Live chat
Last updated · A-Widget
| Decision | Shopify Inbox | Tidio | LiveChat | Gorgias |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | A merchant who mainly needs to answer visitors on Shopify | A Shopify merchant evaluating human support plus a defined bot task | A merchant with people assigned to live conversations | A store whose support needs go beyond a chat-only entrance |
| Documented scope | Shopify storefront chat; Instant answers and availability settings; Requires an eligible Shopify store and access | Live chat and help desk; Lyro AI and Flows have distinct usage units; Published free tier has finite allowances | New trials use Text plans with chat, inbox and AI Agent; Essential and Growth charge per user with AI limits; Existing LiveChat plans remain on legacy pricing | Ecommerce help-desk product; Shopify integration route; Ticket and automation units need checking |
| Trade-off | Eligibility and staff permissions still need checking | Different usage units can complicate the package choice | Per-person billing needs a realistic staff count | Ticket and automation charging need a scenario-based comparison |
| Next step | Read Shopify Inbox analysis | Read Tidio analysis | Read LiveChat analysis | Read Gorgias analysis |
These four choices come from current official product and Shopify sources. This is a research comparison, not a test of response speed or sales results. Check the current app plan and permissions for your own store before installing.
Shopify Inbox
Our verdict:
Native storefront chat
Best for A merchant who mainly needs to answer visitors on Shopify
Keep in mind: Eligibility and staff permissions still need checking
Shopify Inbox is a sensible first route to inspect for a store that wants user messages in the Shopify setting. Shopify's help describes online store chat, instant answers and staff availability. Those controls address a narrower task than a full external help desk.
Begin with the questions that arrive before purchase. A delivery policy or product-use question may only need a clear answer and a person who can follow up. Avoid adding another system just because it offers more channels than the store uses.
The Shopify Inbox guide explains current access and setup. Shopify also publishes a route to turn on Online store chat in App embeds. Check the real theme and account rather than assuming the launcher is enabled after the app is installed.
Set staff hours and the first reply. Keep instant answers tied to listed store facts. If the business changes a policy, update that answer too. A stale answer can be wrong even when the app itself works.
Confirm what user context staff can see and how they should use it. A page visit or chat message does not prove that the user owns an exact order. Move private order changes into the store's supported checks process.
Choose this route when its current task and controls fit. Consider a wider tool only after naming the missing need. The limit should be something concrete, such as a needed help-desk process, rather than a vague desire for more features.
Tidio
Our verdict:
Chat with optional automation
Best for A Shopify merchant evaluating human support plus a defined bot task
Keep in mind: Different usage units can complicate the package choice
Tidio is a candidate when the store wants human chat with a route into Lyro or Flows. Its plan page treats those allowances separately. That matters for a merchant whose human workload and bot workload grow at distinct rates.
Use the vendor's official Shopify route and check the current app owner. Review requested access to store data. Only connect details needed for the task; a connection label does not justify every permission by itself.
For an illustrative shop, the bot might answer an approved returns FAQ while staff handle unusual cases. It should not approve a return that falls outside the source policy. The safe handoff is part of the design, not a failure to hide from the user.
Inspect the current human conversation allowance and the AI allowance. A one-off AI trial is not an ongoing monthly plan scope. Our Tidio pricing guide explains that distinction.
Check whether the chosen setup reads current product or order data and under which documented rules. If that behavior is not established, do not promise an auto order answer. A link to the store's supported order-status route may be safer.
The trade-off is scope and quota management. Tidio can be useful for a mixed workflow, but a store with only occasional human questions may not need the added automation setup. Keep the choice tied to a real need.
LiveChat
Our verdict:
Staffed store support
Best for A merchant with people assigned to live conversations
Keep in mind: Per-person billing needs a realistic staff count
LiveChat is worth comparing when staff will actively answer the store's questions. Its listed billing model is based on people using the service. Store visitors and licensed staff seats are different billing units; count the people who will use the inbox.
Define who needs access and when they work. A team with part-time cover should check the current access rules rather than assuming a shared login is suitable. Keep individual ownership of conversations where the product supports it.
Read LiveChat's Shopify help for the current installation and store connection. Confirm the exact connection and current plan before relying on an order-context feature. A supported storefront script alone does not prove every back-office action.
Check the normal question, an offline message and a transfer to another person. The user should know when the conversation becomes a follow-up. A staff member needs enough context to continue without asking for private details in an unsafe channel.
New trials on LiveChat's pricing page use Text Essential, Growth or Enterprise, including an AI Agent scope. Compare the included AI allowance as well as staff seats for store questions.
Existing LiveChat customers retain their legacy plans. The separate ChatBot product is not proof that a new Text plan lacks AI. Confirm the right product's Shopify connection before choosing a trial.
Choose this route for a staffed workflow the team can maintain. If nobody can watch the queue, paying for a stronger screen will not solve that problem. Fix coverage or use a clearer message route first.
Gorgias
Our verdict:
Ecommerce help desk
Best for A store whose support needs go beyond a chat-only entrance
Keep in mind: Ticket and automation charging need a scenario-based comparison
Gorgias is an ecommerce support candidate when the store needs a broader help-desk process. Its current pricing discusses ticket and automation-related units. Those are distinct from a simple count of chat seats.
A merchant should define the work before comparing the package. Are staff only answering pre-sale questions, or also handling order support across several channels? The second job can justify a wider system, but it also brings more setup and data access.
Use Gorgias's official pricing and Shopify help to inspect the current plan scope. Keep a fictional workload clearly labelled. Do not invent an equivalent monthly bill from units whose exact rules you have not checked.
Check which order details the connection exposes and which actions staff can take. Reading a record and changing it are distinct permissions. Give staff only the permissions their role needs, and verify the customer’s identity before changing a private order.
Define what counts as a billable ticket or bot interaction under the current offer. A single user issue may move across channels. The service's own definition, rather than your informal meaning of “chat,” controls the comparison.
The drawback is that a full help desk can be excessive for a small chat-only need. If the store does not need the wider workflow, start with the narrower route. More system scope is useful only when it removes a real task burden.
List the details staff truly need. A delivery question may need a listed policy. A request to change an order needs verified user access and a suitable action route. Do not use chat as a shortcut around account security.
Read the app's requested permissions and current data terms. Note which service receives message content and any connected order fields. Keep the store's privacy explanation aligned with the real app rather than a template list.
Compare staff seats, conversations, tickets and AI units separately. A headline price can describe only one of those. Record the billing period and any added product required for the workflow.
Use a labelled example to estimate the task mix: human questions, offline messages and bot help. Keep expected demand as an assumption. It is not evidence of future sales or a guaranteed reduction in staff time.
Test the launcher near the cart and checkout entrance on a phone. It should not cover the action the user came to use. Open and close the panel and check that focus returns to a useful place.
Keep core delivery, refund and contact details on the site itself. A user may block an external widget or arrive while the vendor is unavailable. Chat should support the store rather than hold key policies hostage.
Set a queue owner and an escalation route. Agree how staff mark work as resolved and how open issues survive a shift change. A well-organised inbox still needs people to act on it.
Review bot answers after a policy change. A store can update its returns page while a bot still uses an older source. The connection and source refresh need their own checks.
Follow the official app and theme route. Our Shopify chat setup guide covers the first installation checks. Avoid keeping an old pasted snippet alongside a new app embed.
Confirm the correct account receives a fictional test question. Check a staff reply, an offline message and a case requiring a transfer. Inspect the live storefront while signed out, not only the theme editor.
Record how to remove the app's visible connection and how to handle the external account. Those are separate jobs. A plan, conversation history or staff access can remain after a launcher disappears.
Use a fictional order question to decide what staff need to see. A general delivery query may only need the public policy. An address change needs a secure verified process. Do not grant broad store access merely because the chat app can request it.
Keep the staff role tied to the action. A person who reads messages may not need the right to change orders. The current app and store controls should support that separation where the workflow needs it.
A chat about a product does not complete a purchase. Keep the store's normal checkout route clear and let it prove the paid state. Staff should not ask users to send card details through chat to finish an order.
An order-number match is not sufficient authority to refund or change an order. Keep those actions within the store’s supported customer-verification and staff-permission process. Use chat to direct the customer into that process when needed.
It is a useful starting point for the native storefront-chat task, subject to the current store rules. A broader support operation may need other documented features. Name the gap before changing products, then compare the full workflow and charging units rather than treating a larger feature list as proof.
Only if the wider support task warrants it. A store with occasional questions may need a simple staffed route. A store handling order work across channels may benefit from a help-desk process. In both cases, access, coverage and a clear handoff matter more than the label on the tool.
