Shopify Inbox is free. Here's when an alternative is worth paying for.
Shopify Inbox is Shopify's own chat app. It's free, and its opt-in Inbox agent now answers shoppers, recommends products, adds to the cart and checks order status. Agentmatica does that job too, and adds pairing rules you write, the source page shown under each answer, a private one-line correction, and handoff to Slack, Telegram, email or Zendesk. It runs on Shopify, WooCommerce and any website. Free for 100 replies a month, $29 after that.
Pick Agentmatica if…
Stores that want to write their own sales rules, show shoppers where answers come from, get alerted when a chat needs a person, and run the same agent on WooCommerce or other sites.
Common reasons people switch: when a shopper asks for a person outside staff hours, Inbox gives them the store's email address; the Inbox agent needs new customer accounts, and merchants report a sign-in button in the chat that they can't restyle; you want to write how the agent sells: what goes with what, and when to mention free shipping; you also run WooCommerce or another website.
Pick Shopify Inbox if…
Shopify stores that want free, native chat with an AI agent built in and are happy to shape it through their catalog and policies.
Where Shopify Inbox shines: Free, built by Shopify, with no extra vendor to manage; The Inbox agent answers questions, recommends products, adds to the cart and checks order status; Desktop, iOS and Android apps, with the shopper's live cart and order history next to the chat.
Start with Shopify Inbox if you're on Shopify and want free chat with a capable AI built in; for many small stores it's enough. Switch to Agentmatica when you want more control over how the agent sells and answers: your own add-on rules and free-shipping line, answers the shopper can check against the page they came from, corrections that stick, alerts when a chat needs you, and the same agent on WooCommerce or a second site.
Agentmatica vs. Shopify Inbox, side by side
| Agentmatica | Shopify Inbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Cited answers | Answers from your crawled pages link to the page they came from | Answers come from your catalog, policies and storefront content; it can cite web search when it looks up product reviews |
| Getting started | Paste your URL, try it in your dashboard, add one snippet when you're ready | Install the free app and turn on the Inbox agent; needs new customer accounts and a Basic plan or higher |
| When the answer isn't there | Says so and offers a person instead of guessing | Hands the chat to staff; outside staff hours the shopper is given the store's email address |
| Human takeover | Coach it privately per conversation, take over mid-chat, hand back when done | Staff pick up handed-off chats from an Unassigned folder, with the AI's messages carried over |
| Actions | Shopify and WooCommerce: product cards, add to cart, checkout link, order lookup; WordPress plugin; handoff to Slack, Telegram, email or Zendesk | Shopify only: answers, product recommendations, add to cart, order status after the shopper signs in |
| Entry price | Free plan; paid from $29/mo, no per-seat pricing | Free |
| Selling | Product cards from your catalog, an optional add-on suggestion on product pages, add to cart and a checkout link on Shopify and WooCommerce, and your own pairing rules in Sales notes | Personalized recommendations and add to cart from the chat; Assisted orders shown in analytics |
Competitor details reflect public information at time of writing — verify current plans on their site.
One chat, start to finish
What the shopper sees and what you see in the dashboard, side by side: the answer with its source, a private directive, a takeover and the hand back.
Stillhouse Roasters
A visitor asks something your site already answers.
Customer is thinking: “Can someone just tell me what I need to know?”
Shopify's agent vs. your rules
Agentmatica learns from your pages and catalog too, then takes your Sales notes: which products go together, when to mention free shipping, what never to promise. Coach it privately from any conversation and the correction sticks.
The Inbox agent learns from your catalog, policies and Knowledge Base. You shape it through that content and choose when it answers: always, only outside staff hours, or never.
An email address vs. a handoff
Agentmatica alerts you in Slack, Telegram, email or Zendesk when a chat needs a person, based on rules you set. You can take the chat over yourself and hand it back.
When staff are available, Inbox routes handed-off chats to them in the app. Outside those hours, a shopper who asks for a person gets the store's email address.
One Shopify store vs. any site
Agentmatica runs on Shopify through a theme block, on WooCommerce through a WordPress plugin, and on any other site with one snippet.
Inbox runs only in your Shopify online store's chat widget. Messenger, Instagram and the Shop app channels have been retired.
How to move from Shopify Inbox to Agentmatica
Set Agentmatica up and test it in your dashboard first, then swap the chat on your site, so you're never without one.
- 01
Before you cancel Shopify Inbox
- Copy your Instant answers (the FAQ buttons), so you can add them as text snippets.
- Turn off the Inbox agent and the chat in Shopify Inbox, so shoppers only see one chat.
- 02
Bring your knowledge across
Paste your store URL and we crawl your pages. Add your most-used help articles with Add Page URL, upload PDF, DOCX, TXT or Markdown files, and paste the answers you copied as text snippets. After launch, Improve answer on any reply saves the exact wording you want.
- 03
Swap the chat on your site
Remove Shopify Inbox's chat first. On Shopify, turn off its app embed under Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds, then uninstall the app. On WordPress, deactivate its plugin. Anywhere else, delete its script tag. Then add Agentmatica with the Shopify theme block, the WordPress plugin or one snippet.
Rather not do it yourself? Assisted Launch ($490 one-time) sets the agent up around the job that matters most to you and goes through the answers with you before it goes live. The full checklist is in Move from another chat tool.
Where these facts come from
We checked Shopify Inbox's own pages on 2026-10-14. Where we couldn't find something, the page says so instead of guessing.
Common questions
Is Shopify Inbox free?
Yes. Shopify Inbox is a free app. Its AI Inbox agent needs a Basic, Grow, Advanced or Plus plan, an active online store and new customer accounts. Agentmatica has a free plan with 100 replies a month and paid plans from $29 a month for 1,000. Checked 14 October 2026.
Does Shopify Inbox have AI?
Yes. The opt-in Inbox agent answers product, shipping, returns and policy questions, recommends products, adds them to the cart and checks order status once the shopper signs in. Separately, suggested replies draft answers for your staff to send.
Can I use Agentmatica instead of Shopify Inbox?
Yes. Paste your store URL, try the agent in your dashboard, then add the Agentmatica theme block. Run one chat widget on the storefront at a time so shoppers aren't offered two.
What are the best Shopify Inbox alternatives?
For selling on your website with your own rules and a free plan, Agentmatica. For a low-cost all-in-one with FAQ pages and social DMs, Chatty, from free for 50 AI conversations. For live chat with Flows and an AI add-on, Tidio. For behavior-triggered selling on high-traffic stores, Rep AI. For a support team in a helpdesk, Gorgias. Checked October 2026.
See it answer on your site — free
Add your site, try the answers in your dashboard, embed one script tag when you’re happy. No card required.
Create your agent