Can I try Hobson without leaving Gorgias?

Yes. Give Hobson a Gorgias API key and it runs in shadow mode on your live Gorgias traffic. It drafts a reply to each new conversation, sends nothing, and shows its draft next to the reply your team sent in Gorgias. No DNS or mailbox changes.

What counts as a conversation?

One customer’s thread on any channel, however many messages go back and forth. Imported history and spam don’t count.

What happens if I go over my plan?

Hobson tells the owner at 80% and 100% of the plan’s conversations. At the limit it stops drafting replies to new conversations until you upgrade or the next period starts. Messages still arrive and your team can still reply. There are no overage charges.

Does Hobson charge per resolution?

No. Every plan is a flat monthly price that includes drafting, auto-send and every feature. There is no fee per AI reply.

Can Hobson issue Shopify refunds?

Yes. Hobson can propose a refund, cancellation, address change, replacement order or discount code with its reply. Nothing runs until a person approves it, and agents have a money limit above which an owner or admin must approve.

Will my macros come across?

Yes. Hobson imports your Gorgias tickets, customers, macros and tags, and learns your tone from your best past replies.

Where is my data stored?

Email and files are stored in AWS in Ireland (eu-west-1) and the app runs in the EU. AI drafting uses 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.

Is Hobson cheaper than Gorgias?

It depends on your volume. Gorgias Starter is $10 a month for 50 tickets, which is cheaper than Hobson for very small stores. From about 1,000 conversations a month with AI handling a share of them, Hobson’s flat Growth plan at £149 usually costs less. The calculator shows the line items for your own numbers.

Hobson vs Gorgias: an honest comparison for UK Shopify brands

Gorgias is the most complete Shopify helpdesk, with voice, SMS and a large app ecosystem. It charges per ticket, plus $0.90 to $1.00 for each AI Agent interaction.

Hobson drafts every conversation for a flat price in pounds with unlimited seats, and only sends on its own for categories that have proved accurate.

Choose Gorgias if you need voice, SMS or the widest set of integrations. Choose Hobson if you want AI on every conversation and a bill that doesn’t grow with it.

14-day free trial. Hobson starts in shadow mode, so nothing reaches your customers until you choose.

Get early access Compare your costs

Updated 11 October 2026. Competitor prices checked on each vendor’s own site.

At a glance

Feature	Hobson	Gorgias
Pricing model	Flat monthly plans by conversations, every feature on every plan	Per billable ticket, plus a fee for each AI Agent interaction
Starting price	£49 a month for 300 conversations (£490 a year billed annually)	Starter $10 a month for 50 tickets. Basic $60 a month ($50 billed annually) for 300 tickets
AI fee	None. Drafting and auto-send are included in the plan	$1.00 per automated interaction on monthly billing, $0.90 on annual, after the interactions your plan includes
Over the limit	No overage charges. At the limit Hobson stops drafting new conversations until you upgrade or the next period starts	Extra tickets at $0.40 each on Starter and Basic, $0.36 on Pro and Advanced
Seats	Unlimited seats on every plan	Not charged per seat
AI drafting	A draft on every conversation, included	Not listed as a separate add-on on the pricing page
Shopify order actions	Refund, cancel, address change, replacement order and discount code, proposed with the reply and run only when approved	Order edits, refunds, cancellations, returns and subscriptions from inside a ticket
Channels	Email (Gmail, forwarding), live chat, Instagram, Messenger and contact forms. Microsoft 365 direct connect coming soon. No voice, SMS or WhatsApp	Email, chat, social, plus voice and SMS as usage-priced add-ons

Competitor details as listed on their own pricing pages, checked on the dates under Sources. Prices exclude VAT.

Gorgias pricing in the UK, explained

Gorgias prices in US dollars by billable tickets, so a UK store pays in dollars or at its card’s exchange rate. These are the list prices on gorgias.com/pricing on 11 October 2026, converted at £1 = $1.33 and excluding VAT.

Plan	Tickets	Monthly	Annual, per month	Extra ticket
Starter	50	$10 ≈ £7.52	Not listed	$0.40
Basic	300	$60 ≈ £45.11	$50 ≈ £37.59	$0.40
Pro	2,000	$360 ≈ £271	$300 ≈ £226	$0.36
Advanced	5,000	$900 ≈ £677	$750 ≈ £564	$0.36

On top of the ticket price, the AI Agent costs $1.00 per automated interaction on monthly billing and $0.90 on annual, after the 30 to 530 interactions each plan includes. Voice and SMS are priced by usage on top. So a Gorgias bill has three moving parts: the plan, extra tickets and AI interactions. In a busy month all three can rise.

Hobson has one: a flat price in pounds for a number of conversations, with drafting and auto-send included. If you reach the limit, drafting pauses for new conversations rather than adding charges.

What it costs in practice

Three example stores on monthly billing at list prices. Each competitor figure counts its seats and its fee for each conversation its AI resolves, on the plan shown. Drafting add-ons are left out, which favours the competitors. US dollar prices are converted at £1 = $1.33. Hobson’s AI drafting pauses at your plan limit, and you’re never billed overage.

Small store

300 conversations, 2 agents, 30% (90) resolved by AI

Hobson Starter: £49
Gorgias Basic plan: ≈ £90.23

Change the numbers

Growing store

1,000 conversations, 3 agents, 40% (400) resolved by AI

Hobson Growth: £149
Gorgias Basic plan: ≈ £414

Change the numbers

Busy store

3,000 conversations, 8 agents, 50% (1,500) resolved by AI

Hobson Scale: £349
Gorgias Pro plan: ≈ £1,256

Change the numbers

How the AI works

Hobson drafts every conversation and a person approves it. A category, such as order status or returns, can only send on its own once it has at least 20 reviewed outcomes, a 95% confidence lower bound of 70% or more acceptable, and facts changed in no more than 10% of replies. Policy categories like refunds stay locked until your policy is in the knowledge base. Every auto-send waits a minute so you can undo it, and a category goes back to asking first if corrections rise.

Gorgias’s AI is priced per resolution or interaction, so the bill rises as it does more. Hobson’s price stays the same.

Where Gorgias is better

Voice, SMS, WhatsApp and TikTok Shop. Hobson has none of these.
A help centre and a large ecosystem of apps.
A pre-sales Shopping Assistant. Hobson only answers support conversations.
Years in the market and hundreds of public reviews.
Cheaper for very small stores: Starter is $10 a month for 50 tickets.

Where Hobson is better

One flat GBP price with AI drafting included. No per-ticket overage and no fee per AI reply.
Unlimited seats on every plan.
A draft on every conversation, not only the ones the AI closes on its own.
Shadow mode on your live Gorgias traffic with just an API key, so you can see Hobson’s drafts beside your team’s replies before you switch.
Auto-send is earned one category at a time, once Hobson’s drafts have a track record.

Why teams look beyond Gorgias

Common themes in public reviews and write-ups, as of 11 October 2026:

Billing: ticket overage with AI fees on top (Macha, Gorgias complaints)
Paying extra for the AI Agent, billing during the trial, support response times (Shopify App Store reviews)

Switching

Run Hobson in shadow mode on your live Gorgias traffic with an API key, compare its drafts with your team’s replies, then move over one category at a time. Tickets, customers, macros and tags come across. See how switching from Gorgias works.

Questions

Sources

Gorgias pricing, checked 11 October 2026
Gorgias on the Shopify App Store (4.3 from 705 reviews), checked 11 October 2026
Macha, Gorgias complaints, checked 11 October 2026
Shopify App Store reviews, checked 11 October 2026

Prices are list prices excluding VAT, voice, SMS and add-ons unless shown, and can change at any time. Check the vendor’s own page before you decide. Gorgias is a trade mark of its owner. Hobson is not affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@hobson.support and we’ll correct it.

Put Hobson on duty.

Connect your inbox in a few minutes. Hobson drafts, you approve, and nothing reaches a customer until you say so.