Compare/message.com vs Richpanel

Head to head

message.com vs Richpanel

Richpanel is an ecommerce-focused support platform with deep Shopify integrations and self-serve flows. It is strong for Shopify stores, but the self-service portal and AI are paid add-ons that push the real bill well above the headline seat price. message.com is a flat-priced unified inbox that works in any vertical, ecommerce included. Here is the honest breakdown of price and capability.

The short version

Richpanel is $29 per seat per month on Starter, $49 on Regular, and $99 on Pro. The self-service portal is a $100-plus monthly add-on and AI is about $20 per user, so a typical ecommerce setup lands at $300 to $600 a month. message.com Business is $19 a month flat with grounded AI, phones, and unlimited agents included. Richpanel wins for very Shopify-specific self-serve flows like returns, exchanges, and order status. message.com wins on flat pricing, a multi-channel inbox with phones, and applicability well beyond ecommerce.

Feature by feature

Head-to-head

Feature

message.com

Richpanel

Shopify integration

Live orders in the inbox

Deep, self-serve portal

Live chat

Included from $6 a month

Core product

Email tickets

Included from $12 a month

Included

Phone system

✓Included from $19 a month

No phone channel

AI agent

✓Grounded drafts, flat $19

Sienna AI, ~$20 per user

Self-service portal

✓AI deflection, included

$100-plus monthly add-on

Per-seat fees

✓None, unlimited agents

Yes, billed per seat

Entry price

✓$6 a month, flat

$29 per seat (Starter)

Cost at 10 agents

✓$19 a month, flat

$290 a month, before add-ons

Pricing

Pricing, compared

Richpanel is priced per seat across three tiers: Starter at $29, Regular at $49, and Pro at $99 per seat per month. On top of seats, the self-service portal is a $100-plus monthly add-on and AI is about $20 per user, so a typical ecommerce setup lands between $300 and $600 a month. A 10-agent team is $290 a month at the Starter seat rate before any add-on. message.com Business is $19 flat with AI, phones, and unlimited agents. The calculator below uses the Starter seat rate to stay conservative, so the real Richpanel total with the portal and AI is higher than it shows. See the unified inbox, live chat, and AI overview. The Shopify self-serve portal is a real differentiator for Richpanel today.

Cost calculator

What you would pay, by team size

Drag the slider. message.com stays flat. Per-seat vendors scale with every hire.

Team size

10 seats

3102050100250

message.com

BusinessUnlimited agents

$19/ mo flat

Richpanel

Starter$29 per seat

$290save $271

Annual on message.com$228

Annual on Richpanel$3,480

You save per year$3,252

Each competitor's lowest paid plan multiplied by seat count. AI add-ons, phone add-ons, and per-conversation charges are excluded, which makes the math kinder to them than the real bill. Pricing as published, May 2026.

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The verdict

Where message.com wins

Multi-channel inbox with phonesChat, email, calls, and social all land in one threaded customer record. Richpanel has no native phone channel. See the inbox tour.
Flat pricing, no add-on creep$19 a month covers AI and the self-serve deflection that Richpanel charges $100-plus extra for, with unlimited agents at every tier. See why flat pricing wins.
Grounded AI includedmessage AI reads your live orders and help content before it drafts, and cites the source on every reply, included in the flat $19 plan. Richpanel's Sienna AI is about $20 per user on top. More on the AI overview.
Works outside ecommerceSaaS, professional services, agencies, and schools all run on the same plan. Richpanel is built specifically for Shopify and ecommerce.

Switching from Richpanel?

Richpanel supports JSON export of customers and conversations, and message.com imports them with history preserved per customer record. Plan a one-week parallel run before cutting over. See how to sync Shopify orders.

FAQ

Questions

Is message.com cheaper than Richpanel?

Yes, for almost every team. Richpanel is $29 per seat per month on Starter, $49 on Regular, and $99 on Pro, plus a $100-plus monthly self-service portal add-on and about $20 per user for AI, so a typical ecommerce setup runs $300 to $600 a month. message.com Business is $19 a month flat with AI, phones, self-serve deflection, and unlimited agents included.

Does Richpanel charge extra for AI and the self-service portal?

Yes. The self-service portal is a $100-plus monthly add-on and Sienna AI is about $20 per user on top of the per-seat price. message.com includes grounded AI and AI-driven self-serve deflection in the flat $19 Business plan with no add-ons.

Does Richpanel have a phone channel?

No. Richpanel has no native phone channel. message.com includes inbound and outbound calls, voicemail, and Smart Hold on the $19 Business plan, and calls land in the same inbox as chat and email.

Does message.com work for Shopify stores?

Yes. message.com surfaces live Shopify orders inside the inbox and AI can read them before drafting. Richpanel's dedicated self-serve portal is deeper for returns and exchanges today, but message.com covers most ecommerce support at a fraction of the cost. See ecommerce customer support.

Is message.com a Gorgias or Richpanel replacement?

It is a replacement, not an addition. message.com is one unified inbox for chat, tickets, and calls, so you do not run it alongside another helpdesk. See message.com vs Gorgias.

How long does migration from Richpanel take?

Richpanel supports JSON export of customers and conversations, and message.com imports them with history preserved. Most teams plan a one-week parallel run before cutting over.

See why teams pick message.com.

One inbox for chat, tickets, and phone, with grounded AI included. 14 days free, no credit card.

Start free trial →