Best Shopify Chat Apps 2025: AI vs Live Chat Compared

The Shopify Chat App Landscape in 2025

Shopify's App Store lists hundreds of chat apps. Most merchants install three or four before finding one that works. That's a lot of wasted time configuring tools that don't fit.

The market has split into two camps: traditional helpdesks with chat features, and AI-first tools that automate conversations. Understanding the difference saves you from choosing the wrong category entirely.

This guide breaks down the leading options—what they actually cost, what they do well, and where they fall short.

What E-commerce Chat Actually Requires

Generic live chat tools work fine for SaaS companies. E-commerce is different.

The E-commerce Difference

Order Context: When someone asks "where's my order?", your chat needs to know who they are and what they ordered. Generic chat tools make agents dig through Shopify manually.

Product Knowledge: Customers ask about sizing, compatibility, stock levels, shipping times. Your chat should answer these without human intervention for every query.

Cart Intelligence: Seeing what's in a customer's cart transforms support from reactive to proactive. An agent who knows the cart value can prioritize accordingly.

Multi-channel Reality: Your customers message on Instagram, email from their phone, and chat on your website. They expect you to know the conversation history regardless of channel.

The AI Question

Here's the strategic choice: do you want humans answering every message, or AI handling the routine so humans focus on complex cases?

Traditional helpdesks assume humans answer everything. AI features are add-ons.

AI-first tools assume automation handles volume. Humans are for escalations.

Neither approach is wrong—but choosing the wrong one for your situation creates friction.

The Major Shopify Chat Apps Compared

1. Gorgias

Best for: Growing DTC brands committed to Shopify.

Gorgias built their entire platform around Shopify. The integration depth shows—order data, customer history, and Shopify actions (refunds, cancellations) work directly from the support interface.

Pricing (Ticket-Based):

• Starter: $10/month (50 tickets)
• Basic: $60/month (300 tickets)
• Pro: $360/month (2,000 tickets)
• Advanced: $900/month (5,000 tickets)
• Overage: $0.36-$0.40 per ticket above plan limit

This model has implications. Every customer interaction—email, chat, social message—counts as a ticket. A busy month can double your bill unexpectedly.

Agent seats are unlimited on most plans (except Starter's 3-seat limit), so pricing scales with volume, not team size.

Strengths: Gorgias puts Shopify data next to every conversation. Agents see order history, lifetime value, and previous interactions without tab-switching. Macros and rules automate repetitive responses. The unified inbox handles email, chat, social, and SMS.

Their AI claims to handle up to 60% of common support questions through automated responses and intent detection.

Limitations: Ticket-based pricing makes costs unpredictable. Seasonal spikes hit twice—increased volume AND increased costs. Adding Voice or SMS channels adds more tickets to your count.

The platform is Shopify-focused to a fault. If you sell on multiple platforms or ever migrate, you're rebuilding from scratch.

Verdict: Excellent for Shopify-only brands with predictable support volume. Watch your ticket counts carefully.

2. Tidio

Best for: Small to mid-size stores wanting quick setup and visual bot building.

Tidio is the most-installed chat solution across Shopify and WordPress. The free tier and approachable interface explain the popularity.

Pricing:

• Free: Basic chat, Tidio branding
• Starter: $29/month
• Growth: $59/month (250 conversations)
• Lyro AI add-on: $39/month (50 AI conversations)
• Tidio+: from $750/month (enterprise)

Strengths: Setup takes minutes. The visual chatbot builder requires no coding—drag, drop, configure. Lyro AI (powered by Claude) handles FAQs without human intervention. Abandoned cart tracking enables proactive outreach.

Multi-channel support includes Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and email in one inbox.

Limitations: AI features require paid add-ons with conversation limits. The $39/month Lyro add-on includes only 50 AI conversations—heavy traffic stores will burn through that quickly and face per-conversation charges.

The Shopify integration is solid but not as deep as Gorgias. You won't process refunds from the chat interface.

Verdict: Best value for stores prioritizing live chat with light automation. Calculate your conversation volume before committing to AI tiers.

3. Re:amaze

Best for: Multi-brand or multi-store operations needing flexibility.

Re:amaze positions between the simple tools and enterprise platforms. Per-user pricing (not per-ticket) appeals to stores with high volume but small teams.

Pricing:

• Basic: $29/user/month
• Pro: $49/user/month
• Plus: $69/user/month

Each additional staff user adds that amount to your bill. A 5-person team on Pro costs $245/month regardless of ticket volume.

Strengths: Unlimited conversations on all plans—no surprise overage charges. The unified inbox handles email, chat, social, SMS, and VoIP. Shopify Plus stores get chat on checkout and thank-you pages.

Workflow automation and chatbots included without AI-specific add-ons. The knowledge base integrates with the chat widget for self-service.

Limitations: Per-user pricing hurts as teams grow. Ten agents on Plus costs $690/month—territory where enterprise tools become competitive. The Shopify integration exists but isn't the singular focus like Gorgias.

AI capabilities exist but aren't the platform's strength. If automation is your priority, purpose-built tools deliver more.

Verdict: Strong choice for stores with larger teams and high conversation volume. Per-user pricing predictability has value.

4. LiveChat

Best for: Stores prioritizing polished human chat experience.

LiveChat is the established player—reliable, well-designed, and feature-complete for human-powered support.

Pricing:

• Starter: $20/agent/month
• Team: $41/agent/month
• Business: $59/agent/month
• Enterprise: custom

Strengths: The chat experience is refined after years of iteration. Real-time visitor monitoring, proactive chat triggers, cart viewing, and order history integration. Over 200 integrations including Shopify, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

The AI Copilot assists agents with suggested responses. Product recommendations link directly to product pages.

Limitations: LiveChat is fundamentally human-powered. AI features assist agents rather than replacing conversations. If your goal is automating 60-80% of inquiries, this isn't the tool.

Per-agent pricing compounds. A 10-agent team on Team plan costs $410/month.

Verdict: Best-in-class for stores committed to human-staffed support. Not the right choice for automation-first strategies.

5. Chatty AI Chatbot

Best for: Budget-conscious stores wanting basic AI automation.

Chatty offers AI chatbot functionality with a genuine free tier—unusual in the Shopify app ecosystem.

Pricing:

• Free: Core features included
• Paid tiers available for expanded functionality

Strengths: Merchants report reduced response times and support workload through AI-automated responses. Order tracking integration handles "where's my order?" without human involvement. WhatsApp and Messenger support included.

The app is lightweight—won't tank your page speed.

Limitations: Less established than Tidio or Gorgias. The AI trains on your content, but customization depth varies. Enterprise features and advanced reporting limited compared to dedicated platforms.

Verdict: Worth testing if budget is constrained. The free tier lets you evaluate without commitment.

6. Zendesk

Best for: Enterprise operations with complex requirements.

Zendesk is the enterprise standard for customer support. Their Shopify app brings that ecosystem to your store—but at enterprise pricing.

Pricing:

• Suite Team: $55/agent/month
• Suite Professional: $115/agent/month
• Suite Enterprise: $169/agent/month
• Advanced AI add-on: $50/agent/month

A 5-agent team on Professional with AI costs $9,900/year.

Strengths: Omnichannel support across every communication method. Enterprise security, compliance certifications, and audit capabilities. Sophisticated automation and routing. Smart triggers detect cart abandonment and page exits.

Limitations: Overkill for most Shopify stores. The power that serves 100-agent enterprise teams creates complexity for 5-person operations. Implementation and training take weeks, not hours.

Verdict: Only consider if you're running enterprise-scale support or already embedded in Zendesk's ecosystem.

AI-First vs Traditional: The Strategic Decision

The tools above share an assumption: humans handle conversations, software helps them do it faster.

AI-first tools invert this. AI handles conversations, humans handle exceptions.

When Traditional Makes Sense

Choose human-powered chat if:

• Your products require consultative selling
• Customer conversations frequently need judgment calls
• You have capacity to staff chat during business hours
• Your support volume is manageable manually

When AI-First Makes Sense

Choose AI-first if:

• Most inquiries are repetitive (shipping, returns, product info)
• You can't staff chat 24/7 but customers shop around the clock
• Support volume exceeds your team's capacity
• You'd rather humans focus on complex cases

The Hybrid Reality

Most stores land somewhere in between. AI handles the FAQ-style volume. Humans handle the nuanced cases. The question is which direction you're leaning—and choosing a tool that matches.

Traditional helpdesks with AI add-ons can automate some volume. But the architecture assumes humans are primary. AI is an enhancement.

AI-first tools can escalate to humans. But the architecture assumes AI is primary. Humans are the escalation path.

Matching your strategy to your tool's architecture prevents fighting against the platform.

Pricing Comparison Matrix

Let's compare realistic monthly costs:

| Scenario | Gorgias | Tidio | Re:amaze | LiveChat | |----------|---------|-------|----------|----------| | 2 agents, 300 tickets | $60 | $59 | $98 | $82 | | 5 agents, 1,000 tickets | $360 | $59+ | $245 | $205 | | 5 agents, 2,500 tickets | $360+ overage | $59+ | $245 | $205 | | 10 agents, 5,000 tickets | $900 | $59+ | $490 | $410 |

Notes:

• Gorgias pricing scales with tickets, not agents
• Tidio base price doesn't include AI conversation overages
• Re:amaze and LiveChat scale with agents regardless of volume
• AI add-ons increase all prices significantly

The "best" pricing depends entirely on your agent-to-volume ratio.

Implementation Priorities

Whichever tool you choose:

1. Start With Knowledge

Your chat—AI or human—needs access to accurate information:

• Complete FAQ covering top 20 questions
• Current shipping times and policies
• Return and refund procedures
• Product information customers ask about

Update this before launching. Outdated information creates support tickets.

2. Define Escalation Paths

When should chat hand off to humans? Configure:

• Keywords triggering escalation (refund, complaint, cancel)
• Time thresholds for unresolved conversations
• VIP customer routing (high lifetime value)
• After-hours handling

3. Measure What Matters

Track from day one:

• Resolution rate (% resolved without escalation)
• First response time
• Customer satisfaction scores
• Cost per conversation

These metrics tell you if your tool choice was correct—and when to reconsider.

4. Iterate Based on Data

Review conversation transcripts weekly. What questions stump the AI? What manual responses could be automated? Where do customers express frustration?

The best chat implementation improves continuously.

Choosing Your Path

Choose Gorgias if: You're Shopify-committed, want deep native integration, and have predictable support volume.

Choose Tidio if: You want quick setup, visual bot building, and flexibility between live chat and basic AI.

Choose Re:amaze if: You have a larger team and want predictable per-user pricing regardless of volume.

Choose LiveChat if: Human-powered chat is your strategy and you want the most polished experience.

Choose AI-first if: You want automation as the default, humans as the escalation, and efficiency as the goal.

The chat app you choose shapes how your support operates. Pick based on your actual strategy, not feature checklists.