Adelante AI alternatives in 2026: 6 AI agents for Shopify stores on Zendesk

TL;DR

The best Adelante AI alternatives in 2026 are eesel if you want to keep Zendesk and run the agent yourself, Yuma AI for high-volume Shopify brands, Zendesk AI agents if you want one vendor, Gorgias AI Agent if you're ready to move helpdesk, Siena AI for brand voice and social channels, and Forethought for larger Zendesk teams.

Adelante bills per AI reply, not per ticket. At 1,000 tickets a month, 4 AI replies each and 60% resolved, its $900 plan works out to $1.50 per AI-resolved ticket. On the same numbers, eesel comes to $0.83, Gorgias AI Agent $0.90 plus the helpdesk, Zendesk AI agents $1.50, Yuma AI $2.00 and Siena AI $2.15. Adelante's price includes a team that runs the agent for you, so the real question is whether you want to pay for that.

If you'd rather hold the controls, I'd start with eesel. It joins your Zendesk queue, looks up Shopify orders inside the ticket, and charges one credit per ticket however many replies it takes. Cape Coffee Beans runs it on Zendesk and Shopify, with product and order lookups right inside the ticket.

Why do Shopify brands look for Adelante alternatives?

I work eesel's support queue every day, so I spend my time on the same tickets Adelante is built for: where is my order, can I swap this for a bigger size, can you change my address before it ships. And I've seen how much of an inbox isn't that at all. In a real-traffic trial on a German jewelry brand's Zendesk and Shopify inbox (about 1,000 tickets a month, 8 languages), 22% of the inbox turned out to be spam, which the agent caught with zero false positives, and its drafts for returns and refunds were useful 93.8% of the time. That's the bar I hold every tool on this list to.

So before the alternatives, here's what Adelante gets right and where Shopify teams start shopping around.

What Adelante does well

Adelante is a done-for-you AI agent for Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento brands on Zendesk or Gorgias. Its Shopify app is listed as the "Zendesk AI Agent", and the company holds Zendesk Premier Partner badges from years of Zendesk implementation work. The agent checks the live order, runs the request past your rules, then completes the return, exchange, address edit or cancellation and logs it in your helpdesk.

The selling point is that you don't run it. Adelante's launch page quotes 10 days from kickoff to a live agent, with about 2 to 3 hours of your team's time, and its team keeps reviewing conversations and shipping fixes after launch. The six reviews on its Shopify listing are all 5 stars and mostly praise exactly that:

"Very supportive on-boarding process with lots of advice offered to support our existing SOPs. Quick to respond to updates or changes we require."

The Scent Reserve, Shopify App Store

My Adelante AI review goes deeper on the product and gives it 3.5 out of 5.

Where teams start looking elsewhere

None of these are "it doesn't work". They're about price shape and control:

• The price floor is $900 a month. Adelante's pricing page starts at $900 for 5,000 AI messages. For a store doing 300 tickets a month, that's $3 per ticket.
• You pay per reply, not per ticket. One message is one AI reply, and Adelante says a ticket takes 3 to 5. Returns and exchanges, where the agent verifies, checks, confirms and reports back, sit at the top of that range.
• You don't drive the agent. Changes go through Adelante's team or its Faro assistant, and you approve them. Great if nobody has time; frustrating if you like to adjust a rule yourself and see the result.
• Public proof is thin. Six Shopify App Store reviews and vendor case studies, and nothing I could find on G2, Capterra, Trustpilot or Reddit.
• The price differs by storefront. $900 a month on the site, $800 on the Gorgias app listing, and a Free plan plus $9,000 a year on the Shopify listing.

That per-reply billing is the thing to keep in mind through the rest of this post. My Adelante AI pricing breakdown walks through every plan and the storefront conflicts.

Should you keep Zendesk or switch helpdesk?

Decide this first, because it cuts the list in half. Adelante sits on top of the helpdesk you already run. Most of its alternatives do the same, so you can swap the AI and leave your macros, views, reporting and agent seats where they are. One option asks you to move the whole queue.

For most Adelante customers I'd stay on Zendesk. A helpdesk move means migrating tickets, macros and integrations during the exact months you're also changing the AI, and the Zendesk and Shopify integration you already set up keeps working. The exception is a small team that's unhappy with Zendesk itself; then Gorgias is the Shopify-native place to land.

And if the reason you picked Adelante was "we don't want to run this ourselves", that's a real need. eesel's Managed Support is the done-for-you path on this list.

How I picked these Adelante alternatives

I started from the tools ChatGPT recommends when a Shopify store on Zendesk asks for Adelante alternatives (eesel, Yuma AI, Zendesk AI agents, Gorgias and Siena AI), and added Forethought because Zendesk now owns it. Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page or app listing, checked on October 27, 2026.

I judged each one on the questions an Adelante customer should ask:

1. Does it keep Zendesk, or does it only work inside its own helpdesk?
2. Can it act on Shopify orders: look up, edit, refund, return, cancel?
3. What does it bill for: a reply, a ticket, a resolution or a platform fee?
4. What does one AI-resolved ticket cost for the same store?
5. Who runs it day to day: you, or the vendor's team?

Adelante alternatives compared at a glance

Adelante is in the first row for reference. "Not listed" means the vendor's own pages I checked don't state it.

The quickest read: every tool except Gorgias keeps your Zendesk queue, and eesel and Gorgias have the smallest monthly entry plans.

What does each alternative cost per resolved ticket?

Sticker prices don't compare here, because these tools count different things. Adelante counts AI replies. eesel counts tickets. Zendesk and Yuma count resolutions. Siena and Gorgias add a per-ticket fee on top of a platform or helpdesk plan.

The fair number is cost per AI-resolved ticket: the monthly AI bill divided by the tickets the AI closed on its own. I priced one store for all of them: 1,000 tickets a month handled by the AI, 4 AI replies per ticket, 60% resolved without a person. That's 4,000 Adelante messages and 600 resolutions.

• Adelante: 4,000 messages fit the $900 plan. $900 / 600 = $1.50.
• eesel: 1,000 tickets is the 1,000-credit plan at $499. $499 / 600 = $0.83.
• Zendesk AI agents: 600 x $1.50 = $900, so $1.50, on top of the seats you already pay.
• Yuma AI: the Starter bundle is $14,400 a year, or $1,200 a month, for up to 1,000 resolutions a month. $1,200 / 600 = $2.00.
• Siena AI: $750 + 600 x $0.90 = $1,290. $1,290 / 600 = $2.15.
• Gorgias AI Agent: $0.90 per automated interaction on annual plans, plus the Gorgias helpdesk plan that replaces your Zendesk seats.
• Forethought: quote only.

Your store won't look exactly like mine, so plug in your own numbers. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page, checked October 27, 2026.

Change the volume, replies per ticket and resolution rate to see each tool's monthly AI bill and what one AI-resolved ticket costs.

Two things move the ranking. More replies per ticket only hurts Adelante, because it's the one tool here that bills per reply; at 6 replies a ticket, 1,000 tickets become 6,000 messages and the bill goes up to $1,080. A higher resolution rate helps eesel and Adelante, because the same bill is spread over more closed tickets, while the per-resolution tools cost the same per resolved ticket at any rate.

Keep one thing fair to Adelante: its price includes people. If you'd otherwise hire someone to own the agent, compare Adelante with eesel plus that person's time, or with eesel's done-for-you Managed Support. My guide to cost per resolution goes further into the maths.

1. eesel

Best for: Shopify brands that want to keep Zendesk, set the rules themselves, and pay per ticket instead of per reply.

eesel is an AI teammate you hire for a specific job, and on this list the job is the helpdesk. It joins your Zendesk queue, learns from your past tickets, macros and help center, and connects to Shopify so it can look up the customer's order before it answers.

How it compares to Adelante

Both work inside Zendesk and both check the order before replying. The difference is who holds the controls. With Adelante, its team edits the agent and you approve. With eesel, you choose which tickets it handles and decide per trigger whether it replies to the customer or leaves a draft as an internal note. You can run it against your own historical tickets first and read what it would have said before any customer sees a reply.

Billing is the other big difference. A ticket is one credit however many replies it takes, so long return and exchange threads don't cost more.

Cape Coffee Beans, a Cape Town coffee retailer with more than a thousand products, runs eesel on Zendesk and Shopify. In one month it ran about 160 scheduled queue checks, was called into 23 tickets by the team, and looked up 19 products and 5 orders in Shopify, linking each one in its note. Nordbutiker, a Swedish e-bike and scooter retailer selling in 4 countries, runs one bot per brand, each trained on its own store's site and its own Zendesk tickets.

Pros

• Keeps Zendesk, and also works on Gorgias, Freshdesk, Help Scout, Front, HubSpot and Salesforce.
• Per-ticket credits, so reply count doesn't change the bill.
• Simulation on your past tickets before go-live.
• Free plan with 100 credits, and a done-for-you option if you want it.

Cons

• You run it. If nobody on your team has an hour a week for the agent, that's a real cost.
• Every ticket the agent works uses a credit, resolved or not, so a low resolution rate raises your cost per resolved ticket.
• SOC 2 Type II is still underway, which can matter in a strict procurement review.

Pricing

From eesel's pricing page: Free gives 100 credits to try everything. Teammate plans start at $299 a month for 500 credits and step up to $499 for 1,000, $849 for 2,000 and $1,749 for 5,000, with unlimited agents and seats. Enterprise is custom and adds SSO, a HIPAA BAA and security review support. Managed Support is $5,000 a month flat, with a founding-partner offer that keeps that price for as long as you stay.

Verdict: Pick eesel if you're leaving Adelante for control and a per-ticket bill, and you want to keep Zendesk. Skip it if the whole reason you chose Adelante was not touching the agent at all, unless Managed Support fits your budget. My eesel vs Zendesk AI comparison covers the native option side by side.

2. Yuma AI

Best for: high-volume Shopify brands that want an agent to finish refunds, returns and subscription changes end to end.

Yuma AI is the closest match to Adelante's idea of an agent that takes the action, not just answers. Its homepage says the agents handle WISMO, returns, refunds, cancellations, subscription changes and address edits end to end, with 75+ pre-built automations. It works inside Gorgias, Zendesk, Kustomer, Gladly and Re:amaze.

How it compares to Adelante

Both connect to your helpdesk and both take real Shopify actions. Yuma's Shopify app asks to edit orders, discounts, gift cards and store credit, which is a wider scope than most. The differences are the billing unit and the contract. Yuma only bills for a full resolution, meaning a ticket nobody on your team touched, while Adelante bills every reply. But Yuma's plans carry a 12-month commitment, and its smallest annual bundle is $14,400.

Yuma 2.0 also lets you upload the SOP you already have and have Yuma write and test the playbooks, which sits between Adelante's done-for-you model and running it entirely yourself. Users on its Shopify listing rate it 5.0 across 9 reviews:

"Thanks to Yuma, we are closing 30% of our tickets without any human interaction, with 70% to 80% of customers satisfied."

Tediber, Shopify App Store

My Yuma AI review has more on the product, and Gorgias AI vs Yuma AI covers the most common head-to-head.

Pros

• Bills only for tickets resolved with no human touch.
• Wide set of Shopify actions, including store credit and subscription changes.
• Keeps Zendesk, and works across several other helpdesks.

Cons

• 12-month commitment and a $14,400 a year entry point on the site.
• Prices differ between storefronts, so you'll need a quote.
• Security certifications aren't listed on the pages I checked.

Pricing

From Yuma's pricing page: Starter is $14,400 a year for 12,000 resolutions (about $1.20 each), Growth $40,000 for about 48,000 (about $0.83), and Scale $90,000 for about 120,000 (about $0.75), with the rate dropping toward a $0.55 floor above that. Annual plans pause at the bundle limit instead of charging overage; monthly plans charge $1.50 per extra resolution. The Shopify listing shows different numbers: $850 and $1,200 a month with a package of automated tickets and a 14-day trial. My Yuma AI pricing post explains the bundles.

Verdict: Pick Yuma if you have the volume to use a full annual bundle and want end-to-end actions. Skip it if you're under about 1,000 resolutions a month, because the bundle you don't use still costs the same. My Yuma AI alternatives list goes further.

3. Zendesk AI agents

Best for: Shopify brands that want the helpdesk and the AI from one vendor, under one security review.

Zendesk AI agents answer customers on messaging, email and voice inside Zendesk, follow procedures you write in plain language, and connect to outside systems, such as your store, through actions. Usage is measured in automated resolutions.

How it compares to Adelante

Adelante is a Zendesk partner building on top of Zendesk; this is Zendesk doing it itself. You lose Adelante's team and its ready-made order flows, so you configure the Shopify actions yourself, but you gain one contract and nothing extra to install. On my sample store the cost is the same, $1.50 per resolved ticket, though Zendesk charges only for resolutions while Adelante charges every reply. My Zendesk AI agent review covers what it's like to set up.

Pros

• Native to Zendesk, so routing, reporting and handoff all stay in one place.
• Charges only for automated resolutions.
• The deepest security list here: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 42001 and HIPAA.

Cons

• Only works inside Zendesk.
• Shopify actions are yours to build and maintain.
• $1.50 per committed resolution and $2.00 pay-as-you-go, on top of agent seats.

Pricing

From the Zendesk pricing page: Suite Team is $55 per agent per month and Suite Professional $115, billed annually, with a small set of automated resolutions included per plan. Extra automated resolutions cost $1.50 each when committed and $2.00 pay-as-you-go. My Zendesk AI pricing post runs the numbers by team size.

Verdict: Pick it if procurement prefers one vendor and you have someone to build the Shopify actions. Skip it if you chose Adelante to avoid that build work. My Zendesk AI alternatives roundup covers the add-on route.

4. Gorgias AI Agent

Best for: smaller Shopify teams that are ready to move off Zendesk and want helpdesk and AI on one bill.

Gorgias is an ecommerce helpdesk built around Shopify, and its AI Agent answers on email, chat, SMS, social and voice using your store data.

How it compares to Adelante

Adelante already works on Gorgias, so if you're a Gorgias shop, this is the "do it natively" option. If you're on Zendesk, it means a helpdesk migration, which is why it sits fourth for most Adelante customers. The pricing is the smallest entry point on this list: AI Agent starts at $30 a month for 30 automated interactions. Users are split on how much tuning the AI needs:

"I haven’t had a great experience with the AI support agent. It takes a pretty big effort to train it. Then, I find that most of the responses have an error that I have to apologize for after the handoff."

u/hayyyhoe, r/ecommerce, Reddit

Pros

• Shopify-native, with one platform and one bill for helpdesk and AI.
• Charges only for automated interactions.
• Low entry price and SOC 2 Type II.

Cons

• Only works inside Gorgias, so Zendesk customers have to migrate.
• Helpdesk plans are tiered by ticket volume, so the AI fee sits on top of a plan you may need to upgrade.
• You do the training and tuning yourself.

Pricing

From the Gorgias pricing page: helpdesk plans run from $10 a month for 50 tickets to $900 a month for 5,000 tickets ($750 billed annually). AI Agent bundles run from $30 a month for 30 automated interactions to $477 a month for 530 on annual billing, about $0.90 per interaction. My Gorgias AI Agent pricing post walks through each tier.

Verdict: Pick it if you're a small Shopify team that wants off Zendesk anyway. Skip it if your Zendesk setup works and only the AI layer needs changing. My eesel vs Gorgias AI comparison covers keeping Gorgias with a different agent.

5. Siena AI

Best for: consumer brands that care most about brand voice and want support and social handled by one AI.

Siena AI calls itself an AI CX operating system for consumer brands, with agents for support, shopping, social, QA and voice of customer. Its Zendesk integration works within your existing ticket statuses, tags and groups, and reads ticket history and purchase history before it responds.

How it compares to Adelante

Both keep Zendesk and both take Shopify actions: Siena's integrations page lists address updates, return labels, refunds and replacements in one flow, plus Loop Returns and AfterShip. Siena leans further into brand voice and social channels, with AI personas built on your tone and social media engagement and moderation. The catch is the fixed fee: $750 a month before the first automated ticket, which is why it's the most expensive per resolved ticket at 1,000 tickets a month. My Siena AI vs Yuma AI comparison covers the two closest ecommerce picks.

Pros

• Strong brand-voice controls and social channel coverage.
• Keeps Zendesk, and also works on Gorgias, Kustomer and Gladly.
• SOC 2 Type II, SAML SSO and audit logs.

Cons

• $750 a month platform fee before usage.
• Pricing sits behind a form beyond the two published rates.
• Social and shopping features may be more than a support-only team needs.

Pricing

From the Siena pricing page: a $750 a month platform fee, then $0.90 per automated ticket in an Automation Pack, with onboarding and Slack support included. Exact pricing comes after a form. My Siena AI pricing post shows how the fixed fee spreads at different volumes.

Verdict: Pick Siena if brand voice and social moderation matter as much as order tickets. Skip it if you're under a few thousand tickets a month, where the platform fee dominates. My Siena AI alternatives list has lighter options.

6. Forethought

Best for: larger Zendesk teams that want a full multi-agent suite with Zendesk behind it.

Forethought is now part of Zendesk and sells AI agents for triage, self-service and agent assist. It lists 70+ helpdesks, knowledge sources and connectors, and non-Zendesk customers can still buy it.

How it compares to Adelante

Forethought is the enterprise answer: a broader suite than Adelante, with multi-brand management and custom handoff models on higher plans, and it isn't built specifically for Shopify order flows. It also starts with a sales process, where Adelante publishes a price. My Forethought vs Zendesk post explains how the two products now overlap.

Pros

• Zendesk ownership, so the Zendesk fit is close.
• Multi-brand management and custom handoff models on higher plans.
• SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR and CCPA.

Cons

• No published price.
• No self-serve trial.
• Less focused on Shopify actions than Adelante, Yuma or Siena.

Pricing

The Forethought pricing page lists Team, Professional and Enterprise plans, all behind "Get a Quote", and describes a mix of platform fees and outcome-based pricing. More in my Forethought pricing breakdown.

Verdict: Pick it if you're a large multi-brand Zendesk team with a procurement process. Skip it if you're a Shopify store that wants a price this week. My Forethought alternatives list covers the other side.

How do I test an Adelante alternative before switching?

Run every finalist on the same tickets. Pull 100 to 200 resolved tickets from the last three months that cover your top contact reasons, weighted the way your inbox really is: WISMO, returns, exchanges, address changes, and the spam you'd rather never see. For each tool, count three things: correct answers it would have sent alone, answers a person would have fixed, and handoffs. Then divide each projected monthly bill by the correct solo answers.

A few checks worth adding:

1. Count replies per ticket. Adelante bills per reply, so check how many your top flows really take before you compare it with a per-ticket tool.
2. Test a real return. Ask each tool to start a return on a test order. My guide on how to automate returns lists what to check.
3. Read the handoff. A clean AI agent handoff gives your agent the order, the request and the reason, so nobody rebuilds the story.
4. Change a policy mid-test. Edit your returns window and see how quickly each tool picks it up, and who has to make the change.

My full checklist for testing an AI agent covers the setup step by step. If you want a broader view of the category, my list of the best AI for ecommerce support is a good next stop.

Try eesel on your Zendesk and Shopify queue

If you like what Adelante does, an agent that checks the Shopify order before it answers, but you'd rather set the rules yourself and pay per ticket, eesel is the one I'd try first. Connect Zendesk and Shopify, pick which tickets it handles, and choose whether it replies to customers or drafts for your team. Question Beauty does the same on Gorgias and Shopify: in a month it handled 990 tickets, looked up 290 orders and closed 280 tickets without a person.

Start on the free plan with 100 credits, run it on your own past tickets, then move to a flat monthly plan when you're happy. If you'd rather hand over the whole queue, Managed Support runs it for you. Try eesel on your Zendesk queue this week.