Shopify helpdesk & chat app complaints: what 74 bad reviews say
74 one- and two-star Shopify App Store reviews with text (64 one-star) of the 16 most-reviewed apps in the Helpdesk & chat category, posted 26 Oct 2025 – 25 Oct 2026.
What merchants complain about in Shopify helpdesk & chat apps
| Complaint | Share | Reviews | All apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slow or no support | 66.2% | 49 | 31.2% |
| Bugs & broke the store | 23% | 17 | 17.9% |
| Charges & refunds | 17.6% | 13 | 13.9% |
| Export, import & migration pain | 13.5% | 10 | 6.4% |
| Hard to use or set up | 10.8% | 8 | 9.1% |
| Missing features & limits | 9.5% | 7 | 3.1% |
| Too expensive for what it does | 8.1% | 6 | 4.7% |
| Called it a scam or misleading | 6.8% | 5 | 5.8% |
| Sync, orders & inventory errors | 4.1% | 3 | 6.5% |
| Slow store & app speed | 2.7% | 2 | 2.7% |
| Charged after uninstalling/cancelling | 1.4% | 1 | 1.4% |
| Price increases & plan changes | 1.4% | 1 | 0.7% |
A review can match several themes; 13.5% match none. “All apps” = 2,418 low-star reviews of 192 apps in 12 categories.
What is different about this category
Compared with all 192 apps in the study, helpdesk & chat app reviews mention missing features & limits 3.1× as often (9.5% vs 3.1%); slow or no support 2.1× as often (66.2% vs 31.2%); export, import & migration pain 2.1× as often (13.5% vs 6.4%).
Shopify helpdesk & chat apps by number of bad reviews
| App | 1–2★ | Top complaint (5+ reviews) | Replied |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gorgias | 27 | Slow or no support 88.9% | 96.3% |
| Tidio | 12 | Slow or no support 58.3% | 83.3% |
| Chatty AI Chatbot & Live Chat | 10 | Bugs & broke the store 30% | 100% |
| Redo | 5 | Slow or no support 60% | 40% |
| BotSpace | 4 | – | 75% |
| Commslayer | 4 | – | 100% |
| Zipchat AI Chatbot & Live Chat | 4 | – | 50% |
| Re:amaze AI Helpdesk & Chat | 3 | – | 33.3% |
| Chatway Live Chat & AI Chatbot | 2 | – | 100% |
| Willdesk | 2 | – | 100% |
| DC | 1 | – | 100% |
| Richpanel | 0 | – | – |
| Cleverific Order Edit & Upsell | 0 | – | – |
| Flyweight AI Chatbot & AI Chat | 0 | – | – |
| SB | 0 | – | – |
| Orderify | 0 | – | – |
In merchants’ words
“… Then one channel was deleted by mistake, and with it every helpdesk ticket attached to it disappeared permanently.”
Shopify App Store review, Oct 2026
“… Although they kept billing for bugs reported. When asked for new POC was introduced in group who didnt even had a clue of what was reported and what was he considering.”
Shopify App Store review, Aug 2026
“… But charged me the full price for the plan. When I reached out about it they stated I had the app in the past.”
Shopify App Store review, Jul 2026
“… I'm afraid that if something important will be in the future, they also will not fix it.”
Shopify App Store review, Oct 2026
“… If a company can’t show up for a scheduled onboarding appointment—or at least communicate that they can’t make it—it’s difficult to have confidence in the service.”
Shopify App Store review, Aug 2026
Do Shopify helpdesk & chat developers reply to bad reviews?
85.1% of these low-star reviews got a reply from the developer, median 2 days after the review (all apps: 43.9%, median 2 days).
Time on the app before the bad review
| Time used | Reviews | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 day | 7 | 9.5% |
| 1–7 days | 8 | 10.8% |
| 8–30 days | 16 | 21.6% |
| 1–12 months | 26 | 35.1% |
| Over 1 year | 17 | 23% |
What to fix first (our reading of the data)
- Slow or no support (66.2% of reviews): Answer support within one business day and say so in the listing; most of these reviews are written after a ticket went unanswered.
- Bugs & broke the store (23% of reviews): Ship a fix note in the reply to every bug review, and test on a fresh dev store with the most common theme before each release.
- Charges & refunds (17.6% of reviews): Make charges predictable: show the exact plan and usage price before approval and refund disputed charges quickly.
This analysis for your helpdesk & chat category, with the top 10 apps
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Other categories: Marketplaces · Email & SMS marketing · Dropshipping · Product reviews · Upsell & bundles · Translation & currency · Subscriptions · Shipping · Product options & variants · SEO & speed · Loyalty & rewards
Data and method: Shopify review study (192 apps, CC BY 4.0 CSV) · Shopify app bad reviews: what to fix first · All categories
FAQ
What do merchants complain about most in Shopify helpdesk & chat apps?
In 74 one- and two-star Shopify App Store reviews of 16 Shopify helpdesk & chat apps (Oct 2025 – Oct 2026), the top complaints were slow or no support (66.2%), bugs & broke the store (23%), charges & refunds (17.6%).
Do Shopify helpdesk & chat app developers reply to bad reviews?
85.1% of these low-star reviews got a reply from the developer, median 2 days after the review (all apps: 43.9%, median 2 days).
Which Shopify helpdesk & chat app had the most bad reviews?
Gorgias, with 27 one- and two-star reviews in the 12 months to Oct 2026.
How soon do merchants leave a bad review on a helpdesk & chat app?
20.3% of the low-star reviews were written within the first week of use and 23% after a year or more.