The 7 best Shopify chatbot tools for ecommerce in 2025

Picking the right chatbot for your Shopify store can feel like a nightmare. A quick look at the Shopify App Store shows over 500 options, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. Some are just basic live chats, while others are complicated AI platforms with confusing, usage-based pricing that gets more expensive the more successful you are. How are you supposed to find one that actually helps you sell more and support customers better, without needing a developer and a blank check?

I've waded through all the options to find the Shopify chatbot tools that get the balance right. This guide will walk you through my top picks for 2025, helping you choose a tool that fits right in, gives you real control, and doesn't leave you wondering if it was worth the money.

What are Shopify chatbot tools?

At their simplest, Shopify chatbot tools are apps that add a chat window to your online store so you can talk to customers. A few years ago, that meant clunky, rule-based bots that worked like a frustrating phone menu. They could handle "what are your hours?" but not much else.

Now, thanks to generative AI, these tools are a whole lot smarter. Modern AI chatbots are more like intelligent sales assistants and support agents. They can understand what people are actually asking, learn from your store's data (like your product catalog and past support chats), and give personalized, human-like answers. They can handle tricky product questions, track orders, process returns, and even suggest products to bump up your average order value, all on their own.

How I chose the best Shopify chatbot tools for this list

To get past the shiny marketing promises, I focused on what really matters when you're running an ecommerce brand. My criteria were all about finding tools that are practical to use and actually deliver results.

• Easy setup: How fast can you get it working without calling in a developer? I looked for platforms you could genuinely launch in minutes, not months.

• Deep integration: Does it just float on top of your website, or does it properly connect with Shopify, your help desk (like Zendesk or Gorgias), and your other documents? The best tools bring all your knowledge together.

• Real control: Can you tweak the bot's personality, decide exactly what questions it answers, and test it out safely before it ever talks to a real customer? I prioritized tools that give you that fine-tuned control.

• Sensible pricing: Is the cost clear and predictable? I leaned towards flat-rate plans over the confusing "pay-per-ticket" models that can lead to some nasty billing surprises.

• Actual business impact: Does the tool clearly save your support team time and help bring in more money? I looked for features tied directly to ROI, like abandoned cart reminders, product recommendations, and automated ticket resolutions.

A quick comparison of the top Shopify chatbot tools

If you're in a hurry, here’s a quick rundown of how my top picks compare.

Tool	Best For	What Makes It Different	Pricing Model	Self-Serve Setup
eesel AI	Control & ROI	Lets you test the AI on old tickets before you go live	Predictable (by interactions)	Yes
Shopify Inbox	Getting started	Free & built into Shopify	Free	Yes
Tidio	All-in-one features	Mixes live chat, workflows, and AI in one tool	Complex (usage-based)	Yes
Gorgias	Gorgias users	Connects deeply with the Gorgias help desk	Per ticket	No (demo required)
Zendesk	Big-picture scale	Has advanced AI for large, complex operations	Per agent + add-ons	No (demo required)
Ada	Large international teams	No-code automation for big companies	Custom (annual contracts)	No (demo required)
Chatbase	Simple AI builder	Easy to train on your website's text	Per message/plan	Yes

The 7 best Shopify chatbot tools in 2025

Here’s a more detailed look at the tools that really stood out.

1. eesel AI

eesel AI is different because it’s all about control, confidence, and predictable costs. Instead of giving you a mysterious AI "black box," it provides a powerful platform where you can set up automation exactly how you want it, without having to ditch your current help desk like Zendesk or Intercom. It plugs into all your knowledge sources, from your Shopify product catalog to your help center articles and even past support tickets.

Its killer feature is the simulation mode. Before the AI says a single word to a live customer, you can run it on thousands of your past support tickets to see exactly how it would have replied. This gives you a super accurate forecast of your automation rate and lets you tweak its behavior with absolutely no risk. You can start small by automating just one or two things (like "where is my order?") and expand as you get more comfortable.

eesel AI's simulation mode lets you test how the chatbot would have handled past customer support tickets, providing a risk-free way to measure potential ROI.

The pricing is another big plus. eesel AI has clear, interaction-based plans with no per-resolution fees, so your costs won't balloon as your support volume grows. It’s a great fit for Shopify stores that want a powerful AI solution that plays nice with their existing tools and offers a clear, predictable return.

• Why it's on the list: The mix of a powerful simulation engine, deep integrations, and straightforward pricing makes it the smartest and safest bet for most ecommerce brands.

• Pricing: The Team plan is $299/month ($239/mo if billed annually) for up to 1,000 AI interactions. The Business plan, which gets you the full AI Agent and training on past tickets, is $799/month ($639/mo if billed annually) for up to 3,000 interactions.

• Best for: Shopify stores using a help desk like Zendesk or Gorgias who want total control and predictable costs.

2. Shopify Inbox

Shopify Inbox is Shopify's own chat tool, and it's completely free. If you're just starting out and need a basic way to talk to customers live, it’s a solid choice. It's built right into your Shopify admin, so setup is a breeze. You can even see what’s in a customer’s cart while you chat, which is handy for offering help or a quick discount.

It has some basic AI features, too, like suggested replies and instant answers for common questions. This can save you from typing out the same answer a dozen times a day. But at its heart, Shopify Inbox is a live chat tool with a little automation sprinkled on top, not a full-on AI support agent.

It can't learn from past conversations, connect to external help docs, or handle complex issues on its own. It's a fantastic free tool for one-on-one chats but it’s not going to make a big dent in your overall support ticket volume.

• Why it's on the list: It's the best free, built-in option for simple live chat and FAQs.

• Pricing: Free with all Shopify plans, which start at $29/month when billed annually.

• Best for: New or small Shopify stores that mainly need a live chat tool and aren't quite ready for advanced automation.

3. Tidio

Tidio is a huge name in the Shopify world. It offers a whole suite of tools in one package, including live chat, rule-based chatbots (called "Flows"), and an AI agent (named "Lyro"). It tries to be the one-stop shop for all customer communication, from generating leads to providing support.

The visual builder for creating Flows is pretty user-friendly, and you can set up automated greetings, abandoned cart messages, and discount offers without much trouble. But Tidio's biggest strength is also its main drawback: it's complicated. The pricing is split into separate charges for human chats, Flow triggers, and Lyro AI conversations. This can get confusing and expensive fast, with costs that are tough to predict from one month to the next. It’s powerful, but it can be a lot to handle for teams that just want a focused automation tool.

• Why it's on the list: It's a popular, feature-packed platform that's deeply integrated with Shopify.

• Pricing: There's a free plan. Paid plans are modular and can get complicated. For example, the Starter plan for human chat is $24.17/month (annually) for 100 chats. The Lyro AI agent is an add-on that starts at another $32.50/month for just 50 AI conversations.

• Best for: Businesses that want a single tool for marketing, live chat, and AI, and don't mind a complex, usage-based pricing model.

4. Gorgias

Gorgias is more than just a chatbot; it's a full-blown help desk designed from the ground up for ecommerce. Its biggest advantage is how deeply it connects with Shopify. When a customer gets in touch, you immediately see their entire order history and shipping status in one place. This makes life much easier for human agents.

The automation in Gorgias, including its AI chatbot, is built to use all that data. It can automatically answer common questions like "Where's my order?" by pulling live info from Shopify. The catch is that Gorgias is a total platform replacement. If you're already using a help desk like Zendesk, switching to Gorgias is a big project. Its pricing is also based on the number of tickets, with a separate per-resolution cost for its AI, which can get pricey for busy stores.

• Why it's on the list: It’s the top help desk for stores that want to build their whole support system around Shopify.

• Pricing: Starts at $10/month for 50 human-handled tickets. The AI Agent is an extra pay-per-use feature, starting at $1.00 per automated resolution. A more typical plan like Basic is $50/month for 300 tickets, with the AI add-on costing an extra $54/month for 60 resolutions.

• Best for: Growing Shopify stores looking for a new, all-in-one help desk and ready to move their entire support operation over.

5. Zendesk

You’ve probably heard of Zendesk. It’s one of the giants in customer support, and its AI tools are powerful and built for large companies. For big Shopify brands, Zendesk offers some serious firepower, like intelligent ticket routing, sentiment analysis, and bots that work across different channels and languages.

The main issue with Zendesk is that its best AI features are usually part of the more expensive plans and take a lot of work to set up.

Its pricing is per agent, and the most powerful AI comes in an "Advanced AI" add-on, which can make the bill climb quickly. It’s a top-tier solution, but it comes with enterprise-level complexity and cost.

• Why it's on the list: It's the industry standard for enterprise-level customer support with powerful, scalable AI.

• Pricing: The Suite Team plan starts at $55/agent/month (billed annually) with a basic AI agent. The really powerful stuff requires the Advanced AI add-on (custom pricing) or higher-tier plans.

• Best for: Large, established ecommerce brands with dedicated support teams and the budget to manage an enterprise platform.

6. Ada

Ada is a major player in the no-code AI chatbot world, focused on helping big brands automate tons of customer conversations. It's built for scale, supporting multiple languages and channels, and it hooks into Shopify to pull in customer and order info for more personalized chats.

Ada’s platform is great for building slick, automated experiences without writing code. However, it's aimed squarely at the enterprise market. There's no public pricing; you have to talk to their sales team and sign an annual contract, which puts it out of reach for most small and medium-sized businesses. While the automation is strong, it doesn't have the easy, self-serve setup and risk-free testing that platforms like eesel AI offer, which is a must for teams that need to move fast.

• Why it's on the list: It’s a leader in the enterprise no-code chatbot space with very capable automation.

• Pricing: Custom pricing only. You have to request a demo and will likely need an annual contract.

• Best for: Enterprise retailers with huge, international customer bases and a budget for a premium, hands-on solution.

7. Chatbase

Chatbase gives you a really simple way to build a custom AI chatbot. You can upload documents, paste a link to your FAQ page, or just copy-paste text, and it creates a bot that can answer questions based on that content. It’s quick, easy, and a great way to get a basic knowledge bot up and running.

That simplicity, however, means it can't handle the deeper tasks needed for real ecommerce automation. It can answer questions from the product data you give it, but it can't do things like check a live order status, apply a discount, or send a ticket over to your help desk with all the context. Its pricing is also based on message credits, which can be hard to predict. It's a great little tool for fetching information but doesn't quite cut it as a fully integrated support agent.

• Why it's on the list: It's a super simple and fast way to create a basic, knowledge-driven chatbot.

• Pricing: A free plan is available for 100 message credits/month. Paid plans start at $40/month for 2,000 message credits.

• Best for: Businesses that just need a simple FAQ bot trained on their website content and don't need it to perform any actions.

A few tips for picking the right Shopify chatbot tools

Feeling a bit clearer but still not sure which one to choose? Here are a few practical thoughts to help you decide.

The bottom line on Shopify chatbot tools: It's all about control and confidence

The world of Shopify chatbot tools is crowded, but the best ones stand out by giving you control, transparency, and the confidence to automate. While free tools like Shopify Inbox are great for getting the conversation started, you need a smarter solution to really scale your support and sales.

For brands that want to see a real impact on their bottom line without the risks of crazy pricing or a massive implementation project, a platform built for safe, gradual automation is the way to go.

Ready to see how you can automate your Shopify support without the guesswork? Try eesel AI and run a free simulation on your past tickets to see what you could save.