the move on one queue before migrating history or turning off Zendesk.
Zendesk sells a general-purpose service platform. Annual plan rates start at $19 per agent per month for Support Team, $55 for Suite Team, and $115 for Suite Professional, all billed yearly, per Zendesk's pricing page. Suite plans bundle email, messaging, live chat, help centre, and voice, with AI agents included and billed per automated resolution. Gorgias sells a storefront desk: it treats a ticket as a unit of support work, prices by ticket volume rather than seat count, and embeds Shopify customer profiles and order actions directly in the ticket view.
Check what your Zendesk team can do today. Zendesk’s first-party Shopify Support app can show order details and let agents cancel or refund orders inside a ticket. If agents still switch tabs, determine whether the app is missing, permissions are restrictive, or the remaining work lives with your fulfillment provider. Fixing the current setup changes the migration baseline. Zendesk Shopify integration
Separate read-only order questions from cases that change an order or require an approval. A queue with many tracking questions may have little to gain from moving if the existing integration answers them. Prioritize cases where a second system, manual approval or failed handoff currently adds work.
Gorgias connects to Shopify as a native integration, not a bolt-on webhook. Agents see order history, customer lifetime data, and past interactions in the same ticket view. From there they can create, duplicate, edit, or refund orders, generate discount codes, and send SMS or voice messages if those add-ons are enabled. The company promotes this as one-tab handling, meaning an agent can resolve an order issue without leaving the helpdesk.
Zendesk’s demo covers customer-facing AI agents. For the staff workflow, its Copilot auto assist recipe separately documents Shopify lookups, cancellations and refunds. Compare the workflow your team actually uses. Zendesk cancellation and refund recipe
On the automation side, Gorgias offers AI Agent on every helpdesk plan and meters resolved interactions separately. It runs on email and chat, and it can handle common storefront requests such as order status, return initiation, and shipping questions using your stored policies and Shopify data. The company says AI Agent resolves tickets without human handover in the cases where it is configured for that. Pricing is per resolved interaction. On most plans each AI-resolved conversation costs $0.90; Starter plans begin at $1 per resolved conversation, per Gorgias's AI pricing explainer. The same explainer lists a flat $1.50 overage per interaction on Support + Shopping Assistant plans and Support-only overage rates from $1.00 to $2.00 monthly or $0.83 to $1.67 annually, depending on tier. Since the public pricing page still requires an interactive configuration, ask for a written configuration quote for Gorgias pricing before planning your spend.
This Gorgias demonstration focuses on the AI Agent handling Shopify tickets. Watch it to see the specific order actions the agent can take before you decide which scenarios to test in your own pilot.
There is a caveat that matters for teams that used Gorgias before May 28, 2025. Older accounts may still be on the legacy pricing model, where a ticket counts either toward the helpdesk ticket fee or the automation fee, but not both, per Gorgias's billing documentation. Current billing splits the two: after the change, a ticket can generate both a helpdesk ticket fee and an automation fee when AI resolves it entirely without human intervention. If your company signed up earlier, confirm which billing model applies during your contract discussions.
Gorgias improves order work, but it is not designed to replace the whole Zendesk operation. Non-commerce tickets, such as product bugs, API and technical issues, account disputes, legal requests, or multi-team collaboration, usually lack the same context and tooling in Gorgias. Moving those queues wholesale can mean losing custom fields, routing rules, SLA configurations, and integrations that took years to refine.
This is the strongest reason not to migrate everything. Instead, decide which tickets belong in the store desk and which belong in the general helpdesk. A common working split: route anything that involves order fulfillment, returns, payments, or pre-sale shopping questions to Gorgias; keep technical support, enterprise accounts, compliance, and back-office service in Zendesk. Both systems can sit side by side, with agents working from whichever queue matches the ticket. For a broader look at ecommerce helpdesk alternatives beyond these two, see our customer service software for ecommerce guide.
Gorgias brings rich customer and order context into the ticket view, but you should not assume that the context maps cleanly to your existing data. Before you run a test:
One important detail: Gorgias has its own definition of a billable ticket, per its billing documentation. It only counts a ticket after your helpdesk sends a message in reply, whether the reply comes from an agent, AI, or a rule. Emails you never answer do not count. Use the same ticket sample to forecast Gorgias reply activity and the Zendesk seats your team actually needs. Gorgias also defines an automated interaction as a request fully handled by AI or another automation feature with no human involvement within 72 hours, so factor that resolution window into AI cost forecasts.
Migration changes the way you measure performance, not just the interface. Zendesk lets you build group-based SLA policies, custom roles, and deep analytics across many channels. Gorgias measures tickets by reply activity, flags first-response time and average response time by channel, tracks escalation to humans, and can associate revenue with conversations. Its reporting is commerce-oriented: tickets and revenue data feed into dashboards, but you generally get fewer free-form reporting options than a full business intelligence setup.
If your organization relies on documented SLAs, set up equivalent service-level targets in Gorgias and verify you can report against them. Role-based access also differs, so plan a permissions matrix before inviting agents. For teams regulated by audit requirements, look for logs of configuration changes and secure access controls, and ask sales which security certifications apply to the account configuration you need.
Replay a sample of Zendesk cases in a test storefront with synthetic orders and redacted ticket content. Start with one Shopify queue. Include a read-only lookup, an approved refund, a refund denied by policy, an order already sent to fulfillment, and an escalation back to a Zendesk group.
Before you move, set a time or manual-work improvement target using the Zendesk baseline. Treat unauthorized writes, duplicate refunds and lost escalations as failures regardless of the time saved. Forecast Gorgias billable tickets and automated interactions from the same case mix, then compare both with the incremental cost of improving Zendesk. Pull your Zendesk allowance balance and usage-period end date from Billing before estimating the cost of keeping the queue. The service terms usually apply an annual usage period and bill excess resolutions monthly. Use the Gorgias vs Zendesk buying comparison for the billing example and documented order actions.
Keep Zendesk as your primary system when your top complaints are technical product issues, account access, or enterprise service rather than delivery and order logistics. Zendesk is also the better home if you rely on advanced SLA policies, skills-based routing, and extensive marketplace integrations beyond Shopify. In that configuration, consider improving your order handling inside Zendesk first, with its first-party Shopify app before you take on a second helpdesk. Compare the cost and controls of any additional custom actions separately. If you go the API route, follow current Shopify authentication and app creation guidelines, since admin-created custom app tokens are not a current setup path.
You can also run both systems intentionally. Use Gorgias for the storefront queue and keep Zendesk for engineering, finance, and account management. This preserves your operational control while getting the store context where it matters.
Can I use Gorgias and Zendesk at the same time? Yes. Many brands run Gorgias for Shopify support and keep Zendesk for technical or enterprise service. Route order tickets to Gorgias and non-commerce tickets to Zendesk, then synchronize customer tags manually or through an API workflow if you need unified reporting.
Does Gorgias replace Zendesk for technical support? Not typically. Gorgias focuses on commerce-support workflows. Technical bugs, API issues, and complex account disputes usually lack the same routing, SLA, and integration depth. Keep those in Zendesk unless your entire queue is storefront-focused.
Is Gorgias cheaper than Zendesk? Depends on volume and AI usage. Gorgias prices by tickets rather than seats, so it can be less expensive for large teams with moderate volume, but add-on fees and overages affect total cost. Zendesk charges per agent and per resolution. Model your own numbers and ask for a Gorgias configuration quote.
How do I export my Zendesk history before migrating? Use Gorgias’s Zendesk historical import for supported data. Keep a separate archive under your retention policy for older tickets and records the import omits. Before switching channels, spot-check a pending ticket, a macro with multiple actions, and a ticket with attachments against Zendesk. Gorgias historical import
What does "billable ticket" mean in Gorgias? A Gorgias ticket generally counts once the helpdesk sends a reply. For Zendesk, forecast agent seats and any billable automated resolutions. Start with the same queue sample and count the events each plan actually meters.
Can an agent verify an order with just an email or order number? Emails and order numbers are lookup keys, not identity proof. Accessing or changing customer records requires an authenticated session with object-level authorization. Never collect passwords or one-time codes in chat; use a secure login or a verification link sent to the stored address.
Will my refund and order edit permissions carry over? No. You must configure roles and permissions inside Gorgias. Set restrictions so only authorized agents can process refunds, edits, or cancellations, and test those permissions before going live.
Order tickets belong in a store desk; everything else belongs in the service platform you already run. Gorgias gives you Shopify context and order actions in the conversation, while Zendesk remains strong for general support. Measure the share of order work, map your context and permissions, model both cost structures, and run a parallel test before committing. If the test confirms better handling for order tickets, a phased migration is defensible. If it does not, keep your queue where it is and improve the order workflow inside Zendesk first.
A Gorgias quote must cover ticket fees, AI automation fees, and overage rates for the plan and billing term you choose. Use it to build your side-by-side cost model against Zendesk before you commit.
