Gorgias vs Kustomer: Which is right for your support team?

Choosing a new customer service platform feels like a massive decision, doesn't it? As your business grows, that trusty shared inbox that used to work just fine starts to buckle. Suddenly, you're on the hunt for something with more muscle, and two names that keep popping up are Gorgias and Kustomer. They’re both heavy hitters, but they were built with different game plans in mind.

Gorgias is a specialist, crafted specifically for the fast-paced world of e-commerce. Kustomer, on the other hand, takes a broader approach, billing itself as a CRM-first platform that cares about the entire customer journey. So, picking between them isn’t just about comparing feature lists; it’s about deciding on a strategy for how you want to connect with your customers. It all comes down to your business model, your team’s day-to-day needs, and where you plan to be in a few years.

This guide is a straight-up, no-fluff comparison of Gorgias vs Kustomer. We’ll get into their core features, see how they handle automation, and break down what their pricing models mean for your budget. Let’s help you make a choice you feel good about.

What is Gorgias?

Gorgias is a customer service helpdesk built from the ground up for e-commerce brands. If you're running a store on Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento, Gorgias gets you. It's designed to stop the cycle of switching between a dozen tabs just to handle one ticket.

Its biggest advantage is how deeply it plugs into these e-commerce platforms. Picture this: an agent is working on a support ticket and can see the customer’s full order history, process a refund, or even edit an order without ever leaving the Gorgias dashboard. It basically turns your helpdesk into a command center for managing customer relationships and, just as importantly, for driving sales.

Beyond that, it pulls all your support channels (email, live chat, social media, SMS) into one clean view. It uses reliable, rule-based automation with "macros" to knock out common questions and gives you reports that connect support work directly to revenue. It’s pretty much the go-to for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands that want their support team to be a key player in their growth.

What is Kustomer?

Kustomer calls itself a customer service CRM platform, and that small tweak in wording makes a huge difference. While most helpdesks are all about tickets, Kustomer is all about the customer. It’s built to give you a complete, 360-degree view of every person you talk to, not just their most recent issue.

The star of the show is the "customer timeline." This feature gathers interactions like emails, chats, phone calls, and website visits into a single feed. When an agent opens a conversation, they see the customer's history laid out right in front of them. This gives them helpful context and helps them deliver a personal touch without ever having to ask, "Can you remind me what we talked about last time?"

Kustomer offers true omnichannel support, more complex workflow automation, and built-in CRM features that can hold a ton of customer data. It’s built for larger teams and businesses across any industry that need a platform that can handle a high volume of conversations.

A head-to-head comparison

Okay, introductions are over. Let's put these two side-by-side and see how they stack up on the things that actually matter.

Core features and user experience

The first thing you’ll notice is how they approach the support experience. Gorgias is all about making e-commerce support efficient, while Kustomer is focused on giving your team deep customer context.

Gorgias is hyper-focused on e-commerce workflows, which makes its interface feel natural for DTC brands. Everything is right where you’d expect it to be, so your team can get up and running quickly. Kustomer is more of a generalist CRM. It gives you a lot of flexibility to build custom workflows for any industry, but all that power comes with a learning curve. It’s a robust choice for teams that need deep customization.

Both platforms bring all your channels together, but they do it differently. Kustomer weaves every interaction into one continuous timeline. Gorgias centralizes your channels into a unified interface, allowing agents to manage all customer interactions efficiently from a single dashboard. Kustomer also includes native voice support, which is a plus, while Gorgias offers this through its extensive marketplace.

Feature	Gorgias	Kustomer
Primary Focus	E-commerce Helpdesk	Customer Service CRM
Shopify Integration	Deep (edit orders, refunds in-app)	Standard (view order data)
Customer View	Ticket-centric with customer data	Holistic customer timeline
User Interface	Simple and intuitive	Feature-rich and customizable
Voice Channel	Marketplace add-on	Native integration
Best For	Small to mid-sized DTC brands	Mid-sized to enterprise businesses

AI and automation capabilities

Automation is where you can save a ton of time and scale your support, but Gorgias and Kustomer have different ideas about how to get there.

Gorgias relies on rule-based automation and macros. You set up "if this, then that" rules that trigger based on keywords in a message. This works great for the usual questions like "Where's my order?" or "What's your return policy?" Its AI excels at identifying customer intent to trigger the most helpful response. This approach is highly effective for maintaining quality control, as it allows teams to create precise workflows that handle common inquiries with impressive speed.

Kustomer offers advanced AI-powered workflows and chatbots. It can handle more complicated, multi-step conversations and uses its CRM data to send personalized automated responses. Setting up Kustomer's AI is more involved and often requires a higher-tier plan.

Both platforms offer powerful automation within their ecosystems, though they may require manual configuration to perfectly match your brand's unique knowledge.

There's a smart way to complement these AI features. A tool like eesel AI works like a smart layer that plugs right into the helpdesk you already use, whether that's Gorgias or Kustomer. It automatically learns from your past tickets, so it understands your brand's voice from day one. It can also unify knowledge from all your company documents in places like Google Docs, Confluence, and Notion. Best of all, you can set it up in minutes and use its risk-free simulation mode to see exactly how it will perform.

Pricing models and total cost of ownership

The way Gorgias and Kustomer structure their pricing can affect your budget as you scale.

Gorgias uses a ticket-based model. The entry-level plans are very accessible, which is a big draw for smaller businesses. This model offers great flexibility, as costs scale alongside your business growth, ensuring your support capabilities match your success during busy seasons.

Plan	Monthly Price	Included Tickets	Additional Tickets
Starter	$10	50	+$0.40 / ticket
Basic	$60	300	+$40 / 100 tickets
Pro	$360	2,000	+$36 / 100 tickets
Advanced	$900	5,000	+$36 / 100 tickets
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Custom

Kustomer sticks to a more traditional per-agent, per-month model. This makes your costs predictable; you know what you’ll pay each month based on your team size. The licenses themselves are a bit more of an investment, and many advanced AI features are available as add-ons.

Plan	Price (per user/month, annual)	Key Features
Enterprise	$89	Omnichannel, automations, standard reports
Ultimate	$139	All Enterprise features + skills-based routing
AI Add-on	from $0.60/conversation or $40/user/mo	AI agents for customers and reps

With Gorgias, you benefit from a model that scales with your volume. With Kustomer, you have a fixed cost per seat, making it easier to budget based on headcount.

The problem with a rip-and-replace approach

Picking a new helpdesk often forces you to "rip and replace" your entire setup. Moving from one platform to another isn't just about switching a subscription. It’s a project where you migrate customer data, retrain your team on a new system, and rebuild workflows.

This is where eesel AI changes the conversation. Instead of forcing you to pick a new platform and go through a transition, eesel makes the tools you already use smarter. Whether you're on Gorgias, Kustomer, Zendesk, or something else, you can plug eesel in and see results in minutes.

You can go live in minutes, not months. The setup is self-serve, with no long sales calls required. You connect your helpdesk with one click, run a simulation on your past tickets to see how much you can automate, and then turn it on gradually with zero risk.

Plus, eesel brings all your scattered knowledge together. It connects to your helpdesk tickets, but also to your internal wikis in Confluence, your docs in Google Docs, and your FAQs in Notion. This creates one reliable source of truth for the AI to use.

Choosing the right platform (or layer) for your needs

So, when it comes to Gorgias vs Kustomer, what's the final verdict?

Gorgias is a fantastic choice for e-commerce brands, particularly those on Shopify. If you need a simple, powerful, and revenue-focused helpdesk, its deep e-commerce integrations are industry-leading.

Kustomer is a strong fit for larger businesses that need a highly customizable CRM. If you require a 360-degree view of your customers across different industries, Kustomer has the depth you're looking for.

But maybe the real question isn't about which platform to choose. For teams that are happy with their current helpdesk but are hungry for better AI and automation, there's a third option.

Instead of replacing your whole system, why not just make it better? eesel AI gives you a flexible, powerful AI layer that works with your existing tools. It gives you control over your automation without the migration headache. You get enterprise-level AI with a self-serve setup and clear pricing.

Ready to add a powerful AI brain to your existing helpdesk? Start your free trial or book a demo of eesel AI today.

This video provides a product tour of Kustomer, highlighting its CRM-first approach and customer timeline feature.