Gorgias Alternatives 2026: 6 Free Options
Gorgias alternatives: Tidio, Chatwoot, FreeScout, Zammad and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•4 min read•Customer Support & Help Desk
Verdict:Gorgias is built for online stores, and its Starter plan is $10 a month with only 50 tickets included and $0.40 for each extra ticket. The seat count is not the problem; the ticket meter is. If your store handles a few hundred tickets a month, that overage adds up, and a flat per-agent or free tool can be cheaper. Tidio is the closest replacement for chat-led shops, with a free tier of 50 billable conversations a month. Chatwoot is the one to try if you want to own your data and avoid per-ticket fees: it is MIT-licensed, supports email, chat and social inbox, and its hosted free plan allows two agents. FreeScout and Zammad both work if you mainly answer email and can host a server, with FreeScout the lighter choice. HubSpot Service Hub and Zoho Desk are the free hosted routes for teams already in those ecosystems. The trade-off is what Gorgias does best: pulling order data, refunds and edits into the ticket view without leaving the inbox. None of the tools here ship that for your store out of the box, so you would depend on integrations or workarounds we have not tested. Stay on Gorgias if agents edit orders from tickets all day. Leave if you mostly answer where-is-my-order emails and the ticket meter is the pain.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tidio | Free (50 billable conversations per month); paid from $24.17 per month, billed monthly (Starter) | Web browser | Small online shops that mainly need chat | Docs only |
| Chatwoot | Free (Hacker plan: 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live chat only, 30 days retention); paid from $19 per agent/month, billed monthly (Startups) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Shops wanting open source and predictable cost | Docs only |
| FreeScout | Free (free self-hosted core; you pay for your own server) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Technical owners who can self-host | Docs only |
| Zammad | Free (open-source code is free to self-host; hosted plans have a 30-day trial); paid from EUR 7 per agent/month, billed annually (hosted Starter v2; EUR 9 monthly) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Support teams that outgrew an inbox | Docs only |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Free (free for up to 2 users, HubSpot-branded live chat and email); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) | Web browser | Shops already using HubSpot for marketing | Docs only |
| Zoho Desk | Free (3 users) | Web browser | Small shops using other Zoho products | Docs only |
| Zendesk | Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Support Team) | Web browser | Help Desk | Docs only |
| Freshdesk | Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Growth) | Web browser | Help Desk | Docs only |
| Intercom | Paid from $29 per seat/month (Essential; the page also shows $19, which appears to be the annual rate; Advanced $85, Expert $132; Fin AI Agent $0.99 per outcome) | Web browser | Customer Support | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- Your shop mainly needs chat on the storefront (Tidio is the pick)
- You want to avoid per-ticket billing and own your data (Chatwoot is the pick)
- You answer mostly email and can host a server (FreeScout is the pick)
- You already run marketing in HubSpot (HubSpot Service Hub is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Gorgias features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Gorgias today: Paid from $10 per month, monthly billing only (Starter, 50 tickets included) (Gorgias pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Gorgias alternatives
Gorgias bills by ticket volume. Starter is $10 a month with 50 tickets, Basic is $60 monthly for 300 tickets and Pro is $360 for 2,000; each extra ticket costs $0.36 to $0.40. The AI Agent adds $1.00 per automated interaction on monthly contracts ($0.90 on annual), each interaction also counts as a helpdesk ticket, and usage above the plan's allowance is billed at $1.50. Annual billing is not offered on Starter.
Tidio
Compared with Gorgias: Free for 50 billable conversations a month, with paid Starter at $24.17 monthly. It handles chat well but is a lighter ecommerce help desk than Gorgias, so expect less order-centric tooling.
Price: Free (50 billable conversations per month); paid from $24.17 per month, billed monthly (Starter) (Tidio pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small online shops that mainly need chat.
Worth knowing: Annual option includes two months free.
Chatwoot
Compared with Gorgias: Open-source (MIT) inbox with web chat, email and social. It does not ship Gorgias's store-centred order actions out of the box, but hosted free covers 2 agents and there is no per-ticket overage.
Price: Free (Hacker plan: 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live chat only, 30 days retention); paid from $19 per agent/month, billed monthly (Startups) (Chatwoot pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. MIT (repo also contains an enterprise folder) (open source).
Project activity: 38.4k GitHub stars · latest release v4.19.1 (Oct 24, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Shops wanting open source and predictable cost.
FreeScout
Compared with Gorgias: Free AGPL-3.0 shared inbox you host yourself. No built-in store integration like Gorgias, but extra modules exist and there are no per-ticket charges.
Price: Free (free self-hosted core; you pay for your own server) (FreeScout pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 4.6k GitHub stars · latest release 1.8.248 (Oct 17, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Technical owners who can self-host.
Zammad
Compared with Gorgias: AGPL-3.0 ticketing with hosted plans from EUR 7 per agent monthly on annual billing. No native store tooling and fewer AI features than Gorgias, but flat per-agent cost instead of ticket-based billing.
Price: Free (open-source code is free to self-host; hosted plans have a 30-day trial); paid from EUR 7 per agent/month, billed annually (hosted Starter v2; EUR 9 monthly) (Zammad pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 6k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Support teams that outgrew an inbox.
Worth knowing: Zammad's own self-hosted packages start at EUR 2,999 per year (Business), which buy support, not the software.
HubSpot Service Hub
Compared with Gorgias: Free for 2 users, tied to a free CRM. It lacks Gorgias's focus on store orders and refunds, but gives you tickets, live chat and contact history at $0 to start.
Price: Free (free for up to 2 users, HubSpot-branded live chat and email); paid from $7 per seat/month (Starter) (HubSpot Service Hub pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Shops already using HubSpot for marketing.
Zoho Desk
Compared with Gorgias: Free for 3 users, against Gorgias's 7-day trial. You lose purpose-built store actions, so order lookups need integration work, but small queues cost nothing.
Price: Free (3 users) (Zoho Desk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small shops using other Zoho products.
Other popular options (paid)
Zendesk
Compared with Gorgias: Support Team is $19 per agent per month billed annually, a per-seat price instead of Gorgias's per-ticket billing. AI resolutions are billed on top at $1.50 each on a committed volume.
Price: Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Support Team) (Zendesk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Freshdesk
Compared with Gorgias: Growth is $19 per agent per month billed annually, charged per seat rather than against ticket allowances and $0.36 to $0.40 overage fees. The first 500 AI Agent sessions are included.
Price: Paid from $19 per agent/month, billed annually (Growth) (Freshdesk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Intercom
Compared with Gorgias: Essential is listed at $29 per seat per month, with $19 shown for annual billing. Fin AI Agent costs $0.99 per outcome, against Gorgias's $1.00 per automated interaction on monthly contracts.
Price: Paid from $29 per seat/month (Essential; the page also shows $19, which appears to be the annual rate; Advanced $85, Expert $132; Fin AI Agent $0.99 per outcome) (Intercom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- Your shop mainly needs chat on the storefront: Tidio
- You want to avoid per-ticket billing and own your data: Chatwoot
- You answer mostly email and can host a server: FreeScout
- You already run marketing in HubSpot: HubSpot Service Hub
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Tidio, Chatwoot, FreeScout, Zammad, HubSpot Service Hub, Zoho Desk: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Gorgias. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Gorgias, Tidio, Chatwoot, FreeScout, Zammad, HubSpot Service Hub, Zoho Desk, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.