Optlo: the Gorgias alternative
Gorgias manages the AI for you. Optlo runs it on your own provider key, at your provider's prices.
Last updated July 2026
Gorgias is the help desk of choice for many ecommerce brands, with deep Shopify integration and a large marketplace of ecommerce apps. Its AI Agent resolves customer questions across email, chat, voice, and SMS, and you're billed by ticket volume rather than per agent.
Gorgias manages the AI and bills the Agent per resolution, on top of ticket-based plans. Optlo runs on your own AI provider account (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google Gemini), so you pay for tokens directly with no markup and no per-resolution fee, and you see what each conversation costs.
If you run a Shopify or ecommerce store and want deep native integrations, Gorgias is hard to beat. If you want to own your AI and its cost, and shape the agent's prompt and workflow, Optlo is built for that.
Choose Optlo if…
You want to own your AI, pay providers directly with no per-resolution AI markup, choose your models, and shape the prompt and workflow.
Try Optlo freeStick with Gorgias if…
You run a Shopify or ecommerce store that needs deep native integrations, voice and SMS channels, and ticket-based pricing, and you prefer AI managed for you.
Optlo vs Gorgias at a glance
| Feature | Optlo | Gorgias |
|---|---|---|
| Bring your own AI key (pay your provider directly) | OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini | AI is managed |
| No markup / no per-resolution AI billing | Yes | Pay per AI resolution |
| Predictable cost at high volume | Plan + your AI at cost | Tickets + resolutions scale |
| Choose from multiple AI models | Yes | One managed model |
| Edit the system prompt | Full control | Guidance + config |
| Custom conversation workflows | Yes | Rules & automations |
| Shared inbox & human handoff | Yes | Yes |
| Trained on your content (site, docs, help center) | Yes | Yes |
| Support channels | Email & web | Email, chat, voice, SMS |
| Ecommerce / Shopify integration | Via workflow code actions | Deep native Shopify + 100+ apps |
| Free trial | 7-day trial | Yes |
| Starting price | From $16/mo, billed annually | Ticket-based; AI per resolution |
Gorgias pricing and features were read from Gorgias's pricing page in July 2026 and may have changed since. Check the current terms there before you decide.
01Pricing model
Per-resolution AI on top of ticket-based pricing
Gorgias prices by ticket volume rather than per agent, and the AI Agent is billed per resolution, so you pay each time it resolves a conversation. That aligns cost with value, but both the ticket base and the AI bill climb with volume, and the underlying model cost is baked in rather than shown.
Optlo separates those costs. You pay an Optlo plan from $16/mo billed annually, and your AI provider bills you directly for the tokens used. There's no per-resolution markup, and you can watch usage in your provider dashboard and tune it. At volume this usually lands well below per-resolution pricing.
14.1×more expensive on Gorgias, $864 more every month at the same volume
- Plan + tickets$300
- AI Agent resolutions$630
- Optlo Growth plan$49
- Your AI tokens, at cost$17
How this is calculated
1,000 conversations a month, 70% resolved by AI, 3 seats, billed annually, with OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini on your own key.
Estimate only. Gorgias figures use public list prices; Optlo's AI line is your provider's token cost, not a markup.
Run your own numbers02Model choice
Gorgias runs one model for every ticket
Gorgias runs its AI Agent on a model it manages for you. Simple questions and hard ones get the same model, and new releases reach you when Gorgias adopts them.
17 modelsacross OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, assignable step by step
Optlo leaves that choice to you. Bring your key, then set a model per workflow step: something cheap to tell a shipping question from a return, something stronger to actually handle the return. New releases from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google are yours as soon as your provider lists them.
03Control
Rules engines stop where the prompt begins
Gorgias lets you guide the AI Agent and build rules and automations. That's flexible within the rules engine, but the prompt itself stays out of reach.
In Optlo the prompt is the first thing you can edit. Start from a preset, rewrite the instructions in your own words, and decide for yourself which step looks up an order and which one escalates to a human.
04Trade-offs
Where Gorgias is the stronger choice
Gorgias is built for ecommerce. If you need deep native Shopify actions, a large marketplace of ecommerce integrations, and channels like voice and SMS, it's an excellent fit. Optlo covers email and web with a shared inbox and human handoff. It competes on what the AI costs and who owns it, not on ecommerce depth.
Optlo is stronger at
- Owning the AI account and paying providers at cost
- Predictable cost as conversation volume grows
- Choosing and mixing models per workflow step
- Editing the system prompt and every workflow step
Gorgias is stronger at
- Deep native Shopify actions for ecommerce stores
- A large marketplace of ecommerce integrations
- Channels like voice and SMS
- Ticket-based pricing that doesn't charge per agent
05Switching
Switching from Gorgias to Optlo
For a store, the content moves easily and the order lookups take real work. Gorgias's native Shopify actions are the piece you have to rebuild by hand.
Point Optlo at your help center and store
Optlo crawls your public help center, policy pages, and product pages, following your sitemap. Shipping, returns and sizing questions are answerable from that content on day one.
Connect your AI provider key
Create a key in OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google and pick your model. Your AI cost moves onto your provider account and stops being a per-resolution line item on top of your ticket bill.
Rebuild order lookups as workflow steps
This is the real work. Where Gorgias ships native Shopify actions, Optlo calls your store's API from a workflow code action, so a where-is-my-order flow is something you wire up rather than switch on.
Go live on chat and email
Optlo installs as a script tag, so you can test on a staging store first. When the order flow works, point web chat and support email at Optlo and handle escalations in the shared inbox.
What doesn't come across: Gorgias ticket history, its native Shopify actions and app marketplace, and the voice and SMS channels. Budget for rebuilding order lookups before you commit to a cutover date.
Start a free trialFrequently asked questions
Is Optlo cheaper than Gorgias?
It depends on your ticket volume. Gorgias's ticket-based plans plus per-resolution AI add up as you grow. Optlo's plan plus paying your provider directly is often cheaper at volume. Our cost calculator will compare it against your own numbers.
Can I bring my own OpenAI or Anthropic key to Gorgias?
No. Gorgias manages the AI behind its Agent. Optlo is built around bringing your own provider key, so you pay OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini directly with no markup.
Is Gorgias better for ecommerce?
For Shopify and ecommerce stores, Gorgias's deep native integrations and channels like voice and SMS are a genuine advantage. Optlo focuses on email and web and competes on owning your AI and its cost.
Does Optlo integrate with Shopify?
Yes, through a workflow code action that calls Shopify's API. What the agent can do is bounded by what that API exposes, and you build and test each flow yourself rather than switching it on. That is the real difference from Gorgias, which ships its Shopify actions prebuilt and tested. If owning your AI matters more than prebuilt ecommerce depth, Optlo works.
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