For most online stores the best AI customer service agent is Tidio Lyro if you are small and Gladly AI if you are a consumer brand on Shopify, with Intercom Fin the strongest option that is not tied to one commerce platform. What matters in retail is whether the agent can look up an order, where your customers message you, and what happens to the bill in November.
Store traffic is spiky. A pricing model that looks cheap in an average month can double in peak season, so we weight predictable billing and spending caps more heavily here than on our main list.
Quick picks
- Small store: Tidio Lyro — WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger alongside chat, with EEA hosting.
- Shopify brand: Gladly AI — public Shopify pricing at US$1.50 per AI Resolution with an adjustable spending cap.
- Platform-independent: Intercom Fin — Shopify and Stripe connectors, and it runs on Gorgias.
The ranking
Intercom Fin
Teams that want a price they can calculate today9.1- Price from
- US$0.99 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Per resolution
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Fin is the AI agent from the company formerly called Intercom, which renamed itself Fin in May 2026. It runs inside the Intercom helpdesk or on top of another one, charges US$0.99 per outcome, and documents more about its pricing, languages and certifications than any other product we reviewed.
The catch: Customer silence for 24 hours is billed as a resolution, and so is a handoff to a human that you configured. Salesforce has agreed to buy the company.
Tidio Lyro
Small online stores that want to start this week7.9- Price from
- US$24.17 per month
- Pricing model
- Per conversation
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Lyro is Tidio's AI agent for small and mid-sized e-commerce businesses. It works as an add-on to Tidio, on its own, or on Zendesk, Intercom and Salesforce through Lyro Connect. Entry prices are public, data is hosted in the EEA, and it supports 48 languages.
The catch: A conversation thread closes after 15 idle minutes, so a visitor who comes back is billed again, and the free quota never resets.
Freshworks Freddy AI Agent
Small and mid-sized teams already on Freshdesk7.7- Price from
- US$0.49 per session
- Pricing model
- Seats plus usage
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires Freshdesk
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Freddy AI Agent is the no-code agent inside Freshdesk and Freshdesk Omni. Prices are public and setup is self-serve, but the billing unit is a session, not a resolution, and the session price rose about fivefold in November 2025.
The catch: A session is consumed whether or not the customer's problem is solved, and the 500 free sessions are a one-time allotment, not monthly.
Zendesk AI Agents
Teams already running support on Zendesk7.5- Price from
- US$55 per seat per month
- Pricing model
- Seats plus usage
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Requires Zendesk Suite
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Zendesk's AI agents are built into Zendesk Suite and Support plans. Since May 2026 the agentic features are included in every plan and only resolutions verified by a model are billed. What Zendesk still does not publish is what a resolution costs.
The catch: The price per automated resolution is not published anywhere. The only figure in the open is a 2025 forum comment from a Zendesk product manager.
Ada
Mid-market and enterprise teams that want an agent on top of their current helpdesk7.4- Price from
- est. US$36,079 per year
- Pricing model
- Quote only
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- No
Ada is a Toronto company whose agent works across messaging, email and voice on top of the helpdesk you already have. It sells by quote, but it is the one enterprise vendor with substantial procurement data: a median contract of US$72,000 a year across 114 purchases.
The catch: Ada's own AI decides which conversations count as billable resolutions, and the contract allows the count to be calculated from a sampled rate.
Gladly AI
Shopify merchants and consumer brands6.6- Price from
- US$1.50 per resolution
- Pricing model
- Mixed
- Works on your existing helpdesk
- Yes
- Self-serve sign-up
- Yes
Gladly AI, formerly Gladly Sidekick, is aimed at retail and consumer brands. It runs inside Gladly's own helpdesk or on top of Gorgias, Zendesk and Salesforce. The only public prices are on the Shopify App Store; everything else is by quote.
The catch: An AI Resolution is not technically defined anywhere we could find, and AI Assists are billed as well.
Comparison table
| Product | Score | Pricing model | Price from | Works on your existing helpdesk | Self-serve sign-up | EU data residency | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercom Fin | 9.1 | Per resolution | US$0.99 per resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Teams that want a price they can calculate today |
| Tidio Lyro | 7.9 | Per conversation | US$24.17 per month | Yes | Yes | Yes | Small online stores that want to start this week |
| Freshworks Freddy AI Agent | 7.7 | Seats plus usage | US$0.49 per session | No | Yes | Yes | Small and mid-sized teams already on Freshdesk |
| Zendesk AI Agents | 7.5 | Seats plus usage | US$55 per seat per month | No | Yes | Yes | Teams already running support on Zendesk |
| Ada | 7.4 | Quote only | est. US$36,079 per year | Yes | No | Yes | Mid-market and enterprise teams that want an agent on top of their current helpdesk |
| Gladly AI | 6.6 | Mixed | US$1.50 per resolution | Yes | Yes | Not documented | Shopify merchants and consumer brands |
How to choose
Check the order lookup first. An agent that cannot see order status will hand off your most common question. Ask each vendor to show it on your platform.
Model your peak month. Put your busiest month into the calculator. Per-conversation and per-session products charge for every contact, including the ones the AI fails.
Watch how returning shoppers are counted. Tidio closes a thread after 15 idle minutes; Freshworks counts a new session after 24 hours. A shopper who comes back can be billed again.
Verdict
Small stores should start with Tidio Lyro. Shopify brands with a support team should look at Gladly AI for its open Shopify pricing and retail focus. If you expect to change commerce or support platforms, Intercom Fin keeps your options open.
For buyers in the United Kingdom
The UK has no AI Act. An AI support agent is governed by the law you already know: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, PECR for anything a chat widget stores on a device, and, for regulated financial firms, the FCA's Consumer Duty. Rules on automated decisions changed on 5 February 2026.
Vendors in this category price in US dollars, so that is what we show; we do not convert prices, because an assumed exchange rate is not a quote. Each review states whether the product documents a UK or EU hosting region and whether it supports the UK–US data bridge route for transfers.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI agents integrate with Shopify?
In our research, Tidio Lyro, Gladly AI, Intercom Fin, Freshworks Freddy and Forethought document a Shopify integration. We did not find one for Ada or Decagon.
What is a realistic resolution rate for a store?
Named retail and consumer customers in the case studies we read report between 30% and 68%. Order status and returns policy questions resolve well; damaged goods and refunds usually need a person.
Keep reading
- The best AI customer service agents in 2026best list
- The best AI customer service agents for small businessbest list
- The best AI customer service agents for enterprisebest list
- The best AI customer service agents for Zendeskbest list
- The best AI customer service agents for Salesforcebest list
- What counts as a resolution?guide
- How to run an AI agent pilotguide
Sources
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This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not run hands-on tests of these products. Method: How we review