Relay

How Many Support Agents Do You Need?

Enter your ticket volume, handle time and the days your inbox must be covered. Get your headcount, monthly cost, and how many hires automation replaces.

100% free · No signup · Runs in your browser

Days per month your inbox must be covered

Without automation

2agents

Workload

200 h/mo

Cost

$7,600/mo

1.98 full-time equivalents, rounded up to whole people.

With 75% resolved by AI

2agents

Workload

50 h/mo

Headcount saved

$0/mo

Before the cost of the AI tool. Relay plans start at $59/month.

Want to see your real automation rate? Run Relay on your own inbox for 14 days.

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Before you post a job, try an agent that doesn't sleep.

Relay resolves the repetitive tickets (order status, returns, address changes, product questions) end to end inside Shopify, and hands the rest to your team with full context. Most stores use it to delay or replace their next support hire.

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How the calculator works

The calculator uses the standard workload model support managers use for email and async channels:

  • Workload hours = tickets per month × average handle time ÷ 60.
  • Capacity per agent = productive hours per day × working days per month × target occupancy.
  • Agents needed = workload ÷ capacity, rounded up to whole people.
  • Coverage floor: if your inbox must be covered 7 days a week but one agent works 21 days a month, you need at least 30 ÷ 21 = 1.43 agents, even at low volume.

Choosing realistic inputs

Average handle time is the total time an agent spends on a ticket across all replies, not just the first one. For ecommerce email, 5 to 10 minutes is typical; tickets that need lookups in several tools (3PL, payment provider, Shopify) run longer.

Productive hours are lower than paid hours. Meetings, breaks, training and Slack take their share, so 6 productive hours out of 8 paid is a realistic default.

Occupancy is the share of productive time spent on tickets. Keep it at 75–85%. Above that, response times spike whenever volume does, and people burn out.

Plan for peaks, not averages

Black Friday, product drops and the January returns wave can double or triple ticket volume for a few weeks. Run the calculator with your peak month, not your average. The gap between the two is where automation pays off most: an AI agent scales to the spike instantly, while a new hire takes weeks to recruit and train.

Frequently asked questions

How many tickets can one support agent handle per day?

With 6 productive hours, 80% occupancy and an 8-minute average handle time, one agent handles about 36 tickets a day. Faster tickets (simple order status) push that higher; complex claims push it lower.

What is a fully loaded agent cost?

Salary plus payroll taxes, benefits, software seats, equipment and management time. As a rule of thumb, it's 1.2 to 1.4 times the base salary for an in-house hire.

What share of tickets can AI realistically resolve?

It depends on your ticket mix and how well your policies are written. Order status, tracking, return eligibility and product questions are highly automatable. Damage claims, exceptions and angry customers usually stay with a human. Test on your own inbox before deciding headcount.

Is this calculator free?

Yes, free and with no signup. Everything runs in your browser.

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