I ordered the Pine Ridge throw over a week ago and it still hasn’t turned up. It was meant to be a birthday present for my mum on Saturday. Order #4821.
The AI helpdesk for Shopify stores.
Hobson drafts a reply to every customer message, with the order already looked up. You approve, and it only sends on its own once it has proved itself.
Every channel in one inbox, with Shopify beside it
Email
Gmail in two clicks, or forward from any provider. Outlook connect is coming soon.
Live chat
A chat widget for your store, added to Shopify as a theme app embed.
Instagram
Direct messages answered from the same inbox.
Messenger
Facebook Page messages, with the 24-hour reply window handled.
Contact forms
Hosted or embedded forms with file uploads and spam checks.
Shopify
Orders, tracking and history beside every conversation.
Only the conversations that need you.
Hobson does the legwork on every conversation and shows each step it took. What is left is a short list of decisions.
Reads and sorts
Every message is categorised the moment it lands, whichever channel it came from.
Gathers the facts
Orders, tracking and past conversations are pulled up before anyone looks.
Drafts the reply
Written the way your team already writes, citing the policy it used. Approve it with one keystroke.
When does Hobson send on its own?
Only once it has earned it, one kind of question at a time. Every category starts by asking first, and goes back to asking first if your team starts correcting it more often.
- Draft only
- Hobson writes the reply and any order action. A person approves both before anything happens.
- Auto-send
- Unlocks for a category once enough of its drafts have been approved. Refund, return and other policy questions also need your policy in Hobson’s knowledge first. Every send waits a minute so you can undo it.
- Off
- Chargebacks, legal threats and your VIPs always come straight to you.
What does Hobson do on each conversation?
The work a good support hire does: it knows your orders, writes like your team and hands over when it should.
Nothing gets lost
Every reply lands in your own Sent folder, and your email keeps working even if Hobson is paused.
- Sent from your own mailbox
- A minute to undo any auto-send
- One switch pauses everything
Can I try it before it replies to anyone?
Yes. Hobson starts in shadow mode: it drafts on your real conversations and sends nothing. On Gorgias it runs alongside your live helpdesk with just an API key, so you can compare before you switch.
- 1
Connect your channels
Gmail in two clicks, or forward from any provider. Add chat, Instagram and Messenger when you like.
- 2
Bring your history
Tickets, customers, macros and tags from Gorgias. Just using Gmail? Hobson learns from your sent replies.
- 3
Run in shadow mode
Hobson drafts on your live conversations and sends nothing.
- 4
Compare
See each draft beside the reply your team actually sent.
- 5
Go live
Switch on auto-send one kind of question at a time, when the numbers say so.
Does it know our policies?
Upload documents, add pages from your site or paste text. Hobson checks that your knowledge covers refunds, returns, shipping and the rest, and checks every source for hidden instructions before using it.
How knowledge worksHow do I know it’s working?
Reports show conversations closed without complaint, time saved and customer ratings, with shadow and live kept apart so you can see what changed when you switched on.
See the reportsIs it safe to let AI answer my customers?
Hobson speaks to your customers, so it is built to earn that trust slowly.
Messages are data, not instructions
Nothing a customer writes, or a page you add as knowledge, can change what Hobson is allowed to do. Suspicious messages go to a person.
Checked before it sends
An auto-send only goes when the reply answers the question and fits your policies and tone.
Stored in the EU
Email and attachments are stored in Ireland, and Hobson’s API runs in the EU. OAuth tokens and API keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM.
Every action logged
See what Hobson and your team did on every ticket, and when.
Your mailbox stays the record
We never take over your MX records. Every message is mirrored back to your own inbox.
Leave whenever you like
Export your data at any time. Deleting a workspace removes everything, attachments included.
How much does Hobson cost?
One flat monthly price based on how many conversations you handle, from £49 for up to 300. Every seat and every feature is included. At your limit, drafting pauses until you upgrade or the next month starts, so you are never charged for going over.
£49 a month for 300 conversations each month
Conversationseach month300300
Enterprise · 25,000+ conversations, custom pricingContact us
- Unlimited seats for your whole team
- AI drafting and checks included
- No fees per reply or per ticket
14-day free trial, cancel any time.
Run a SaaS product instead?
Hobson shows each customer’s plan and account status beside the conversation, turns bug reports into Linear issues and drafts the “it’s fixed” reply when the issue closes.
Common questions
From £49 a month for up to 300 conversations, £149 for up to 1,000, £349 for up to 3,000, and £899 for up to 10,000. Pay annually and you get two months free. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial: we take a card up front, nothing is charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel any time. Handling more than 25,000 a month? Get in touch for custom pricing. A conversation is one customer’s thread, however many messages go back and forth. Every seat and every feature is included, with no extra charge per reply.
You are told at 80% and again at 100% of your monthly conversations. At the limit, Hobson stops drafting replies to new conversations until you upgrade or the next month starts. Messages still arrive and your team can still reply. There are no overage charges.
Email (Gmail, or forwarding from any provider), live chat on your store or website, Instagram direct messages, Facebook Messenger and contact forms, all in one inbox. Hobson doesn’t handle phone calls, SMS or WhatsApp.
Yes. You don’t need a helpdesk already. Connect your Gmail, tell Hobson how you like to write, and it starts drafting replies to your customers for you to approve.
Connecting a Microsoft 365 mailbox directly is coming soon. Until then, forward your Outlook email to Hobson and it works just the same.
Nothing goes to a customer without your approval until you choose otherwise, one kind of question at a time. Auto-send only unlocks for a category once enough of its drafts have been approved, each send waits a minute so you can undo it, and Hobson goes back to asking first if your team starts correcting it more often.
Yes, with your approval. Hobson looks up orders, tracking and customer history, and can propose a refund, cancellation, address change, replacement order or discount code alongside its reply. The change only runs when someone approves it, and agents can only approve amounts up to the limit you set.
Yes. Import your tickets, customers, macros and tags, then run Hobson in shadow mode on your live Gorgias traffic with just an API key. It drafts and sends nothing, and the Compare view shows each draft beside the reply your team sent.
Attachments and raw inbound email are stored by Amazon Web Services in Ireland, email is sent and received through Mailgun’s EU region, and Hobson’s API runs on Hetzner in the EU. AI drafting and search use providers in the US under standard contractual clauses. OAuth tokens and API keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, each with its own key, wrapped by a master key held outside the database. Deleting your workspace removes everything, attachments included.
Put Hobson on duty.
Connect your inbox in a few minutes. Hobson drafts, you approve, and nothing reaches a customer until you say so.