Simple Chat vs Richpanel
App comparison
Simple Chat vs Richpanel
Richpanel is an AI-native helpdesk in the literal sense: the listing leads with agents that carry order status, returns, refunds, cancellations, and subscription changes through to done, a manager AI that writes playbooks, and a QA agent that reviews closed conversations after the fact. Email, chat, social, SMS, and phone share one inbox.
Modeled at 1,000 AI-resolved tickets / month: Simple Chat $290 vs Richpanel $467 on published list prices.
Checked against public Shopify App Store listings and vendor pricing pages. List prices change; confirm with the vendor before you buy.
Who each one is for
Both products bet on AI doing the resolving; they part ways on autonomy and billing. Richpanel is for merchants who want the AI refunding and editing subscriptions on its own, inside guardrails, and will pay per user for it. Simple Chat skips seat fees, keeps staff in Shopify Admin, and folds in adjacent Shopify jobs, chargebacks and restock alerts among them.
Pricing
Everything on the Richpanel listing is a SKU. PRO is $89/month ($828/year) and each additional user is another $89. PRO MAX runs $119 per user. Self Service is its own product at $119/month, plus $299 per extra 20k orders. AI conversations start at $0.20 apiece on every listed plan.
| Line item | Richpanel | Simple Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Published starting price | $89/month PRO, $89 per extra user | No platform fee; $0.29 per AI resolution |
| 3 users | $267/mo on PRO | $0 |
| AI conversations | From $0.20 each | $0.29 per closed AI conversation |
| 1,000 AI conversations | $200 AI + seat fees | $290 |
| Modeled monthly total | $467 (3 PRO users + $0.20 AI) | $290 |
Three PRO users at $89 plus $0.20 × 1,000 AI conversations. Worth noting: a solo operator on one PRO seat would pay $289 at that volume, a dollar under Simple Chat’s $290. Self Service and PRO MAX are separate SKUs and sit outside the model.
Features
Capabilities below are for a typical Shopify store. Plan, channel, and add-on limits apply. Richpanel features come from its App Store listing and public docs, not from a paid trial of every SKU.
| Feature | Simple Chat | Richpanel |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | ||
| Shopify Admin embedded app | YesShopify Admin app home | —External product + Shopify app |
| Shopify App Store listing | Yes | Yes |
| Built primarily for Shopify support | Yes | Yes |
| No per-seat platform fee | YesNo per-seat fee | —Seat or user pricing |
| Shopify usage billing | Yes$0.29 per AI resolution | — |
| Channels | ||
| Chat and email | YesSame inbox as chat | Yes |
| Social | — | YesFacebook, Instagram; SMS on PRO MAX |
| Phone | — | Yes |
| AI and Shopify work | ||
| AI resolves tickets end to end | Yes | Yes |
| AI refunds, cancels, subscription edits | PartialEscalate or via Shopify | YesWith guardrails |
| QA / playbook manager AI | Partial | Yes |
| Choose the underlying model | — | Yes |
| AI address validation before changes | YesValidate, then modify | — |
| Shopify Payments chargebacks | YesAI representment drafts | — |
| Product subscriptions | YesSelling plans included | PartialAI can edit contracts; not a selling-plan app |
| Back-in-stock alerts | YesWaitlists and restock email | — |
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Simple Chat vs Richpanel. Updated August 17, 2026.
Is Richpanel’s AI cheaper per conversation than Simple Chat?
Per unit, yes: $0.20 against $0.29. Seats settle the totals. Three PRO users plus 1,000 AI conversations comes to $467 a month at Richpanel against $290 at Simple Chat; on a single $89 seat the Richpanel figure drops to $289, near enough a tie. The unit-rate gap widens with AI volume, and the seat line widens with headcount.
What changes about billing if I move from Richpanel?
The user line disappears. Richpanel starts at $89/month and charges another $89 for each additional user, with AI conversations metered from $0.20 on top. Simple Chat has no per-user pricing: the whole bill is $0.29 for each conversation its AI closes, collected through Shopify usage billing, and a quiet month is a small bill. Staff replies are not metered.
Both are built for Shopify. Where does each one run?
Richpanel is Shopify-focused without being Shopify-embedded: a standalone AI helpdesk with an App Store listing and a tight integration, operated from Richpanel’s own interface. Simple Chat’s interface is a page in Shopify Admin. Same category, different homes.
Richpanel’s AI can refund. Can it fight a chargeback?
Refunds and disputes are different jobs. The Richpanel listing grants its AI refund and cancellation powers under merchant-set limits, but the public material reviewed here says nothing about Shopify Payments representment. Simple Chat drafts that evidence: the chargeback opens a merchant-inbox thread and the AI writes the response, text with a PDF copy, for you to file through Shopify Admin’s dispute tools.
Sources and other comparisons
- Richpanel on the Shopify App Store (4.7 from 122 reviews, from $89/month)
- All Simple Chat vs pages
- Three-way feature chart vs Gorgias and Intercom
- Three-way pricing chart vs Gorgias and Intercom
- Simple Chat vs Gorgias
- Simple Chat vs Tidio
- Simple Chat vs Zendesk
- Simple Chat vs Re:amaze
- Simple Chat vs Intercom
- Simple Chat vs Help Scout
Richpanel is a trademark of its owner. Simple Chat is not affiliated with Richpanel. Shopify is a trademark of Shopify Inc. Simple Chat is a third-party Shopify App Store app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Shopify. These pages compare independent App Store products and do not recommend uninstalling Shopify products such as Shopify Inbox. See shopify.com. List prices and review counts verified .