Guide

The best AI chatbot apps for Shopify: Shopify Inbox’s free agent vs six popular apps

Shopify now has its own AI agent in Shopify Inbox, free, answering from your catalogue and store content. For many stores that is the right place to start. Here is what it does, where its limits are, when an app is worth paying for, and how apps are added to your storefront.

Maqsood R.Founder, HolaReply · Updated 25 September 2026 · 5 min read

The short answer

The simplest Shopify AI chatbot is the Inbox agent in Shopify Inbox: free, it answers from your product catalogue, store policies, knowledge base and published pages, and hands conversations to your staff.
Choose a chatbot app from the Shopify App Store (such as Chatty, Tidio, Gorgias, Moose, SmartBot or Zipchat) if you need deeper order automation, a helpdesk, more channels or different limits.
Check each option’s limits (conversations, replies, tickets) and what happens when you hit them.
Apps are added through App embeds in the theme editor.

Start with what Shopify gives you: the Inbox agent

Shopify Inbox is free and, according to Shopify’s help centre, its AI part (the Inbox agent) is opt-in. It answers from your product catalogue, store policies, knowledge-base facts and files, and published storefront content such as pages and blog posts. It can personalise recommendations and hand a conversation to your staff when a customer asks for a person.

Shopify Inbox agent, from Shopify’s help centre, checked 25 September 2026
	What Shopify says
Price	Shopify Inbox is free (4.5/5 from 5,785 reviews in the App Store)
Answers from	Product catalogue, store policies, knowledge base facts and files, published pages and blog posts
Handover	Conversations can be handed to your staff when a customer asks for a person
Limits	Up to 100 messages for customers who aren’t signed in, 1,000 for signed-in customers; up to 50 conversations per customer per day
Email	The Inbox agent can’t send email on your behalf
Order tracking	A “Track my order” option is available in the chat

100Inbox agent messages for customers who aren’t signed in (1,000 signed in)

50conversations per customer per day, the Inbox agent’s cap

6popular chatbot apps compared below, with App Store prices

Shopify Magic (Shopify’s free AI features) also suggests replies for your team in Inbox. Sidekick, by contrast, is an assistant for you in the admin, not a chatbot for shoppers.

When an app is worth it

You need order status, refunds or cancellations handled automatically at scale.
You want a full helpdesk: email, social inboxes, macros, several agents (see chatbot vs live chat).
You want a chatbot on channels beyond your store chat, such as WhatsApp or Instagram.
You need controls the Inbox agent doesn’t offer, such as topics it must always hand to a person.

Six popular AI chatbot apps, compared

AI chatbot apps in the Shopify App Store, checked 25 September 2026
App	Rating (reviews)	Plans	Answers from	Order tracking
Chatty	4.9 (1,868)	Free 50 AI conversations/mo; $19.99, $68.99, $199/mo; extra $0.40 each	Products and FAQs	✓ From Basic
Tidio	4.8 (1,342)	Free; Customer Service from $29/mo; Lyro AI from $39/mo	Your support content	✓ Lyro
Gorgias	4.3 (705)	From $10/mo (50 tickets) to $900/mo (5,000)	Knowledge base, FAQs, order data	✓
Moose AI Chatbot	5.0 (483)	Free; $19, $49, $249/mo; unlimited AI replies	Products, FAQs, past Q&A	✓
SmartBot	4.7 (462)	Free 300 AI chats once; $30, $100, $300/mo	Products, pages, orders, policies	Not stated
Zipchat	4.9 (197)	Free 120 AI replies; $80, $300, $600/mo	Your pages and product data	✓

From each app’s Shopify App Store listing. Prices on an app’s own website can differ from its App Store listing.

How chatbot apps are added to your store

Install the app
From the Shopify App Store.
Open the theme editor
Online Store → Themes → Customize (Edit theme).
Turn on its app embed
Click the App embeds icon in the sidebar, switch the chatbot on, and Save.
Limit it by market if needed
App embeds can be turned on for specific markets only, for example North America.

Some apps instead ask you to edit your theme code. App embeds are easier to switch off and survive theme updates better.

The HolaReply Shopify app is built and coming soon to the Shopify App Store; see HolaReply for Shopify to hear the day it is listed.

What to check before you choose

It answers only from your store, not from the AI’s general knowledge (see how to stop chatbot hallucinations).
It shows or links the source (the product or policy page).
Discount codes, custom orders and anything risky can be kept for a person.
A question it can’t answer becomes an enquiry your team actually receives.
Its limits (conversations, replies, tickets) fit your traffic, and you know what happens when you hit them.
It doesn’t slow your storefront: test a product page in PageSpeed Insights before and after.

Privacy

Shoppers type names, emails and order numbers into chat. Check where each app stores conversations and what it sends to its AI provider. HolaReply removes names, email addresses, phone numbers and company names before any question reaches the AI.

Try the behaviour. The chat on this page is HolaReply, answering only from this website. Ask about Shopify support, then ask for a discount code.

“When will HolaReply work on Shopify?”“Do you have a discount code?”

Open the chat

Questions people ask

Does Shopify have a free AI chatbot?

Yes: the Inbox agent in Shopify Inbox, which is free. It answers from your catalogue, policies, knowledge base and published pages, within Shopify’s message limits.

What is the best AI chatbot app for Shopify?

It depends on what you need: order automation and a helpdesk (Gorgias, Tidio), generous free AI replies (Moose AI Chatbot, Chatty), or a sales-focused assistant. Compare limits and what happens when you reach them.

How do I add a chatbot to my Shopify store?

Install the app, then in the theme editor open App embeds, switch the chatbot on and save.

Can a Shopify chatbot check order status?

Shopify Inbox offers a “Track my order” option, and several apps (Chatty, Tidio, Gorgias, Moose, Zipchat) handle order status.

Will HolaReply work on Shopify?

Yes: the Shopify app is built and coming soon to the Shopify App Store. Ask in the chat and we will tell you the day it is listed.

Sources

Checked on 25 September 2026. Prices and features change; tell us in the chat if something here is out of date and we will fix it.

Maqsood R.

Founder of HolaReply. He builds AI assistants that answer only from a business’s own website, and checks every fact in these guides against the products’ own pages.

More by Maqsood R. →

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