# Keep your helpdesk. Or use ours, free. Richpanel's AI comes with a helpdesk you move to and pay for by the seat. Aide joins the Zendesk, Gorgias or Front account you already use, or runs on Aide Helpdesk, which has no seat fee on paid plans. Aide is a Richpanel alternative for Shopify brands that want AI acting on orders without changing helpdesks, with every refund sent to a teammate first. It bills per AI reply with unlimited team members from $39 a month; Richpanel lists $99 per seat plus metered AI. Source: https://aide.app/compare/richpanel · Updated 2026-11-03 · By Ziyad Basheer | | | |---|---| | Pricing unit | Aide: per AI reply. Richpanel: per seat, plus AI on a token meter. | | Team seats | Aide: unlimited from Starter. Richpanel: $99 a seat a month, billed yearly. | | AI cost | Richpanel estimates about $0.20 per AI conversation, with a $200 monthly minimum. | | Lowest monthly bill | Aide: $0 on Free. Richpanel: $299 a month on a yearly commitment. | | Helpdesk | Richpanel replaces your helpdesk. Aide runs within Zendesk, Gorgias or Front, or standalone. | | App Store reviews | Richpanel 4.9 across 136 reviews; Aide 5.0 across 3. Checked November 3, 2026. | ## Cancelled from a Zendesk ticket. Your team keeps working in Zendesk. Aide reads the ticket, finds the shopper's order in Shopify and, once that brand is live, answers the email itself. Richpanel's AI cancels unshipped orders too, with a permission per action. The difference is where it runs. In the helpdesk you already pay for, or in one you move your team to. > Customer: Please cancel order #1073. I picked the wrong color. > > Aide: No problem. #1073 was still unfulfilled, so I've cancelled it in Shopify. A teammate will approve your $64.00 refund shortly, and you'll get a confirmation when it's sent. > > Zendesk email · Order #1073 cancelled in Shopify · $64.00 refund queued for approval ## Two ways to put AI on Shopify orders | | Aide | Richpanel | |---|---|---| | What you adopt | An AI agent for Zendesk, Gorgias or Front, or Aide Helpdesk | Richpanel's helpdesk with its AI agents | | Order actions | Cancellations, refunds, address edits, item removal before shipping, returns | Cancel, refund, change address, edit orders and more | | Approval | Refunds sit with a teammate by default | A permission per action; unset actions wait | | Identity | Shopper logged in, or the order number with its email | A one-time email code when your store requires it | | Seats | No cap from Starter; Free has 2 | $99 each a month, billed yearly | | Phone and Meta | No phone; Meta channels not yet offered to new workspaces | Phone through Aircall, Dialpad or JustCall; WhatsApp and social | *Richpanel details as of November 3, 2026, from the pages under Sources.* ## What a 3-person team pays Say 3 people work 1,000 conversations monthly and the AI writes 2 replies on each. - Aide on Aide Helpdesk: 2,000 AI replies falls within Pro, $149 a month, seats included. Inside Zendesk, Gorgias or Front, your helpdesk bill is unchanged. - Richpanel: 3 seats at $99 is $297. At its $0.20 estimate, 1,000 AI conversations is $200, which meets the minimum. About $497 a month billed yearly, or about $597 monthly at $119 a seat and $0.60 credits. Richpanel counts a whole thread as one AI conversation, and its cost moves with the model you pick. Aide counts each reply. Long threads favor Richpanel's unit; a bigger team favors Aide's. ## Sources We checked Richpanel on November 3, 2026, using its [pricing page](https://www.richpanel.com/pricing), [AI actions overview](https://www.richpanel.com/learn/ai-actions), [refund](https://www.richpanel.com/learn/ai-actions-refund-order) and [cancellation](https://www.richpanel.com/learn/ai-actions-cancel-order) pages, its [Zendesk alternatives guide](https://www.richpanel.com/learn/best-zendesk-ai-alternatives.md) for how it replaces a helpdesk and connects phone, and its [Shopify App Store page](https://apps.shopify.com/customer-support), whose plans (from $89 a month) differ from the pricing page we used. Aide's numbers are from [aide.app/pricing](https://aide.app/pricing) and the product as shipped. Corrections go to support@aide.app. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can Richpanel's AI refund and cancel Shopify orders? Yes. Richpanel documents 14 Shopify order actions, each set to Always allow or Require approval, and an action with no permission set waits for a person. Aide handles cancellations, refunds and address changes once a shopper is verified; refunds sit with a teammate until you raise its limits. ### Do I have to move helpdesks to use Aide? No. Every Aide plan includes the Zendesk, Gorgias and Front connectors. Aide drafts inside your tickets, and nothing goes out to shoppers before you switch an inbox live. Teams without a helpdesk use Aide Helpdesk. ### How does Richpanel bill for AI? On tokens. Its pricing page bills credits at $0.50 each on annual plans and $0.60 monthly, estimates about $0.20 per AI-handled conversation, and sets a $200 monthly AI minimum. Social media replies run about $0.05 a conversation, and Returns and Exchanges starts at $99 a month. ### When is Richpanel the better fit? When you'd rather buy the helpdesk and its AI from a single company, phone calls in the same inbox, AI on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok today, subscription actions in Recharge, Loop or Skio, a self-service order portal, or a say in which model answers. It also has far more Shopify App Store reviews. ### When is Aide not the right fit? When phone support is a must, or you want a portal where customers edit their own orders, or order changes on WooCommerce, which Aide reads but does not edit. ### What does Aide's free plan include? 150 AI replies a month, 2 team members, the Aide Chat widget for your store and Shopify order actions, with no card. Human conversations are unlimited. ## Related - [A free helpdesk with AI](https://aide.app/guides/free-helpdesk-with-ai) - [Aide vs Re:amaze](https://aide.app/compare/reamaze) - [Aide vs eDesk](https://aide.app/compare/edesk) Start free: https://my.aide.app/register