The Shopify App Store has over 100 chat and messaging apps. Most of their listings look the same. They all promise "increased conversions" and "better customer engagement." The screenshots are polished. The reviews are suspiciously positive. And the pricing is designed to get you on a call before you understand what anything costs.
Here is the problem specific to Shopify stores: most chatbot tools were built for customer support, not product discovery. They can route tickets, assign agents, and manage a help desk. But when a visitor asks "do you have this in blue?" or "what would you recommend for a housewarming gift under $50?", support-focused chatbots have no idea what to do. They were not built for that.
This guide compares the chatbot options that Shopify store owners actually consider. We evaluated each one specifically on how well it works with product catalogs, because that is what matters for e-commerce.
What to look for in a Shopify chatbot
Before comparing tools, here is what matters when you sell products online:
Product catalog awareness. Can the chatbot actually search your products? Can a visitor ask "do you have red dresses under $60?" and get real results? Or does it just link to your search page?
Product cards. When the chatbot recommends a product, does it show the photo, price, and a link? Or does it give a text-only response that requires the visitor to go find the product themselves?
Setup time. If it takes more than an afternoon to configure, you have a problem. You are running a store, not a tech project.
Shopify integration depth. Does it read your Shopify catalog automatically? Or do you need to manually import products, build conversation flows, and maintain them as your inventory changes?
Pricing model. Per-seat pricing multiplies fast. Per-conversation pricing punishes success. Flat monthly pricing is the only model that makes sense for growing stores.
After-hours capability. If the chatbot only works when you are online, it is not a chatbot. It is live chat with a fancy interface. Most shopping happens after business hours.
The contenders
Shopify Inbox (Free)
What it is: Shopify's built-in messaging tool. Free with every Shopify plan.
What it does: Shopify Inbox adds a chat icon to your store. When a visitor sends a message, it shows up in the Shopify Inbox app on your phone or desktop. You reply manually. It supports automated FAQ responses for common questions like "Where is my order?" and "What is your return policy?"
The good: It is free and native to Shopify. No third-party app to install. Basic automated responses work for simple FAQs.
The reality: Shopify Inbox is live chat, not a chatbot. It requires you or your team to be online to respond. When nobody is there, visitors either see a contact form or get silence. It has no product catalog awareness. It cannot search your inventory, show product cards, or make recommendations. If someone asks "do you have winter boots in size 9?", you need to be online to answer that yourself.
Best for: Store owners who are always near their phone and want a free, basic chat option. Not for stores that need after-hours coverage or product discovery.
Pricing: Free.
Tidio
What it is: A popular chat platform with a strong Shopify integration. Widely used by small to mid-size e-commerce stores.
What it does: Tidio offers a mix of live chat, rule-based chatbots, and AI-powered conversations (Lyro AI). It has a visual chatbot builder where you create conversation flows with drag-and-drop. The Shopify integration pulls in order data so visitors can check order status. The AI add-on (Lyro) can answer questions based on your FAQ content.
The good: Solid Shopify integration for order tracking. The chatbot builder is well-designed. Lyro AI handles FAQ-style questions decently.
The catch: The chatbot builder requires you to manually map conversation flows. For product discovery ("show me blue dresses under $60"), you need to build those paths yourself or rely on Lyro AI, which works from your FAQ/knowledge base content, not your product catalog directly. Product recommendation is limited compared to a catalog-aware chatbot. Pricing scales quickly once you add AI and remove conversation limits.
Best for: Shopify stores that want order tracking in chat and are willing to invest time building conversation flows. Stores with a support team that uses live chat actively.
Pricing: Free tier (50 Lyro conversations/mo). Paid plans from $29/mo. Lyro AI add-on from $39/mo on top. Per-seat pricing applies on higher tiers.
Gorgias
What it is: A customer support helpdesk built specifically for e-commerce. Deep Shopify integration.
What it does: Gorgias is a full helpdesk platform. It pulls in Shopify order data, customer history, and product information. Support agents see the customer's order history right next to the conversation. It handles email, chat, social media, and SMS from one dashboard. The AI features can auto-respond to common support tickets.
The good: The deepest Shopify integration of any tool on this list. Order management, refund processing, and customer history all in one place. If you have a support team handling 50+ tickets per day, Gorgias is genuinely powerful.
The catch: Gorgias is built for support, not sales. It excels at answering "Where is my order?" but is not designed for "What would you recommend for a birthday gift?" There is no conversational product discovery. The AI features are focused on ticket deflection, not product recommendations. Pricing starts at $300/month for the plans with meaningful automation, which is steep for smaller stores.
Best for: Shopify stores with dedicated support teams doing high-volume ticket management. Not for stores primarily looking for a sales assistant or product discovery tool.
Pricing: Starting at $60/mo (basic). AI automation features on higher tiers from $300/mo. Ticket-based pricing on some plans.
Re:amaze
What it is: A customer messaging platform with e-commerce integrations. Supports Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.
What it does: Re:amaze combines live chat, chatbots, FAQ pages, and a shared inbox. The Shopify integration shows customer order data in the chat sidebar. It offers "Cues" (automated messages triggered by visitor behavior) and a chatbot builder for FAQ automation.
The good: Clean interface. Good multi-channel support. The Cues feature for proactive messaging is well-executed. Decent Shopify data integration.
The catch: Similar to Gorgias, Re:amaze is support-focused. The chatbot capabilities are rule-based and FAQ-oriented. No AI-powered product search. No product cards in chat. When a visitor asks about a specific product, Re:amaze cannot search your catalog and show results. You need to be online or have pre-built flows for every scenario.
Best for: Small support teams that need a shared inbox with decent Shopify integration. A step down from Gorgias in depth but more affordable.
Pricing: Starting at $29/mo per team member. Scales with team size.
Mika
Full disclosure: this is our product. We included ourselves because leaving us out of our own comparison would be strange. Take this with appropriate salt.
What it is: An AI sales assistant built for product catalog stores. Plug and play for Shopify.
What it does: You enter your Shopify URL during signup. Mika auto-detects your Shopify store, imports your full product catalog (names, descriptions, prices, variants, photos), and starts working. When a visitor asks "do you have black boots in size 8 under $100?", Mika searches your catalog and shows matching products as scrollable cards with photos, prices, and direct links right in the chat.
It runs 24/7 without anyone online. It speaks 8 languages with auto-detection. Your catalog syncs daily, so new products, price changes, and sold-out items are reflected automatically. No conversation flows to build. No FAQ content to write. No decision trees to map.
The catch: Mika is not a helpdesk. It does not do ticket routing, order tracking, or agent assignment. If you need those features, pair Mika with a support tool.
Best for: Shopify stores that want visitors to discover and shop products through conversation. Stores that need after-hours coverage and product catalog search without building it themselves.
Pricing: Small Business Retail from $50/mo (250 SKUs). Core $100/mo (750 SKUs). Plus $200/mo (2,000 SKUs). Pro $400/mo (10,000 SKUs). Flat monthly pricing, no per-seat or per-conversation fees.
Try it: See the live Shopify demo.
The comparison table
| Feature | Shopify Inbox | Tidio | Gorgias | Re:amaze | Mika |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $29/mo + AI | $60/mo | $29/mo/seat | $50/mo |
| Product catalog search | No | Limited | No | No | Yes (auto-imported) |
| Product cards with photos | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| After-hours (autonomous) | No | Partial (rule-based) | Partial | Partial | Yes (fully autonomous) |
| Shopify auto-sync | N/A | No | No | No | Yes (daily) |
| Setup time | 5 min | 1-3 hours | 1-2 days | 1-3 hours | 5 min |
| Languages | 1 | Multiple | Multiple | Multiple | 8 (auto-detect) |
| Order tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Ticket/helpdesk | No | Basic | Yes | Yes | No |
| Best for | Basic live chat | Chat + support | Support helpdesk | Support inbox | Product discovery + sales |
Pricing is approximate and based on publicly available information as of March 2026. Plans change frequently.
Our honest take
The Shopify chatbot market splits into two camps.
Camp 1: Support tools. Gorgias, Re:amaze, and Tidio are built to help you manage customer support. They are good at order tracking, ticket management, and FAQ automation. If your biggest problem is support ticket volume, these tools help.
Camp 2: Sales tools. This is where the market is surprisingly thin. Most "chatbots" for Shopify cannot actually help someone shop. They cannot search your catalog, show product photos, or handle "I need a gift for my wife" in a conversation. That gap is what we built Mika to fill.
If you are a Shopify store where visitors need help finding the right product, where most of your traffic comes outside business hours, and where you do not have a support team sitting in a helpdesk all day, the options narrow fast.
The best advice: try the free options first (Shopify Inbox, Tidio free tier). See if they solve your problem. If you find that visitors are asking product questions that rule-based bots cannot handle, or you are losing sales after hours because nobody is there to respond, try Mika's live demo and see the difference.