How much does a Shopify support hire actually cost vs. AI + VA?
4 min read
Hiring your first customer support person isn’t just a salary. Once you add recruiting time, training, tools, sick days, and turnover risk, most stores underestimate the real cost by 30–50%.
Here’s the rough math on a full-time support hire:
Base pay: $2,500–4,000/month
Recruiting + onboarding time: 15–20 hours of your own time, easily worth $500+
Tools & software seats: $50–150/month
Coverage gaps: nights, weekends, sick days, and vacation all mean either you’re covering tickets yourself or customers are waiting
And that’s for one person handling business hours only. Round-the-clock coverage means shifts, which means more hires.
The alternative: AI + human VA, bundled
Voiyada pairs AI-driven ticket triage with a real support VA, at a flat monthly rate — starting at $100/month for AI-only handling on the Starter plan (7-day trial for $1), or a fully staffed Growth tier with 24/7 human + AI coverage from ~$1,800–2,000/month.
Unlike tools that cap your AI interactions and force you to upgrade or pay overage fees, we don’t meter usage. You get full coverage, and a human is always in the loop for anything complex — nothing falls through the cracks waiting on a bot.
Bottom line: if you’re weighing a first support hire, run the real numbers first. For most stores under a few hundred orders a day, an AI + VA setup covers more ground for less than one part-time hire.
Run the numbers with us.
Fifteen minutes on your ticket volume, or start on Starter today and see what the AI clears on its own.