The short answer
Gorgias is a strong choice when you have a support team handling email, chat, social messages, SMS and phone in one place, and you want agents to edit, refund and cancel orders inside each ticket. Catchly suits a small store that wants an AI chat on its storefront answering pre sale questions from its own data, a person on hand when needed, and a monthly bill that does not move with volume.
At a glance
| Catchly | Gorgias | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, 50 AI conversations a month and unlimited human chat | No free plan. A 7 day trial |
| Entry price | $19 a month for 500 AI conversations | Starter at $10 a month for 50 tickets, monthly billing only. Basic at $60 a month, or $50 a month billed yearly, for 300 tickets |
| How use is counted | One shopper chat with at least one AI reply, counted once per 24 hours. Human chat is free | Helpdesk use per ticket. The AI Agent is billed per automated interaction, $0.90 each on yearly plans or $1.00 on monthly plans |
| Past the limit | No overage. The AI pauses and the chat keeps taking questions and emails | $0.40 per extra ticket on Starter and Basic. AI interactions beyond the included allowance at $1.50 each |
| Channels | Web chat on your Shopify store | Email, chat, SMS, social and voice in one helpdesk |
| Order actions | Not by the AI. Order status lookups once Shopify approves order access; change requests go to your team | Agents edit, refund and cancel orders inside a ticket |
| Languages | The chat replies in the language the shopper writes in. The admin is in English | Its Shopify listing shows English |
Where Gorgias is the better choice
- You run a support team. Gorgias is a complete helpdesk with rules, macros, tagging and reporting. Catchly has an inbox for chats, not a ticketing system.
- You support customers on many channels. Email, SMS, social and phone all land in Gorgias. Catchly covers your storefront chat only.
- Your agents act on orders all day. Editing, refunding and cancelling from the ticket saves time at volume.
Where Catchly is different
- Priced for a small store. A free plan, then $19, $49 or $129 a month. Every plan includes AI conversations and unlimited human chat.
- No per ticket or per message bill. A busy week does not raise your bill. At your monthly cap the AI pauses, and the chat keeps collecting questions and emails so you can reply.
- Made for questions before the sale. Catchly answers about products, sizes, shipping and returns from your own store data, shows product cards with add to cart, and can compare two or three products side by side.
- Built to stay inside your policies. A promise guard is designed to stop the AI offering refunds, discounts or delivery dates your policies do not state.
- Setup in minutes. Install, switch on the app embed in your theme, send a test chat. No routing rules to build.
Is a helpdesk too much for a small store?
If most of your messages are shoppers asking about fit, materials, shipping times and returns before they buy, a helpdesk can be more than you need. Those questions are usually answered on your own product pages and policies already, and a grounded AI chat can answer them at the moment the shopper is deciding. If most of your messages are after the sale, about orders, damage and exchanges, a helpdesk earns its place. Some stores use both: a helpdesk for email, and a storefront chat for shoppers who are still browsing.
If you are trying Catchly
- Install Catchly and let it read your products, pages and policies.
- Add your best macro answers as questions and answers in Catchly, or import them from a CSV file.
- Decide when the chat asks for an email, and set your business hours, so after hours questions become leads.
- Make sure only one chat button shows on your storefront.
Catchly is live on the Shopify App Store. Install Catchly or try the live demo.
Sources
Facts about Gorgias come from these public pages, read on 18 October 2026. Plans and prices may have changed since.
Gorgias is a trademark of its owner. Catchly is not affiliated with Gorgias.