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The best AI chatbots for Shopify stores in 2026

The best AI chatbots for Shopify stores compared: Shopify Inbox, Tidio, Gorgias, Chatbase and Ansa, with prices, order lookup and who each suits.

The Ansa teamPublished 7 min read

Short answer: For a small Shopify store, start with Shopify Inbox if you want a free, native chat that knows your catalog. Choose Tidio if you want live chat plus an AI agent across Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and email. Choose Gorgias if you have a support team that needs a full ecommerce helpdesk. Choose Chatbase if you want to build a configurable AI agent. Choose Ansa if you want an assistant that answers from your whole website and documents, says when it doesn't know, answers on WhatsApp, and costs a fixed monthly price.

Yes, we make Ansa, so we've tried to be fair and say where each tool is stronger. Competitor prices and features were checked on their official pages on 3 November 2026. They change often, so check the sources before you decide.

Quick comparison

ToolStarting priceFree optionAI billed byOrder questionsBest for
Ansa$25 a monthFree plan, 20 answers a monthAnswers, with a hard monthly limitRead-only Shopify or Stripe order status after an email code (Pro and Business)Small stores wanting a fixed price and answers from all their content
Shopify InboxFreeFreeNot chargedListing includes order updatesShopify-only stores wanting a free, native chat
Tidio (Lyro)Lyro AI Agent from $32.50 a monthFree plan; first 50 Lyro conversations free (lifetime)Lyro conversationsLyro answers order status questions, per its Shopify listingStores wanting live chat and AI across social channels
GorgiasStarter $10 a month (monthly billing, 50 tickets)7-day trialPer automated interaction ($0.90 annual, $1.00 monthly)Built for ecommerce helpdesksSupport teams handling lots of tickets
Chatbase$40 a month ($32 billed yearly)Not listedMessage creditsShopify integration listed on every planBuilding a configurable AI agent

What a Shopify store should look for

  1. Does it answer from the right information? Product pages are only part of it. Shoppers also ask about sizing, delivery times, returns and custom orders.
  2. Can it answer "where is my order?" safely? It should check the customer owns the order before showing anything.
  3. Can you predict the bill? Per-ticket, per-interaction and per-credit pricing grows with a busy season.
  4. Does it work where your shoppers message you? For many stores that's WhatsApp and Instagram, not only the store.

Ansa

Ansa answers shoppers from your website pages, uploaded documents (PDF, Word, TXT, Markdown), text snippets and Q&A pairs. You add it to Shopify by pasting one line into your theme. See Add Ansa to Shopify.

Pricing:

  • Free ($0): 20 answers a month, 1 MB of knowledge, up to 20 website pages per read, 5 documents, just you, 1 assistant.
  • Starter ($25 a month): 500 answers a month, 5 MB of knowledge, up to 100 website pages per read, 20 documents, 3 team seats, 1 assistant.
  • Pro ($89 a month): 2,000 answers a month, 20 MB of knowledge, up to 500 website pages per read, 50 documents, 10 team seats, 3 assistants, and you can remove “Powered by Ansa”.
  • Business ($199 a month): 5,000 answers a month, 50 MB of knowledge, up to 1,000 website pages per read, 200 documents, 25 team seats, 10 assistants, and you can remove “Powered by Ansa”.

What stands out for Shopify stores:

  • "Where is my order?" answers on Pro and Business. Ansa emails the customer a 6-digit code, then shows their last five orders with payment and fulfilment status, items and tracking links. It can only read orders. See Answer order questions.
  • Honest answers. If something isn't in your information, Ansa says so and shows shoppers how to reach you, instead of guessing a delivery date.
  • WhatsApp on your own number on Starter, Pro and Business, from the same knowledge. See Connect your WhatsApp number.
  • Hand-off by email on Starter, Pro and Business: Ansa takes the shopper's details and emails you a summary. See When Ansa can't help.
  • A hard monthly limit. Warned at 80%, paused politely at 100%, never charged extra.

Where others are stronger: Ansa has no live chat inbox, doesn't see live stock levels, and isn't on the Shopify App Store: you add it to your theme yourself, and connecting order lookup takes a few minutes in Shopify's developer settings.

Best for: small stores, especially those that also sell on WhatsApp or Instagram, that want common questions answered at a fixed price.

Shopify Inbox

Shopify's own chat app is free. Its App Store listing says it "puts an AI-powered sales associate on your storefront" that "connects to your catalog, inventory, and policies automatically". You can run it with or without the AI agent, chat with shoppers from Shopify admin, and see analytics such as orders assisted. At the time of writing it's rated 4.5 from 5,818 reviews.

Best for: stores that sell only on Shopify and want a free chat, with live chat for the owner or team. See Ansa vs Shopify Inbox for a closer look.

Tidio

Tidio is a live chat and helpdesk tool with an AI agent, Lyro. Its pricing page lists a Free plan, Starter from $24.17 a month and Growth from $49.17 a month, with Lyro priced separately from $32.50 a month for 50 Lyro conversations; your first 50 Lyro conversations are free. Its Shopify listing says Lyro answers FAQs and order status questions in the shopper's language, and that one inbox covers email, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger with Shopify orders beside each chat.

Best for: stores that want a person and AI in one inbox across social channels. See Ansa vs Tidio.

Gorgias

Gorgias is a helpdesk built for ecommerce. It works with Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento and WooCommerce. Its pricing page lists Starter at $10 a month (monthly billing only) for 50 tickets, Basic at $60 a month ($50 billed annually) for 300 tickets, and higher plans for larger teams. Its AI Agent is charged per automated interaction: $0.90 on annual contracts, $1.00 on monthly, and each one also counts as a helpdesk ticket. There's a 7-day free trial.

Best for: stores with a support team that answers tickets every day and wants AI on top of a full helpdesk.

Chatbase

Chatbase is a builder for AI agents. Its pricing page lists Hobby at $40 a month ($32 billed yearly) with 700 message credits, Basic at $150 a month and Business at $500 a month. Shopify, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Calendly integrations are listed from Hobby; removing "Powered by Chatbase" is a $99-a-month add-on. See Ansa vs Chatbase.

Best for: people who want to configure an AI agent in detail and connect it to many tools.

How to choose

  • Free, and Shopify only? Shopify Inbox.
  • Live chat plus AI across social channels? Tidio.
  • A support team and lots of tickets? Gorgias.
  • A configurable agent with many integrations? Chatbase.
  • Fixed price, answers from all your content, WhatsApp, and no inbox to staff? Ansa.

FAQ

What is the best free AI chatbot for Shopify?

Shopify Inbox is free and made by Shopify. Ansa and Tidio also have free plans: Ansa's includes 20 AI answers a month, and Tidio's first 50 Lyro AI conversations are free.

Which Shopify chatbot can answer "where is my order?"

Several can. Ansa does it on Pro and Business after the shopper proves their email with a code. Tidio's Shopify listing says Lyro answers order status questions, and Shopify Inbox lists order updates.

Is Ansa on the Shopify App Store?

Not at the time of writing. You add Ansa to your store by pasting one line into your theme. See Add Ansa to Shopify.

Which is cheapest for a busy store?

It depends on how you're billed. Shopify Inbox is free. Ansa is a fixed monthly price with a hard limit. Tidio, Gorgias and Chatbase charge by conversations, interactions or credits, so a busy month costs more.

Want to try it on your store? Start free, no card needed.

Sources

Competitor details were checked on 3 November 2026 and may have changed since.