A custom-built system, big customer service software, or Elma?
There are already two ways to automate customer service: have a contractor build you a system, or move everything to a big platform. Here’s what changes to get started, on price and day to day.
Your customer service, automated, with nothing to build
Plenty of agencies and freelancers offer to build you a “workflow”: an automated system that connects an AI to your inbox and your tools, piece by piece. You have to wait for it to be built, pay for it, then get it fixed as soon as a tool changes. Elma is ready now: you try it today, with no project and no set-up fee.
| What matters | System built by a contractor | Elma |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Several days or weeks of waiting for it to be built | You start today, 15 days free |
| Price | A price to build it, then a subscription to maintain it | A plan from €39 a month, no set-up fee |
| When it breaks | It can stop when one of your tools changes, and you have to call the contractor back | Our team takes care of everything, for every shop |
| Before sending | Not always planned for: you have to manage on your own | You approve first; soon, you’ll automate whatever you choose |
| Tracking | No figures, or reports put together by hand | Emails handled and time saved, visible at any time |
| If the contractor leaves | Nobody knows how it works any more | A team and a support desk |
| Improvements | Redone customer by customer | Every improvement benefits every shop |
Has a contractor already built you a system?
Keep your rules and your documents: we bring them into Elma, so you don’t start from scratch.
A custom-built system is still useful for very specific needs. Elma focuses on one job only: customer service.
And compared with the big customer service software?
They charge for each person on the team or for every AI reply: the bill climbs with your business. You also have to move all your emails over and set everything up again, and PrestaShop isn’t always supported.
Billed per person
$19 to $132 per team member per month
The bigger the team, the more you pay
Official pricing: Zendesk ↗ · Intercom ↗
Billed per reply
About $1 per conversation resolved by the AI
The more you sell, the higher the bill
Official pricing: Gorgias ↗ · Intercom ↗
Elma
A plan from €39 a month
The whole team included, AI built in
- Plugs into your tools, nothing to move
- PrestaShop, Shopify and WooCommerce
- Every reply approved by you
Elma adapts to your tools, not the other way round. You keep your inbox and your shop: nothing to move.
Public prices of the main customer service software, checked in October 2026 on their official pages, in dollars, per month billed annually, excluding add-ons.
The simplest way is to try it.
Connect your inbox and your shop: the first replies arrive in your account.
Start your free trial15-day free trial · No credit card · No commitment