When you run an online business, customer support isn’t just a nice extra. It’s the fuel that keeps your brand moving forward. Every interaction with a customer can make or break trust. That’s why picking the right help desk or messaging platform matters more than most founders initially realize.
Intercom and Gorgias are two popular tools that people often compare when shopping around for customer communication platforms. Each comes with a different approach, a different pricing style, and very different strengths. If you’re here because you’re confused about which one fits your company better, then you’re in the right place. I’ve tried both, read endless reviews, and even had a few awkward moments when one of them suddenly raised prices right before renewal. Not my favorite surprise, I must say.
Now let’s go through both tools in detail. We’ll explore what Intercom does well, where Gorgias shines, and in the end I’ll throw in a curveball by introducing you to another option you might not know yet: EasyChatDesk. If you like saving money while getting great support, you’ll want to stick around for that.
What Intercom Brings To The Table
Intercom is basically the veteran in this space. The company has been around for years, and they’ve built a reputation as the go-to tool for live chat, in-app messaging, and customer engagement. If you’ve ever been browsing a site and suddenly saw a small chat bubble pop up in the corner with a friendly automated message, there’s a good chance that was Intercom.
Its biggest strengths are automation and customer journey mapping. You can send targeted in-app messages, track how users move through your product, and set up campaigns to push people toward upgrades or conversions. For SaaS companies, that’s gold. You don’t just chat—you guide customers through funnels without them even noticing.
The downside? Well, the pricing model is enough to give small businesses headaches. Intercom has been criticized for being too expensive and complicated for startups. They also tend to gate certain useful features behind higher tiers. That means you often end up paying more than you originally planned. Trust me, I’ve been there, staring at invoices thinking “did I really need that one extra feature?”
Still, Intercom’s polish and integrations make it attractive for larger companies with bigger budgets. If your main focus is advanced automation and growth-driven customer engagement, Intercom is hard to beat.
What Gorgias Offers
Gorgias is different. Unlike Intercom, which is general-purpose, Gorgias is laser-focused on ecommerce. Their sweet spot is online stores running on Shopify, WooCommerce, or Magento. Instead of being a broad messaging tool, it’s more of a help desk specifically built for ecommerce support.
One of Gorgias’s best features is the deep integration with ecommerce platforms. You can see customer orders, shipping details, and purchase history right inside the support dashboard. That means your agents don’t have to jump back and forth between tools. If someone writes in asking “where’s my order,” the agent has the details right there. No awkward tab juggling.
Automation is another big selling point. Gorgias lets you set up rules that automatically tag, prioritize, and respond to certain types of tickets. For example, if someone writes “refund,” it can auto-tag the request and assign it to the right team. That can save serious time if you’re handling hundreds of customer requests daily.
But like Intercom, it comes at a price. Gorgias charges based on ticket volume, and once your store grows, so does your bill. For smaller merchants, that can be stressful. There’s also the limitation that it’s not ideal for SaaS or service-based businesses—it’s really tailored for ecommerce.
Comparing Intercom and Gorgias
So what’s the real difference? Intercom is broad, focusing on customer engagement and in-app communication. Gorgias is narrow, focusing on ecommerce support efficiency. Which one you choose depends heavily on what kind of business you run.
Here’s a quick way to think about it:
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If you’re running a SaaS and need in-app chat, onboarding messages, and lifecycle automation → Intercom makes sense.
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If you’re running a Shopify store and need order lookups, refunds, and ecommerce automation → Gorgias will feel like home.
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If you’re running something in between and don’t want to spend all your budget on support software → keep reading, because there’s another option.
I’ll be honest though. Both tools can feel overwhelming when you’re first starting out. Too many settings, too many dashboards, too many billing surprises. At one point I wondered if I needed a support tool to manage my support tool. That’s not a joke—I actually thought about it.
The Case For EasyChatDesk
Here’s where I’m going to suggest something different. You don’t always have to follow the big brands. EasyChatDesk is a platform built to combine live chat, chatbot, and ticketing, without the sticker shock that comes with Intercom or Gorgias.
What makes it stand out? Simplicity and affordability. You still get live chat, AI chatbots, CRM ticketing, customer history, and even visitor tracking, but at a fraction of the cost. Unlike Intercom, you won’t feel punished just because your team grew by one extra agent. Unlike Gorgias, you’re not tied only to ecommerce. EasyChatDesk works for SaaS, agencies, online stores, or even small service providers.
Another big plus is the customer support. I know it sounds ironic to talk about the support team of a support app, but it really matters. With EasyChatDesk, you can actually get fast help without waiting days for an answer. If you’ve ever opened a ticket with a large software company and felt like you were shouting into the void, you’ll appreciate the difference.
Why EasyChatDesk Can Be A Better Fit
Let’s be practical for a moment. Budgets are tight. Nobody wants to spend thousands each year on tools that could be replaced by a leaner alternative. EasyChatDesk is designed to solve that exact problem. It gives you the essential features of Intercom and Gorgias but at a lower cost and with more flexibility.
Think of it as the middle ground. It has the automation and live chat you’d expect from Intercom, plus the ticketing workflows that Gorgias users love, but without the locked-in pricing model. And because it’s built with growing businesses in mind, you don’t need a dedicated team just to configure it. That saves time, which is just as valuable as saving money.
Here’s a short list of reasons companies switch to EasyChatDesk:
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Affordable pricing that scales fairly.
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Omnichannel support including live chat and ticketing.
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AI chatbot to automate common questions.
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CRM tools to manage customer relationships.
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Better customer support for users of the platform.
I’ve seen businesses migrate and immediately cut their support tool expenses in half. Some even reinvested the savings into ads, which ironically drove more support requests—yet they still managed fine because EasyChatDesk didn’t charge them extra for the growth.
Which One Should You Pick?
At the end of the day, it depends on your business model and budget. If you’re a funded SaaS startup with a team dedicated to onboarding and lifecycle marketing, Intercom is probably worth the investment. If you’re an ecommerce store scaling quickly on Shopify, Gorgias will feel like a lifesaver because of its integrations.
But if you’re somewhere in between—or you just want something simpler and more affordable—then EasyChatDesk is the one to try. It won’t lock you into crazy tiers, and it gives you the flexibility to grow without sweating over every new support ticket.
Conclusion
Customer support software isn’t just a technical decision. It’s a strategic one that shapes how your customers experience your brand. Intercom and Gorgias both have strong points, but they also come with costs and limitations that not every business can stomach.
EasyChatDesk offers a refreshing alternative. It’s more affordable, easier to use, and backed by better customer support. You don’t need to be a large enterprise to enjoy powerful tools. You just need a platform that respects your budget and your time.
So if you’ve been stuck wondering “Intercom vs Gorgias, what’s better,” the real answer might just be “neither—try EasyChatDesk instead.”
And to leave you with a smile: customer support tools should reduce stress, not cause it. If your software makes you cry every billing cycle, maybe it’s time to switch. Or at least keep tissues near the laptop.
