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Hobson vs Richpanel: flat pricing for Shopify support

Richpanel is an AI support tool for Shopify brands with a self-service portal, a returns add-on and a resolution guarantee. It charges per seat, plus AI credits with a $200 a month minimum.

Hobson has no seat fees: a flat plan by conversations, drafts on every conversation and auto-send earned per category.

Choose Richpanel for a self-service portal and returns. Choose Hobson if your team is growing and you want one predictable price.

14-day free trial. Hobson starts in shadow mode, so nothing reaches your customers until you choose. Hobson is opening to new stores soon, so for now you join the waitlist.

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

At a glance

FeatureHobsonRichpanel
Pricing modelFlat monthly plans by conversations, every feature on every planPer seat, plus AI credits
Starting price£59 a month for 300 conversations (£590 a year billed annually)$99 per seat a month billed annually, $119 monthly
AI feeNone. Drafting and auto-send are included in the planAbout $0.20 per conversation, bought as credits, with a $200 a month minimum
Over the limitNo overage charges. At the limit Hobson stops drafting new conversations until you upgrade or the next period startsCredit based
SeatsUnlimited seats on every planCharged per seat
AI draftingA draft on every conversation, included—

Prices as listed on each vendor’s own pricing page, checked on the dates under Sources. Prices exclude VAT.

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
£59
Richpanel Per seat
≈ £329
  • 2 seats × $119US$238
  • AI at about $0.20 per conversation ($200 minimum)US$200
Change the numbers

Growing store

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

Hobson Growth
£179
Richpanel Per seat
≈ £419
  • 3 seats × $119US$357
  • AI at about $0.20 per conversation ($200 minimum)US$200
Change the numbers

Busy store

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

Hobson Scale
£399
Richpanel Per seat
≈ £1,167
  • 8 seats × $119US$952
  • AI at about $0.20 per conversation ($200 minimum)US$600
Change the numbers

How the AI works

Hobson drafts every conversation and a person approves it. It recommends auto-send for a category, such as order status or returns, 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.

Richpanel charges for its AI by usage, so the bill rises as it does more. Hobson’s price stays the same.

Where Richpanel is better

  • A self-service portal and a returns add-on. Hobson has neither.
  • A guarantee of 50% resolution in 30 days or your money back.
  • More time in the market.

Where Hobson is better

  • No per-seat cost. With 10 seats Richpanel is $990 a month on annual billing before any AI.
  • AI drafting included in one flat GBP price, with no credit minimum.
  • Shadow mode on your live Gorgias traffic before you switch.
  • Auto-send earned per category on measured accuracy.

Switching

Connect Gmail in two clicks or forward your support email, and Hobson starts in shadow mode: it drafts every reply and sends nothing until you choose. Your history in Richpanel stays where it is.

Questions

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

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.

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.

No. Every plan includes unlimited seats.

Attachments and raw inbound email are stored in AWS in Ireland (eu-west-1). Conversation text is stored in our database on Neon. 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.

Sources

  1. Richpanel pricing (updated 28 July 2026), checked 28 July 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. Richpanel 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.

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