Richpanel vs Gorgias for Stores Under 25 Orders

2026-10-03 · support

If you're running a Shopify store doing fewer than 25 support tickets a month, the Richpanel vs Gorgias question usually comes down to one thing: which tool costs less to run while still handling order lookups, refunds, and the occasional "where's my package?" email. Both are helpdesks built for e-commerce, both integrate with Shopify, and both will work fine at your volume. The difference shows up in pricing structure, setup overhead, and what happens when you grow past 100 tickets a month.

Richpanel vs Gorgias for Small Stores: The Short Answer

For a solo operator under 25 tickets a month, Richpanel is usually the better fit. It's built around a self-service help center and AI-assisted replies, which means a chunk of your repetitive tickets get deflected before they reach you. Gorgias is the stronger product once you have a real support team and need deep multi-channel routing — but at your volume, you'd be paying for capacity you don't use.

If your tickets are mostly pre-sale questions and WISMO ("where is my order") emails, Richpanel's deflection tools do more work for you out of the box. If you're already running Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger, and email as separate inboxes and want them unified, Gorgias handles that consolidation well — just check whether the plan tier you need includes the channel volume you actually get.

What You Actually Pay at Under 25 Tickets a Month

Both tools price by ticket volume, not by seat count, which is good news for a one-person store. But the entry tiers differ in what they count and what they include.

Gorgias's entry plan is aimed at very low volumes and includes a set number of tickets per month, with overage charges if you exceed it. The catch for small stores: tickets are counted per interaction, so one customer emailing three times about the same order can burn three tickets. A "25 tickets a month" store can hit 40 billable tickets fast during a sale weekend.

Richpanel's entry tier is also volume-based, but its self-service portal and AI replies are designed to keep tickets from being created in the first place. If a customer resolves a "where's my order" question through your help center without emailing you, that's not a ticket.

Don't take any specific dollar figure from a blog post — including this one. Both companies change plan structures regularly. Go to each vendor's pricing page, enter your actual monthly ticket count, and compare the total including overage rates. That overage rate matters more than the base price at your volume.

Setup Time and Effort for a Solo Shopify Owner

Here's what each setup actually involves:

• Connect Shopify. Both require installing the app and authorizing read access to orders and customers. This is a 5-minute step for either.
• Map your order data. You need order lookup working inside the ticket view so you can see shipping status, tracking, and past orders without switching tabs. Both do this; verify it works with your fulfillment setup (especially if you use a 3PL).
• Build macros or canned responses. Write 5–10 replies for your most common questions: shipping times, return policy, sizing, order changes. This is where most of your setup time goes.
• Set up a help center (Richpanel). Richpanel's deflection depends on having FAQ articles published. Budget an afternoon to write your top 10 questions.
• Connect channels (Gorgias). If you want email, chat, and social in one inbox, Gorgias needs each channel connected and tested separately.

Realistic time to first working ticket: under an hour for both. Time to a setup that actually saves you time: half a day for Gorgias, a full day for Richpanel if you write proper FAQ content.

Where Each Tool Starts Charging You More

Gorgias gets expensive when: - Your ticket count spikes — overage charges apply per ticket above your plan limit. - You add a second agent seat, even part-time. - You need advanced automation or integrations gated to higher tiers. - You want social channels beyond the basics.

Richpanel gets expensive when: - You outgrow the entry tier's ticket allowance. - You need multiple agent seats as you hire. - You want the higher-tier AI or automation features.

The pattern: Gorgias charges you more for volume and seats. Richpanel charges you more for features and seats. If your ticket volume is genuinely low and stable, Gorgias's structure is predictable. If your volume is spiky (sale weekends, holiday season), Richpanel's deflection approach protects you from overage charges.

Which One Scales Better When Orders Pick Up

At 25 orders a day, either tool works. At 250 orders a day, the picture changes.

Gorgias scales better for teams. Its routing rules, assignment logic, and multi-brand support are built for 3+ agents handling hundreds of tickets. If you plan to hire a support person within 12 months, Gorgias is the more natural destination.

Richpanel scales better for self-service. If you'd rather deflect tickets than hire for them, Richpanel's help center and AI replies keep your cost per ticket low as volume grows. Many small stores scale to 200+ tickets a month on Richpanel without adding headcount.

The honest answer: if you're hiring, lean Gorgias. If you're automating, lean Richpanel. Switching later is possible but annoying — you'll rebuild macros and re-train any AI on your historical tickets.

The Cheapest Setup That Still Works: Our Pick

For a solo Shopify owner under 25 tickets a month, start with Richpanel's entry tier plus a real help center. Write 10 FAQ articles covering shipping, returns, sizing, and order tracking. Connect Shopify. Set up order lookup inside the ticket view.

This gives you: - Deflection on your most common questions (no ticket created, no cost). - Order context in every ticket that does come through. - A predictable bill that doesn't spike during sales.

If you already have a team of two or more, or you're drowning in Instagram DMs, flip the recommendation and start with Gorgias. The channel consolidation is worth the higher entry cost at that point.

Either way, run the free trial and import a week of real tickets before committing. Test how each handles your actual most-common question — that tells you more than any comparison table.

Quick Comparison Table: Richpanel vs Gorgias

Conclusion

For a Shopify store under 25 tickets a month, Richpanel usually wins on cost-per-ticket because its help center and AI replies stop tickets from being created in the first place. Gorgias is the better long-term pick if you're building a support team and need serious multi-channel routing. Run both trials with your real ticket history and pick based on which one resolves your most common question faster.

FAQ

Can I switch from Richpanel to Gorgias later without losing data? You can export tickets and customer data from either platform, but macros, automation rules, and any AI training won't transfer cleanly. Budget a few hours to rebuild your canned responses.

Do I need a helpdesk at all under 25 tickets a month? Not strictly — a shared Gmail inbox with Shopify order lookup can work. But once you're past 10 tickets a month, a helpdesk pays for itself by keeping order context in one place and preventing missed messages.

Which one is cheaper if my ticket volume doubles during holiday sales? Richpanel, generally, because deflection keeps tickets from being created and its overage structure is less punishing at spiky volumes. Confirm the current overage rates on both pricing pages before you commit — they change.