What AI chat apps for Shopify cost: per ticket, per resolution, per seat, per conversation

How are AI chat apps for Shopify priced?

AI chat apps for Shopify use four main pricing models. Per ticket bills every support conversation a help desk handles. Per resolution (or per outcome) bills only when the AI closes a question without a person. Per seat bills each human agent, with AI often added on top. Per conversation bills each AI chat, either metered or inside a flat plan. Some apps also bill per visitor.

The headline price rarely tells you the monthly bill. What matters is the unit being counted, how many of those units your store produces, and what happens when you pass your plan's allowance. This page lays out public prices from seven apps, shows the arithmetic at three volumes, and lists what to check before you approve a charge in Shopify.

Prices below were read from each vendor's public pricing page or Shopify App Store listing on October 28, 2026. They change often. Check the source link before you decide.

Which pricing model does each app use?

Of the seven apps we checked, four bill AI usage separately from the base plan, and those four use four different names for the unit: an AI conversation, an automated interaction, an outcome and an automated resolution. One app is free, one bills by store visitors, and one sells flat monthly plans sized by conversations.

What is the difference between per-resolution and per-conversation pricing?

Per-resolution pricing charges only when the AI closes a question without a person, so you pay for success. Per-conversation pricing charges for each AI chat whether or not it ends in a resolution, so the bill follows chat volume. Per resolution tends to cost less when the AI resolves little; per conversation tends to cost less per solved question as the AI resolves more.

The word "resolution" is defined by each vendor, and the definitions are not the same. Intercom's Fin pricing page bills one outcome per conversation when no further help is requested after Fin's last answer, or when Fin completes a hand-off procedure you configured; a conversation simply passed to your team without an outcome is not charged. Zendesk's pricing page describes automated resolutions as requests the AI agent resolves without escalating to a person.

Per-conversation plans have their own definitions too. Tidio meters "Lyro conversations". Tycoon counts one conversation as one shopper in a 24-hour window with at least one AI-written reply, up to 10 replies; greetings, button taps and add to cart do not count. Before comparing two prices, read how each vendor counts its unit.

What does each model cost at 100, 500 and 2,000 conversations a month?

At low volume the models cost about the same. As volume grows, metered models rise in step with usage, while flat plans stay put until you change plan. In the illustration below, 2,000 AI conversations a month come to $1,188 to $1,800 in per-resolution AI fees, against $99 on a flat plan sized for that volume.

Assumptions (illustration only, not a quote): the AI handles every conversation; 60% end as a billable resolution; the per-resolution rates are the two published rates above ($0.99 per Fin outcome, $1.50 per committed Zendesk automated resolution); seats, help-desk base plans, minimums and included allowances are left out. Vendors also count a "conversation" differently, so the same store traffic can produce different unit counts in each app. Your own resolution rate and volume will differ.

Two things the table hides:

• The resolution rate moves the bill. If only 30% of conversations count as resolved, the per-resolution columns halve. That is why per-resolution vendors argue you pay only for value, and why a flat plan is easier to budget. Neither is better in every case; work out both on your own numbers.
• Seats and base plans come on top. On seat-based platforms the AI fee is added to what you pay for each agent. Two Intercom Essential seats at the offer price add $38 a month; two Zendesk Suite Team seats add $110 a month on annual billing.

How much does Gorgias cost per month?

On October 28, 2026, the Gorgias pricing page listed Starter at $10 a month for 50 tickets, Basic at $60 for 300, Pro at $360 for 2,000 and Advanced at $900 for 5,000, on monthly billing. Its AI Agent was $1.00 per automated interaction on a monthly contract and $0.90 on annual.

Each automated interaction also counts as one help-desk ticket, so AI volume uses up your ticket allowance as well. Extra tickets above the allowance were listed at $0.40 each on Starter and Basic and $0.36 on Pro and Advanced. Parts of the page showed different figures, so confirm the current price in your Shopify admin before you approve. For a feature-by-feature view, see Tycoon vs Gorgias.

How much does Tidio Lyro cost?

Tidio prices Lyro separately from its live chat plans, and its two public pages show different structures. On October 28, 2026, the Tidio pricing page listed the Lyro AI Agent from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations, while the Shopify App Store listing showed "Lyro AI Chatbot" at $39 a month for up to 200 Lyro conversations.

The pricing page also lists a Free plan with 50 lifetime Lyro conversations, Starter at $24.17 a month with 100 billable conversations, and Growth from $49.17. Volumes above 1,000 Lyro conversations go to a custom plan, and Tidio's Premium plan uses pay-per-resolution billing. Our Tycoon vs Tidio comparison covers features and fit.

What should you check before you approve an AI chat charge?

Check five things: the unit being billed, what happens at your plan's limit, whether AI is an add-on on top of a base plan, how many seats you need, and whether the app bills through Shopify. In our study of 233 critical merchant reviews, surprise charges came up 39 times, the third most common complaint.

That figure is from our own study of 233 merchant reviews of AI chat apps; a further 23 reviews said per-ticket or per-conversation pricing was too expensive. A checklist:

• The unit. Ticket, resolution, outcome, conversation, seat or visitor? How does the vendor count one?
• Overage. Is there a fee per extra unit above the allowance? What is it?
• Auto-upgrade. Does the app move you to a higher plan when you pass the limit, or does it ask first?
• What happens at the limit. Does the chat stop, keep going in a reduced mode, or keep charging?
• AI add-on fees. Is the AI priced separately from the base plan? Do AI conversations also use up your ticket or conversation allowance?
• Seats. How many people need logins, and what does each seat cost?
• Billing route. Is it billed through Shopify, so it shows on your Shopify bill? For usage charges, Shopify's billing documentation says the merchant approves a capped amount, the most the app can bill in a 30-day cycle.
• Two prices. Does the App Store listing match the vendor's own pricing page?

Our guide to Shopify app billing goes through each question in more detail.

Where does Tycoon sit?

Tycoon, currently in early access, sells flat monthly plans sized by AI conversations and billed through Shopify. There is no per-conversation fee, no overage and no automatic upgrade. At the monthly limit the AI agent pauses until the next month, an upgrade or extra conversations (an optional one-time purchase on paid plans), and the chat stays: shoppers can still reach your team or leave a message.

Annual billing saves about 20%. Every plan includes live prices and stock, pre-send checks on every reply, the AI disclosure, hand-off to a person and all 16 languages. Tycoon is a storefront sales and support agent, not a help desk, so stores that need a shared inbox for email, SMS and social will still want a help desk alongside it. Full details are on the pricing page; other side-by-side views are on the comparisons hub and in Shopify AI chatbot apps compared.

Cite this data

Suggested citation: Tycoon, "What AI chat apps for Shopify cost: per ticket, per resolution, per seat, per conversation", tycoonagent.ai/compare/ai-chat-pricing-models/, data checked October 28, 2026.

Methodology. We read each vendor's public pricing page and its Shopify App Store listing, recorded the plans that apply to AI chat, and logged the source URL and date for each row. Where the two pages differed, we report both. We did not sign up for plans or use sales quotes, so negotiated, regional or enterprise prices are not covered. The worked example uses stated assumptions and is an illustration, not a forecast. We aim to refresh this data every quarter; if a price has changed, tell us through the form on our demo page. Terms used here are defined in our glossary, including deflection rate and human hand-off.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Shopify App Store (apps.shopify.com/inbox) · checked October 28, 2026
2. Tidio pricing (tidio.com/pricing) · checked October 28, 2026
3. App Store (apps.shopify.com/tidio-chat) · checked October 28, 2026
4. Gorgias pricing (gorgias.com/pricing) · checked October 28, 2026
5. Intercom pricing (intercom.com/pricing) · checked October 28, 2026
6. Fin pricing (fin.ai/pricing) · checked October 28, 2026
7. Zendesk pricing (zendesk.com/pricing) · checked October 28, 2026
8. Shopify App Store (apps.shopify.com/rep-ai-sales-associate) · checked October 28, 2026
9. billing documentation (shopify.dev/docs/apps/launch/billing/subscription-billing/create-usage-based-subscriptions) · checked October 28, 2026