The best AI shopping assistant for Shopify is the one whose price and job match the store, not the one with the roundest marketing sentence. The table below was filled on 15 October 2026 from each vendor's pricing page or Shopify App Store listing. If a page did not state a price, the cell says so.
Two public research findings are the reason merchants look at this category at all. Google Cloud and The Harris Poll report that 94% of shoppers received irrelevant results on a retailer's site. Baymard reports that 56% of e-commerce sites have mediocre-or-worse on-site search. Those figures are about search on the web. They are not results for any app in this table.
Comparison table
Read the pricing-model column before the dollar figure. A flat monthly plan with a conversation allowance, a per-visitor band, a per-resolution fee, and a free plan with a hard cap will not cost the same store the same amount. Vorena is in the first of those groups. It is not unlimited.
| Tool | Best for | Pricing model | Starting price | App Store rating | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vorena | Shopify stores that want a concierge for plain-language product discovery, with a known monthly allowance. | Flat monthly plans with a conversation allowance. Not unlimited. | Lite $29/month (100 products, 50 conversations). Starter $99/month (250 products, 500 conversations). 14-day free trial, no credit card. Growth and Scale are coming soon. | No reviews yet | |
| Shopify Inbox | Stores that want Shopify's own storefront chat, including an agent that answers from the catalog and can hand off to staff. | Listed as free. No monthly price is published on the listing. | Free, on the Shopify App Store listing. | 4.6 from 5,818 reviews | |
| Dori | Stores that want a free Shopify assistant with a conversation cap and a product cap, and no paid tier on the listing. | Free plan with a conversation allowance and a product cap. No paid price is published. | $0. 200 conversations a month and up to 500 products. The listing shows no paid plan. | 5.0 from 39 reviews | |
| Carti | Stores that want a conversation allowance, including a free tier, and proactive outreach as Carti describes it. | Flat monthly plan with a conversation allowance, plus a free tier. | Free: 50 conversations a month. Starter $49/month for 250. Growth $99/month for 600. Scale $249/month for 1,750. Paid plans include a 14-day trial. | 5.0 from 5 reviews | |
| Tidio | Teams that want live chat and Lyro in one inbox, with a free conversation allowance and paid packs above it. | Flat monthly plans with a billable-conversation allowance. Lyro is also described at a per-conversation rate on a separate page. | Free plan: 50 billable conversations a month, on the live-chat page. Starter is $29/month on that page and on the App Store listing ($290/year, which the pricing page shows as $24.17/month). The Lyro page says $0.50 per conversation. | 4.8 from 1,356 reviews | |
| Gorgias | Brands that want a helpdesk with tickets, plus an AI agent billed when it resolves a conversation. | Monthly ticket allowance, plus a per-resolution fee for the AI agent. | With AI Agent added, Starter is $40/month for 50 tickets and 30 automated interactions. Helpdesk-only Starter on the same page is $10/month. Automated interactions on Starter are $1.00 each. Ticket overage on Starter is $0.40. | 4.3 from 704 reviews | |
| Alhena | Brands that want a shopping concierge packaged with AI-visibility tools, and will pay overage past the conversation allowance. | Flat monthly allowance, then a per-conversation overage. | Free: 25 conversations a month. Essentials is $199/month billed annually on the pricing page (200 conversations), or $239/month on the App Store listing. An extra conversation is $1.20 on the pricing page. | 5.0 from 6 reviews | |
| Zipchat | Stores that want one agent on the storefront and on messaging channels, priced by AI replies, with a quote-only unlimited plan. | Flat monthly (or annual) plan with a reply allowance. Unlimited replies are a custom quote. | Free on the listing: 120 AI replies a month. Starter is $80/month or $768/year (the pricing page also states $64/month billed annually) for 750 replies. An unlimited plan is quote-only, starting at $2,100/month. | 4.9 from 207 reviews | |
| Dialog | Stores that want a personal shopper priced by a monthly unique-visitor cap, with a free conversation tier underneath. | Flat monthly plan capped by monthly unique visitors. The free plan is capped by conversations. | Free: 200 conversations a month. Then $249/month up to 25,000 unique visitors, $399/month up to 50,000, and $799/month up to 100,000. Paid plans include a 14-day trial. askdialog.com/pricing returned 404 on this date, so these figures are from the App Store listing. | 5.0 from 38 reviews | |
| Rep AI | Stores that want an agent that opens the chat from browsing behavior, and that can price the Shopify app by visitors. | Per-visitor bands on the App Store listing, plus a fee per extra 1,000 visitors. The homepage lists different starting prices. | Listing: free to install for 100 visitors and 100 products a month, then $12 per extra 1,000 visitors. Starter is $104/month for up to 10,000 visitors, or $995/year. Homepage, same day: plans starting at $49, $99, and $118 a month. The two pages do not state the same numbers. | 4.6 from 119 reviews | |
| Manifest AI | Stores that want to test a chat, quiz, and recommendation agent on the free listing, with no paid price published. | Free to test. No paid price is published. | The App Store listing shows a free plan and does not show a paid price. The vendor pricing URL returned the homepage, which also states no plan amount. | 4.6 from 59 reviews |
Prices and ratings as of 15 October 2026. Each link is the page the figure came from.
How to read the rating column
Every rating was taken from the Shopify App Store listing linked in that row, on 15 October 2026. Vorena's listing shows 0.0 out of 5 and the words "No reviews yet," so the cell says No reviews yet. A new listing with no reviews is not a hidden 5.0.
Review counts on this page run from 5 (Carti) to 5,818 (Shopify Inbox). Compare the count with the score. The links go to the listings, where the review text lives.
Vorena — flat monthly plans with a conversation allowance
Full disclosure: Vorena is our product. It is an AI shopping assistant for Shopify. A shopper describes what they want. The concierge shows live price and stock and can add the product to cart in the chat. On every plan, including the two you can buy, it reads the store's own product images at catalog sync, for attributes such as shape, color, material, and occasion.
What you can buy: Lite is $29 a month for 100 products and 50 conversations. Starter is $99 a month for 250 products and 500 conversations. There is a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Billing is through Shopify. Growth ($249) and Scale ($499) are coming soon. Photo search and upsell suggestions come only with Growth. Proactive chat comes only with Scale, and it is not built. Cross-sell and bundles are not live.
These are flat monthly plans with a conversation allowance. They are not unlimited. A conversation counts toward the allowance when it starts, and the allowance resets monthly. At the limit, the Vorena chat is hidden from the store until the allowance resets next month or the plan is upgraded. Chats already under way can finish. Nothing on Lite or Starter charges for extra conversations. Plan changes go through Shopify. Plan details.
Best for: a Shopify store whose problem is discovery, and that wants a known monthly bill instead of a bill that moves with visitor count. Vorena is not a helpdesk and does not look up orders.
Shopify Inbox — Shopify's own chat
The App Store listing says Free and shows 4.6 from 5,818 reviews. Shopify's help pages, not the listing's marketing lines, are the description used here. Chat settings cover a greeting, availability, and automatic first replies for conversations staff handle. An Inbox agent can be turned on. The persona page says it answers from the catalog, policies, Knowledge Base, and published storefront content, and that product recommendations use the store catalog only. Order lookup requires the customer to sign in.
That is a different job from a paid concierge with add to cart as the point of the product. A store can want both. The comparison is on Shopify Inbox vs Vorena.
Dori — a free plan, and no paid price on the listing
Dori's homepage and its App Store listing agree on the free plan: $0, 200 conversations a month, and up to 500 products. The listing does not show a paid price. The rating is 5.0 from 39 reviews. The homepage describes an assistant that answers product questions and helps shoppers choose. Vorena vs Dori.
Carti — conversation allowances, including a free tier
Carti's pricing page and its App Store listing match. Free is 50 conversations a month. Starter is $49 for 250, Growth is $99 for 600, and Scale is $249 for 1,750. Paid plans include a 14-day trial. The rating is 5.0 from 5 reviews. The pricing page describes proactive engagement on the plans. Vorena's proactive chat is not on sale. Vorena vs Carti.
Tidio — conversation packs, and a per-conversation Lyro rate
Tidio publishes more than one price, and they can be reconciled if you keep the billing period attached. The live-chat page says the free plan includes 50 billable conversations a month and that Starter is $29 a month. The App Store listing also starts a paid plan at $29 a month, or $290 a year. The pricing page's annual view shows Starter at $24.17 a month for 100 billable conversations. $290 divided by 12 is $24.17, so that pair is one yearly total written two ways. Growth on the live-chat page starts at $59 a month.
Separately, the Lyro page says "Pay just $0.50 per conversation." The App Store listing also shows a Lyro plan at $39 a month "up to 200 Lyro conversations." Those are not the same sentence. Both links are in the table. The listing rating is 4.8 from 1,356 reviews. Tidio alternative.
Gorgias — tickets, plus a fee when the agent resolves
Gorgias's pricing page says the AI agent is on every plan and that you pay only when it resolves a conversation. With AI Agent added, Starter is $40 a month for 50 tickets and 30 automated interactions. The helpdesk portion shown there is $10 and the AI Agent portion is $30. The same page shows a helpdesk-only Starter at $10 a month. Automated interactions on Starter are $1.00 each, and ticket overage on Starter is $0.40. The App Store rating is 4.3 from 704 reviews. Gorgias is a helpdesk. Vorena is not. Gorgias alternative.
Alhena — a monthly allowance, then $1.20
Alhena's pricing page lists a free plan at 25 conversations a month. Essentials is $199 a month when billed annually, for 200 conversations. An additional conversation is one credit at $1.20. The App Store listing shows Essentials at $239 a month, which is the monthly figure beside the annual price, and a rating of 5.0 from 6 reviews. The plans also include AI-visibility features. Vorena's pricing page is the Shopify app only. Vorena vs Alhena.
Zipchat — reply allowances, and a quote for unlimited
Zipchat's pricing page says plans start at $64 a month billed annually ($768 a year) or $80 a month billed monthly, with a 7-day trial. Starter includes 750 replies. The App Store listing matches the monthly and annual totals: Starter is $80 a month or $768 a year, and a free plan includes 120 replies. The rating is 4.9 from 207 reviews.
The pricing page also offers an unlimited plan by demo: a quote built for volume, starting at $2,100 a month. That is a custom quote, not a self-serve checkout. Vorena does not have an unlimited plan. Vorena vs Zipchat.
Dialog — a monthly price capped by unique visitors
Dialog's own pricing URL, askdialog.com/pricing, returned 404 on 15 October 2026. The prices here are from the Shopify App Store listing. The free plan is 200 conversations a month. Paid plans are $249 a month up to 25,000 monthly unique visitors, $399 up to 50,000, and $799 up to 100,000, each with a 14-day trial. The rating is 5.0 from 38 reviews. The homepage describes a personal shopper and a product-page assistant on Shopify and on other platforms. Vorena vs Dialog.
Rep AI — two price lists on the same day
The App Store listing prices the app by visitors. It is free to install for 100 visitors and 100 products a month, then $12 for any additional 1,000 visitors. Starter is $104 a month, or $995 a year, for up to 10,000 visitors and 1,000 products. The next published tiers are $209 and $368 a month. The rating is 4.6 from 119 reviews.
The homepage, fetched the same day, lists an AI Support Agent starting at $49 a month, an AI Sales Agent starting at $99, and an AI Concierge starting at $118, with a 14-day trial and no credit card. Those numbers are not the listing's numbers. This page does not average them. The homepage also describes an agent that watches browsing behavior, including exit risk, and starts a conversation. That proactive start is not what Vorena sells today. Rep AI alternative.
Manifest AI — free to test, no paid price
The App Store listing shows a free plan and no paid price. The rating is 4.6 from 59 reviews. The homepage describes agents for support and marketing on Shopify and on other platforms. Manifest AI alternative.
How to choose
- You want the lowest published entry price. Shopify Inbox is listed as Free. Dori publishes only a free plan. Several other tools publish a free tier with a small allowance. Read the cap, not only the zero.
- You want a flat monthly bill that does not move with traffic. Vorena, Carti, and Zipchat's published reply plans are allowances, not per-visitor meters. Vorena's allowance is conversations, and it is not unlimited. The flat vs per-visitor pricing post puts the meters side by side.
- Your bill should follow visitors. Dialog's paid plans are capped by monthly unique visitors. Rep AI's listing adds $12 per extra 1,000 visitors.
- You need a support inbox. Gorgias prices tickets and resolutions. Tidio prices billable conversations and, on the Lyro page, a per-conversation rate.
- You need search and filters, not a conversation. That is a different category. Start with Shopify search apps and the comparison hub.
A short definition of the category, and a checklist for choosing, is on the AI shopping assistant page. Terms used in this table are in the glossary.
