- According to its listing, Rep AI spots hesitating shoppers and opens an AI chat with them. It is free to install, with 100 free visitors a month, and the Starter plan is $104 a month for up to 10,000 visitors.
- Other chats open themselves too, according to their listings: Tidio's Lyro starts proactive chats on product pages, at $39 a month for up to 200 conversations, and Zipchat calls itself a proactive AI chat, with a free plan and an $80-a-month plan.
- Shopify Inbox, Shopify's own app, lists itself as an AI sales associate, and it is free.
- Each app counts something different: visitors, conversations, AI replies or answers. So compare prices by your own store's numbers.
- When shoppers need a conversation, a chat fits. When the same few product questions repeat and no one will read the chats, ready answers on the product page may fit better.
What is proactive help for hesitant shoppers?
Proactive help means the store reaches the shopper at the moment of doubt, instead of waiting for them to ask. On Shopify it usually comes in two forms, and each asks something different of the shopper:
- A chat that opens itself: the app spots a hesitating shopper and opens a conversation with an AI. The shopper chats with it, and can ask anything.
- A popup with ready answers: at the moment of hesitation, the product's common questions appear. The shopper taps one and sees the answer, without typing.
Rep AI is the first kind. So the first question when you look for an alternative is what your shoppers need: a conversation, or an answer. The difference in detail: what is an FAQ popup.
What does Rep AI do, and what does it cost?
Rep AI is a proactive AI shopping assistant for Shopify that opens a chat with the shopper. Its first plan is free to install, and its paid plans start at $104 a month. According to its App Store listing:
- When it reaches the shopper: behavioral AI spots hesitating shoppers and opens an AI chat, to recommend products and answer questions.
- What it answers from: a GPT-based AI trained on your catalog, policies and brand voice, which replies in each shopper's language.
- Support: it also answers order status, returns, cancellations and FAQs, and hands off to live chat agents with the full conversation summarized.
- Works with: Attentive, Gorgias, Klaviyo, Postscript, Tapcart and Zendesk.
| Plan | Price | Visitors a month | Products | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-Grow | Free to install | 100 free | Up to 100 | Not stated |
| Starter | $104 a month, or $995 a year | Up to 10,000 | Up to 1,000 | 14 days |
| Basic | $209 a month, or $2,006 a year | Up to 25,000 | Up to 2,000 | 14 days |
| Standard | $368 a month, or $3,528 a year | Up to 50,000 | Up to 5,000 | 14 days |
Every plan lists the AI sales skills. The paid plans add custom branding, AI training and product recommendations. The listing also shows $12 for any additional 1,000 visitors, but doesn't say what counts as a visitor: everyone who visits your store, or only shoppers who chat. It is worth asking Rep AI before you estimate your bill. Charges are in US dollars, every 30 days.
Source: Rep AI: AI Agent & Live Chat on the Shopify App Store, checked 26 October 2026.
What are the alternatives to Rep AI?
The alternatives are other AI chats, some of which also start the conversation themselves, and popups that show ready answers when the shopper hesitates. BOOX, in the last row of the table, is our app. Every other app is described only from its own App Store listing.
| App | How it reaches the shopper | What the shopper does | Free option | First paid plan, as listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zipchat AI Chatbot & Live Chat | Its listing calls it proactive AI chat that greets shoppers, on live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and email | Chats with the AI | Free plan: 120 AI replies a month, about 50 conversations | $80 a month, for 750 AI replies |
| Tidio: AI Chatbot & Live Chat | Its Lyro AI agent starts proactive chats on product pages | Chats with the AI | Free plan, without Lyro in its list | $29 a month. Lyro is in the $39 plan, up to 200 conversations |
| Manifest AI Chatbot & Agents | A ChatGPT-based chat with product recommendations. Its listing says it nudges shoppers to purchase | Chats with the AI | Free to install, with a free trial of at least 30 days | No prices on the listing |
| Alhena: AI Shopping Concierge | An AI shopping concierge that guides shoppers to the right products and answers pre- and post-purchase questions | Chats with the AI | Free plan: up to 25 conversations a month | $239 a month |
| Shopify Inbox | An AI sales associate in your store's chat. The listing also names greetings and welcome messages | Types a question in the chat | Free | None listed |
| BOOX: FAQ Popup (ours) | A popup with three questions about the product, when the shopper hesitates | Taps a question, or types their own | Free for up to 50 answers a month | Premium: $10 a month, unlimited |
- If you searched for an AI sales associate: Shopify Inbox, Shopify's own app, lists itself as an AI sales associate that knows your customers, and it is free. Its listing says it connects to your catalog, inventory and policies automatically. Its features include greetings, but the listing doesn't say whether the chat opens for the shopper by itself.
- If the chat opening by itself matters to you: the Zipchat and Tidio listings say outright that the chat is proactive. In Tidio, that is the Lyro AI agent, on product pages.
- If you sell fashion, beauty, jewelry or home goods: Alhena's listing says it is purpose-built for those kinds of brands.
Prices and plans change, so check the listing itself before you decide. Sources: each app's Shopify App Store listing, linked in the table, checked 26 October 2026.
More ways to answer shoppers, with the apps for each: five ways to answer shoppers.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Rep AI?
On the listed prices, yes: Tidio's Lyro plan is $39 a month and Zipchat's Starter plan is $80, against $104 for Rep AI's Starter plan. But they don't do exactly the same things, and each one counts something different. So which one is cheaper depends on your store's numbers.
What each price counts, from each app's listing:
- Rep AI counts visitors: 100 a month free, up to 10,000 on the $104 plan, and $12 for any additional 1,000 visitors.
- Zipchat counts AI replies: 120 a month free, and 750 on the $80 plan. Its listing puts 750 replies at about 300 conversations.
- Tidio counts Lyro conversations: up to 200 on the $39 plan.
- Alhena counts conversations: up to 25 a month free, and $1.20 per conversation over the limit on the paid plans, which start at $239.
- Shopify Inbox is free, and Manifest AI shows no prices on its listing.
- BOOX counts answers: free for up to 50 a month, and unlimited on Premium for $10 a month.
For example, suppose everyone who visits the store counts as a visitor, and the store gets 20,000 visitors a month. That is above the 10,000 visitors of Rep AI's Starter plan. The listing charges $12 for any additional 1,000 visitors, so on Starter the month would cost $104 plus $120, or $224. The Basic plan covers up to 25,000 visitors for $209 a month, which is less. Here is how to estimate the price for your own store:
- Write down how many visitors you get a month, from Shopify's reports.
- Check how many of them start a chat or tap a question. Every app here has a free plan or a free trial, according to its listing, so you can measure before you pay.
- Work it out by what the app counts, and check what going over the limit costs.
- Add your own time: someone has to read the bot's conversations and check that its answers are right. What to check: when AI answers are wrong.
When does a proactive chat fit, and when do ready answers fit?
A proactive chat fits when shoppers need a conversation. Ready answers fit when the same few questions about a product keep coming back.
| Situation | What fits better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shoppers ask very different questions, or need help choosing from the whole catalog | Proactive AI chat | It holds a conversation and recommends products, according to the apps' listings |
| Shoppers ask about an order they already placed: status, a return, a cancellation | A chat with support features | The Rep AI, Zipchat and Tidio listings name order status. A popup of product questions doesn't answer it |
| Shoppers also write to you on WhatsApp, Instagram or email | A chat that brings every channel together | The Zipchat and Tidio listings name these channels |
| The same three or four questions come up on every product: shipping, returns, size | Ready answers on the product page, such as an FAQ popup | The shopper taps a question and sees the answer, without typing or waiting |
| No one will read the bot's conversations | Ready answers you have read in advance | Each answer exists before a shopper sees it, so you can check and edit it |
Whatever you choose, if it opens by itself, keep it small. Google's guidance says not to obscure the entire page with interstitials, and to use banners that take up only a small fraction of the screen. Source: Google Search Central, avoid intrusive interstitials and dialogs, updated December 2025.
If you are weighing a chat with a person behind it too, what that costs a small store: is live chat worth it for a small store.
What to check before you switch
Before you switch apps, check five things:
- What your shoppers asked in recent weeks. If the same few questions repeat, ready answers can cover them. If the questions vary a lot, you need a conversation.
- Your shoppers' language. Rep AI's listing says it replies in each shopper's language, and the Languages line on its listing names English. Try a few real questions in your shoppers' language before you rely on the bot.
- Where the answers come from. Check what the app answers from, and what happens when it has no answer: whether it says it doesn't know, or hands off to a person.
- When it opens, and how often. Check what triggers the chat or popup, and whether you can limit it to product pages, on phones and computers.
- What it measures. Pick one number, such as how many bought after they got help, and compare it before and after the switch, over equal periods.
Where BOOX fits
BOOX fits a store whose shoppers stall on the same few questions about a product, when you want those answered at the moment of doubt without anyone sitting in a chat. It is not a chat. It is our app, so keep that in mind as you read this part.
- What it does: a popup on the product page offers three questions about the product, with their answers, which BOOX writes with AI from the product page and the store's policies. You can edit any of them. The shopper clicks a question, or types their own.
- When it shows: after time on the page (30 seconds by default), after a scroll, or after an add to cart with no checkout. You choose, with separate rules for computers and phones. It opens by itself at most once per visit and never blocks scrolling.
- After the answer: every answer ends with an add-to-cart button that takes the shopper to the store's own buy button.
- What the data shows: per product and per question, how many saw the popup, how many answered, and how many bought after answering.
- Price: free for up to 50 answers a month. Premium, unlimited: $10 a month, with a 14-day free trial.
When it doesn't: when shoppers need a real conversation, help choosing from the whole catalog, or answers about an order already placed. Also when shoppers reach you on WhatsApp, Instagram or email and you want every message in one place. In those cases a chat like the ones in the table fits better. And if what's missing is one fact that is the same for every product, like the shipping cost, a line next to the price may be enough.