The 5 best Zendesk AI alternatives for your e-commerce store in 2025

Running a growing e-commerce store on Zendesk can feel like you've hit a wall, especially when it comes to their native AI. Maybe it feels too limited, the price tag makes your eyes water, or it’s so complicated you feel like you need a developer on speed dial just to get it working. Sound familiar? You’re definitely not alone.

You’re probably looking at unpredictable per-resolution pricing, a clunky setup, and the nagging feeling that you’re paying for a massive platform when all you really want is a smart layer of automation.

That's exactly why we put together this list of the top 5 best Zendesk AI alternatives for your e-commerce store. We'll dig into the features that actually matter for online stores, helping you find a tool that saves time, cuts costs, and keeps your customers happy.

I tested 12 tools to find the 5 best Zendesk AI alternatives

Why look for Zendesk AI alternatives?

Let's get on the same page about what we're discussing. Zendesk AI is a set of tools baked into the platform, meant to automate support with chatbots and agent assists. It looks great on paper, but for e-commerce stores, it often creates more headaches than it solves.

Here are the common frustrations for online stores:

• Wildly unpredictable pricing: Many of Zendesk's AI plans charge you for each automated resolution, sometimes up to $2.00 a pop. This is a nightmare for an e-commerce store. Your ticket volume blows up during Black Friday, and suddenly your bill is through the roof. It makes budgeting feel like a guessing game.

• A painfully slow setup: Getting advanced AI workflows running in Zendesk isn’t something you can knock out in an afternoon. It can take weeks and often requires hiring consultants to get it right. Fast-moving e-commerce teams simply don't have that kind of time to spare.

• The "rip and replace" pressure: To get the best AI features, Zendesk pushes you deeper into its ecosystem. But what if you actually like Zendesk as a helpdesk and just want to add some powerful AI on top? Many businesses are looking for an intelligent assistant, not a complete overhaul of their entire system.

• The good stuff is locked away: Like a lot of enterprise platforms, the truly useful AI features are often reserved for the most expensive plans, putting them out of reach for many small and medium-sized stores.

How we picked the best Zendesk AI alternatives

To cut through the marketing fluff, we focused on what an online retailer truly needs. We weren't just looking for the longest feature list; we wanted practical tools that solve real e-commerce problems.

Here's what we looked for:

• E-commerce connections: How well does it play with platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce? Can it pull up real-time order data, check inventory, or even start a return for a customer?

• Smart AI and automation: How clever is the AI, really? Can you tweak its tone to match your brand? Does it learn from your actual store data, like past tickets and product info?

• Ease of use: Can you get it running in a few minutes without needing a developer? Is the interface intuitive enough for a support manager to handle without pulling their hair out?

• Honest pricing: Is the pricing model straightforward? Does it penalize you for getting more customer questions, or does it offer a flat rate you can actually budget for?

• Flexibility: Does it make you ditch your current helpdesk, or can it work with the tools you already have, including Zendesk?

A quick comparison of the best Zendesk AI alternatives

Feature	eesel AI	Gorgias	Intercom	Freshdesk (Freddy AI)	Tidio
Ideal for	Adding powerful, self-serve AI to your existing helpdesk	Shopify stores needing an all-in-one helpdesk	Proactive, conversational sales & support	All-around support for SMBs looking to switch	Basic, affordable live chat & simple bots
Works with Zendesk?	✅ Yes, plugs in directly	❌ No, it's a replacement	✅ Yes, integrates	❌ No, it's a replacement	✅ Yes, integrates
Pricing model	Flat monthly fee (no per-resolution costs)	Based on ticket volume	Per seat + usage fees	Per agent/month	Per conversation
Key AI feature	Simulates on past tickets before going live	Deep Shopify order actions	Proactive engagement bots	AI-powered ticketing & routing	Basic FAQ chatbot (Lyro)
Setup time	Minutes	Hours to Days	Days to Weeks	Days to Weeks	Minutes

The 5 best Zendesk AI alternatives for your e-commerce store

Here’s our detailed breakdown of the platforms that can give your e-commerce support a real boost.

1. eesel AI

eesel AI is an AI platform built to plug right into the helpdesk you already use, whether that's Zendesk, Intercom, or Gorgias. Instead of making you move everything, it upgrades your current setup by learning from all your company knowledge, past tickets, help articles, Google Docs, and even your Shopify catalog, to automate those frontline questions.

What's great about it:

• Go live in minutes: It’s designed to be completely self-serve. You can connect your helpdesk and knowledge sources with a few clicks and launch your first AI agent without ever having to talk to a salesperson.

• Powerful simulation: This is a big one. Before you unleash the AI on your customers, you can run it on thousands of your past tickets. This shows you exactly what your automation rate will be and lets you tweak the AI's answers in a totally safe environment.

• You're in control: You get to decide exactly which tickets the AI handles. You can start small by just automating "Where is my order?" questions and let everything else go to a human agent. The prompt editor and support for API actions mean you can dial in the AI’s personality and skills to perfectly match your brand.

• All your knowledge in one brain: It connects to sources outside your helpdesk, like Confluence and Notion, to give the AI a complete understanding of your business. It can even draft new knowledge base articles from tickets your team has already solved.

The good:

• Plugs right into your existing helpdesk, no migration needed.

• Clear, flat-rate pricing without any sneaky per-resolution fees.

• The simulation mode lets you test everything confidently before you launch.

• The self-serve setup is genuinely fast.

The not-so-good:

• It doesn't have native voice or phone channel support.

• Since it's a focused AI layer, it relies on your current helpdesk for things like agents chatting with each other.

Pricing:

• Team Plan: $299/month ($239/month if billed annually) for up to 1,000 AI interactions.

• Business Plan: $799/month ($639/month if billed annually) for up to 3,000 AI interactions, plus features like training on past tickets and AI Actions.

• There are no per-resolution fees, so your costs are predictable.

2. Gorgias

Gorgias is a helpdesk built from the ground up for e-commerce, and it really shows. Its main advantage is its incredibly deep integration with Shopify, Shopify Plus, and BigCommerce. It’s less of an "AI alternative" and more of a complete Zendesk replacement made specifically for online sellers.

What's great about it:

• Deep e-commerce actions: Your agents can see a customer's entire order history, issue refunds, and cancel orders right from the helpdesk.

• E-commerce focused AI: The AI is trained to recognize common e-commerce questions about shipping, refunds, or exchanges, and can fire off templated replies (macros).

• Revenue tracking: It can link sales to specific support conversations, which is great for showing your boss the ROI of your customer service.

The good:

• The integration with Shopify is second to none.

• It's great for managing social media comments and DMs in one place.

• The interface is clean and built around e-commerce tasks.

The not-so-good:

• It's a full replacement, so you can't just add it to Zendesk. You have to switch everything over.

• Pricing is based on ticket volume, which can get expensive and unpredictable if your store is growing fast.

• The AI feels more template-driven than truly conversational compared to newer tools.

Pricing:

• Starter: $10/month for 50 billable tickets.

• Basic: $60/month ($50/month annually) for 300 billable tickets.

• Pro: $360/month ($300/month annually) for 2,000 billable tickets.

• The AI Agent is an add-on. On the Pro plan, for example, 600 AI interactions will set you back an extra $540/month. Overage fees apply for both tickets and AI, so watch out.

3. Intercom

Intercom is a beast when it comes to building relationships with customers. It really shines at engaging people proactively with its top-notch web messenger. It started as a live chat tool but has grown into a full platform with some serious AI and automation, led by its chatbot, Fin.

What's great about it:

• Advanced AI chatbot (Fin): Fin can hold surprisingly natural conversations, answer tricky questions by digging through your knowledge base, and pass things off to a human agent without missing a beat.

• Proactive engagement: You can set up targeted messages and bot chats based on what users are doing, like if they've been staring at a product page for a while or have items in their cart.

• Shared inbox: It has a clean, modern inbox for managing chats from your website, mobile app, and email.

The good:

• Excellent for turning your support team into a sales channel.

• The messenger provides a really polished user experience.

• You can customize the automation and bot workflows pretty extensively.

The not-so-good:

• It can get very expensive, with a complicated pricing model based on agent seats, active contacts, and resolutions.

• The focus is heavily on its own messenger. It’s not the best fit if you just want to automate email in a different helpdesk.

• The setup can be a bit of a project.

Pricing:

• Essential Plan: Starts at $29/seat/month (billed annually) + $0.99 per Fin AI resolution.

• Advanced Plan: Starts at $85/seat/month (billed annually) + $0.99 per Fin AI resolution.

• That pay-per-resolution model can lead to surprise bills, just like with Zendesk.

4. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is one of the most famous Zendesk competitors, offering a whole suite of customer service tools. Its AI, Freddy AI, is woven throughout the platform to help with self-service bots, agent assistance, and smart ticket routing.

What's great about it:

• Freddy AI: An AI engine that powers chatbots, summarizes tickets for agents, and suggests replies.

• Omnichannel support: Brings together email, phone, chat, and social media into one ticketing system.

• Strong reporting: Gives you detailed dashboards to keep an eye on team performance and customer happiness.

The good:

• It’s generally more affordable than Zendesk for a similar set of features.

• Many people find the user interface more intuitive and friendly.

• It offers a free plan for up to two agents, so you can try it out.

The not-so-good:

• Like Zendesk, it’s a full replacement, not an add-on AI layer.

• The AI can feel a bit less flexible than what you'd find in more specialized, modern platforms.

• Some of the more advanced features and AI sessions are paid add-ons.

Pricing:

• Free Plan: Available for up to 2 agents.

• Growth Plan: $15/agent/month (billed annually).

• Pro Plan: $49/agent/month (billed annually).

• Freddy AI Agent is priced separately. After an initial 500 free sessions, it costs $100 for every 1,000 sessions.

5. Tidio

Tidio bundles live chat and AI chatbots into a simple, affordable package. It’s made for small businesses that need a quick and easy way to add automated chat to their site without spending much. Its AI chatbot, Lyro, can answer customer questions based on a list of FAQs you provide.

What's great about it:

• Lyro AI chatbot: An AI assistant that can handle common questions, taking some of the load off your team.

• Simple setup: You can get Tidio running on platforms like Shopify in minutes, no coding required.

• Live chat and email marketing: It includes a shared inbox for live chat and some basic email marketing tools.

The good:

• Very affordable, with a free plan that includes some basic chatbot chats.

• Incredibly easy to set up and use.

• Good for grabbing leads and answering simple, repetitive questions.

The not-so-good:

• The AI is quite basic. It can't handle complex conversations or take actions for the customer.

• You'll likely outgrow it quickly as your support needs become more complex.

• Pricing is based on conversations, which can get pricey if your site gets a lot of traffic.

Pricing:

• Free Plan: Includes 50 human-handled conversations and a lifetime pool of 50 Lyro AI conversations.

• Starter Plan: $24.17/month (billed annually) for 100 billable conversations.

• Lyro AI Standalone Plan: Starts at $32.50/month (billed annually) for 50 Lyro AI conversations per month. The pricing is a bit confusing and fragmented.

This video offers a detailed comparison of Gorgias and Zendesk, two popular helpdesk solutions for e-commerce stores.

The big question: Add AI or replace everything?

Before you decide, ask yourself this: Are you happy with your helpdesk and just need better AI? Or are you ready to switch your entire support platform?

The "rip and replace" path (Gorgias, Freshdesk) can be powerful, but it means moving your whole support operation, agents, workflows, ticket history, the lot. That's a huge project that can take months and disrupt your team. It only makes sense if you’re truly unhappy with Zendesk as a helpdesk.

The "AI layer' approach, which a tool like eesel AI offers, is a more modern, flexible strategy. It lets you keep the helpdesk your team already knows while plugging in a specialized AI brain to handle the automation. This path is faster, less risky, and lets you get best-in-class AI without a painful migration process.

For most e-commerce stores already using Zendesk, adding an AI layer is the quickest and most efficient way to solve the problem. You get the automation you need without creating a massive new project for your team.

Final thoughts: Automate smarter, not harder

Zendesk is a solid platform, but its native AI has trade-offs in cost and complexity that just don't sit right with many e-commerce stores. The alternatives we've looked at each have their own strengths, from the deep Shopify smarts of Gorgias to the simple chat from Tidio.

Ultimately, the best alternative is one that fits your workflow. Don't let a tool force you to change how you run your support. Look for a solution that gives you control, clear pricing, and the ability to test things out before you commit.

If you want to see how much of your Zendesk traffic could be automated without switching platforms, give eesel AI a try. You can connect your helpdesk, run a free simulation on your past tickets, and get a clear automation forecast in minutes. It’s the fastest, no-risk way to give your current support setup a serious upgrade.