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Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Gorgias vs Intercom vs Retell AI

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Gorgias

3.9

From $10/mo

Best overall

Intercom

4.2

From $0.99 per outcome

Retell AI

4.1

From About $0.07–$0.31/min

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Shopify and ecommerce stores with enough customer messages that they need a proper support inbox and some of the questions answered by AI.

Best overall

Pick it if: Online businesses and software companies with a support team that wants an AI agent to take the first pass at every question.

Best value

Pick it if: Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.

Intercom scores highest overall, but Retell AI gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeGorgiasIntercomRetell AI
In one lineCustomer support inbox for Shopify stores, with an AI agent that answers and sells.Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first.AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls.
Pricing modelPaidPaidPaid
Starting price$10/mo$0.99 per outcomeAbout $0.07–$0.31/min
Free plan No No No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeGorgiasIntercomRetell AI
Overall rating3.94.2Winner4.1
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
4.0
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
5.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
3.5
4.5
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
3.0
4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.5
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeGorgiasIntercomRetell AI
Access & platform
Free plan No No No
Mobile app Yes Yes–
Desktop app No––
Browser extension No––
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images– Yes–
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No–
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style Yes Yes–
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score9/ 1710/ 177/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeGorgiasIntercomRetell AI
Plans

Starter

$10/mo

A small store with a handful of messages.

Fin on its own

$0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum

Teams happy with their current helpdesk who want the AI agent only.

Pay as you goOur pick

About $0.07–$0.31/min

Most small businesses and agencies.

BasicOur pick

$60/mo, or $50/mo billed yearly

Growing stores with a small support team.

Essential

$29/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome

Small teams starting out with live chat and an AI agent.

Enterprise

Custom

High call volumes and compliance needs.

Pro

$360/mo, or $300/mo billed yearly

Busy stores that want AI and revenue reports.

AdvancedOur pick

$85/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome

Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes.

Advanced

$900/mo, or $750/mo billed yearly

High-volume brands with a dedicated support team.

Expert

$132/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome

Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs.

Enterprise

Custom

Brands with more than 5,000 tickets a month or strict security needs.

Which plan to pickStart the 7-day trial, which needs no card. Basic suits most growing Shopify stores. Turn on the AI Agent once you know your common questions, and budget about $1 for each conversation it handles on top of the ticket price.Start the 14-day trial and see how many conversations Fin handles, because that number drives the bill more than seats do. Most teams with more than a couple of agents end up on Advanced for the workflows. If you already run Zendesk or Salesforce and like it, try Fin on its own first.Start on pay as you go with the free credits, build one agent for your most common call and test it on your own phone. Talk to sales only once you run thousands of minutes a month.

Key features

AttributeGorgiasIntercomRetell AI
Standout features
  • Ecommerce inbox
  • Order actions
  • AI Agent
  • Shopping Assistant
  • Automations
  • Revenue reports
  • Fin AI agent
  • Shared inbox and tickets
  • Messenger chat widget
  • Help centre
  • Workflows
  • Copilot for agents
  • Phone agents
  • Flow builder
  • Appointment booking
  • Knowledge base
  • Batch calling
  • Call analysis

Pros and cons

AttributeGorgiasIntercomRetell AI
Pros
  • Order details and refunds right inside each ticket
  • Built around Shopify, so setup is quick for Shopify stores
  • Email, chat, SMS, voice and social in one inbox
  • AI Agent can take actions, not only reply
  • Revenue reports show what support helped sell
  • Fin gives some of the most accurate answers of any AI support agent
  • Inbox, chat, help centre and AI all built to work together
  • Fin can run on top of another helpdesk, so you can trial it without moving
  • Clean, modern inbox that support staff pick up quickly
  • Public API and an official MCP server, so Claude and other AI tools can connect to it
  • Natural voices and quick responses
  • Visual builder makes it usable for non-developers
  • Pay per minute with no platform fee
  • Strong reviews from small businesses and agencies
Cons
  • Each AI conversation costs about $1 and also counts as a ticket, so you pay twice
  • Ticket limits mean busy months like Black Friday cost more
  • Some merchants report the AI giving wrong answers or closing tickets early
  • Mixed reviews of Gorgias's own customer support
  • Less suited to businesses that don't sell online
  • Per-seat plus per-conversation pricing makes the monthly bill hard to predict
  • You pay for a Fin outcome even when a customer leaves after a weak answer, by some users' accounts
  • Many useful features sit on higher plans or paid add-ons
  • Slow or patchy responses from Intercom's own support in user reviews
  • Ownership change (renamed Fin, being bought by Salesforce) adds uncertainty
  • Per-minute cost varies a lot with your model and voice choices
  • Takes testing to handle real callers reliably
  • Some users want more voice and customisation options

Who each one is for

AttributeGorgiasIntercomRetell AI
Best for
  • Answering order, shipping and returns questions for a Shopify store
  • One inbox for email, chat, SMS and social comments
  • Refunding or editing orders without leaving the ticket
  • Letting AI handle simple questions and recommend products
  • Answering common customer questions automatically
  • Website and in-app live chat
  • A shared support inbox with ticketing
  • Building a help centre the AI learns from
  • Support across chat, email and phone in one place
  • AI receptionist for a small business
  • Booking appointments by phone
  • Answering after-hours and overflow calls
  • Outbound reminder and follow-up calls
You'll find it used by
  • Online stores
  • Shopify brands
  • Support teams
  • Ecommerce agencies
  • Support teams
  • Software companies
  • Online stores
  • Customer success teams
  • Small business owners
  • Clinics
  • Voice AI agencies
  • Customer service teams
  • Developers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Gorgias, Intercom or Retell AI?

Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Gorgias 3.9/5, Intercom 4.2/5 and Retell AI 4.1/5). Gorgias is best for answering order, shipping and returns questions for a Shopify store and one inbox for email, chat, SMS and social comments. Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat. Retell AI is best for AI receptionist for a small business and booking appointments by phone.

Which is cheaper, Gorgias, Intercom or Retell AI?

Gorgias: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $10/mo. Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome. Retell AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at About $0.07–$0.31/min.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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