- Shopify Inbox is free, made by Shopify, and has an AI agent you turn on only if you want it. It is available only on the Basic, Grow, Advanced or Shopify Plus plan.
- Tidio has a free plan, and paid plans from $29 a month. Its AI agent, Lyro, starts at $39 a month for up to 200 conversations.
- Shopify Inbox works in your online store's chat. Tidio also brings email, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger into one inbox.
- Both answer shoppers in the shopper's language, according to their own pages. Try a few real questions before you rely on the bot.
- When no one can answer and the questions repeat, you can answer on the product page itself, without chat.
What is the difference between Shopify Inbox and Tidio?
The main difference is how much they cover. Shopify Inbox is Shopify's free chat for your online store, with an AI agent you can turn on. Tidio puts website chat, email, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in one inbox, with its own AI agent, Lyro, and paid plans from $29 a month. Both have a free option.
| What to check | Shopify Inbox | Tidio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free plan, paid from $29 a month |
| AI agent | Part of the free app, and works only if you choose to turn it on | Lyro, on a $39-a-month plan for up to 200 conversations |
| Where shoppers write | In the chat window on your online store | Website chat, plus email, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in one inbox |
| When no one is available | If the agent is on, it answers. If a person is needed, it gives the shopper your store's email address | On the Lyro plan, Lyro answers FAQs and order status questions |
| Shopify plan needed | Basic, Grow, Advanced or Shopify Plus | Not stated on its listing |
| Branding | With the agent on, shoppers see a notice that the chat is powered by Shopify and that they are chatting with AI. It can't be removed | Removing Tidio branding is listed as an add-on on the Flows and Lyro AI Chatbot plans |
On their App Store listings on 26 October 2026, Shopify Inbox had a 4.6 rating from 5,804 reviews, and Tidio a 4.8 from 1,359 reviews. Ratings and prices change, so check the listing itself before you decide.
Sources: the Shopify Inbox and Tidio listings on the Shopify App Store, and Shopify Help Center, Assigning your Inbox agent to conversations, checked 26 October 2026.
What does Shopify Inbox do, and what does it cost?
Shopify Inbox is free. It adds a chat window to your online store, where you answer shoppers, or an AI agent answers for you. Its App Store listing says you can run it with or without the agent.
- What the agent answers: Shopify's Help Center says it answers questions about products, shipping, returns, sizing and store policies, from your catalog, policies, Knowledge Base and published store content. It can also look up an order's status, after the shopper signs in, and add products to the cart. For a product in your catalog, it can also use cited web search for reviews, ratings and feedback.
- When it answers: Shopify calls the agent an opt-in feature. Once it is on, you choose whether it takes all new conversations, or only those outside your availability hours. If you choose the second, set your hours first: by default, Inbox treats you as always available.
- When a person is needed: when a shopper asks for a person, or the conversation needs staff, it moves to your staff with the context so far. If no one is available, the agent gives the shopper your store's sender email address.
- Where it works: the agent works only in your online store's chat window. Your staff reply from the Shopify Inbox app on desktop, iOS or Android.
- What you need: the Help Center says Shopify Inbox is available only for stores on the Basic, Grow, Advanced or Shopify Plus plan. The agent works only with new customer accounts, not legacy ones.
Without the agent, you can write instant answers: questions that show when the shopper opens the chat, each one opening an answer you wrote. Up to 100 can be shown.
One more thing: Shopify writes that you're responsible for the accuracy of the information the Inbox agent gives your customers. What to check before AI answers for you: when AI answers are wrong.
Sources: Shopify Inbox's App Store listing. Shopify Help Center: Shopify Inbox and the Inbox agent, Assigning your Inbox agent to conversations, availability and first reply, instant answers. Checked 26 October 2026.
What does Tidio do, and what does it cost?
Tidio is live chat, a helpdesk and an AI chatbot, with a free plan and paid plans from $29 a month. Its App Store listing says your team handles every support ticket in one inbox for email, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, with Shopify orders beside each chat.
- The Lyro AI agent: its listing says it starts proactive chats on product pages, recommends products from what's in stock and adds them to the cart, and answers FAQs and order status questions in the shopper's language.
- Also on the listing: ticketing, a help center with support articles shoppers can read on their own, and abandoned cart win-back with discount codes.
- Works with: Google Analytics, Judge.me, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Zapier and Zendesk, according to the listing.
| Plan | Price | What's included, as listed |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Live chat conversations with 50 users, Flows for up to 100 visitors a month, ticketing, a mobile app and social media integrations |
| Customer Service | $29 a month for 100 conversations, and $59 for 250 to 1,000 conversations | Analytics, a live visitors list, operating hours, the Tidio AI reply assistant, and live chat support (24/5) |
| Flows | $29 a month | Up to 40k visitors, automation analytics, chatbot templates and a visual chatbot builder. Removing Tidio branding is listed as an add-on |
| Lyro AI Chatbot | $39 a month | Up to 200 Lyro conversations, a website scraper, Lyro Actions and MCPs, and native Shopify actions. Removing Tidio branding is listed as an add-on |
Every paid plan includes everything in the free plan, and a 7-day free trial. You can also pay yearly: $290 a year for the $29 plans, and $390 for the Lyro plan. Charges are in US dollars, every 30 days. The listing doesn't say what more than 200 Lyro conversations cost, only that you can upgrade as you grow. Tidio lists all its options on its own pricing page.
Source: Tidio: AI Chatbot & Live Chat on the Shopify App Store, checked 26 October 2026.
Is there a free chat app for Shopify?
Yes, both have a free option. Shopify Inbox's App Store listing shows one price, free, and says you can run it with or without its AI agent. Tidio has a free plan. The difference is in what free includes:
- With Shopify Inbox, the limit is your Shopify plan: it is available only on the Basic, Grow, Advanced or Shopify Plus plan. A store on any other Shopify plan can't use it.
- With Tidio, the free plan has limits: its listing says live chat conversations with 50 users and Flows for up to 100 visitors a month. Lyro isn't in the free plan's list. It is in the $39-a-month plan.
- And with both, the real cost is time: a free chat still needs someone to answer, or a bot whose answers you have checked.
What that time costs, and when chat is worth it: is live chat worth it for a small store.
What language do they answer shoppers in?
Both answer shoppers in the shopper's own language, according to their own pages.
- Shopify Inbox: the Help Center says the agent replies in the language the customer uses in the chat, but product titles and other catalog details might show in your store's language. Automatically generated suggestions for instant answers are available only in English.
- Tidio: its listing says Lyro answers FAQs and order status questions in the shopper's language.
- The Languages line on each listing: Shopify Inbox's listing names 21 languages, and Tidio's names six: English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish. Hebrew is in neither.
If your shoppers write in a language other than your store's, try a few real questions in their language before you rely on the bot.
Sources: Shopify Help Center, Assigning your Inbox agent to conversations, instant answers. The Shopify Inbox and Tidio App Store listings. Checked 26 October 2026.
Which one fits your store?
It depends on three questions: whether someone can answer, where shoppers write to you, and which Shopify plan your store is on.
| Situation | What fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want chat only on your online store, for free | Shopify Inbox | It is free, and its agent answers from your catalog and policies |
| Shoppers also write to you by email, Instagram, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger | Tidio | Its listing says every ticket lands in one inbox |
| Your store isn't on the Basic, Grow, Advanced or Shopify Plus plan | Another chat app, such as Tidio | Shopify Inbox is available only on those plans. Tidio's listing names no plan, so check that it works with your store before you install |
| Shoppers ask about an order they already placed | Either one | Both answer order status questions, according to their own pages. Shopify Inbox asks the shopper to sign in first |
| No one can answer, and shoppers ask the same few questions about a product | Answers on the product page, such as an FAQ popup | The shopper sees the answer without opening a chat or waiting |
Shopify, which makes Shopify Inbox, says on its blog that the best option depends on a business's size and existing tools. It says Inbox is free, built into Shopify, and "covers core needs like proactive invitations, product sharing, and staff handoff," and that larger teams with more complex support "might look at Gorgias, Zendesk, or Tidio for deeper help desk integration." Source: Shopify's blog, Jenny Lyons, 11 September 2026.
What if no one can answer the chat?
Then answer the repeated questions on the product page itself, so no one needs to be online. Before you pick a chat, check what shoppers ask: if it is the same few questions about each product, the page can answer them.
Both chats have a bot that can answer when you're away. But the shopper still talks to it in a chat: they type a question, or pick one from a list. Shopify Inbox's instant answers also live inside the chat window, and show only after the shopper clicks the chat button. These are the ways to answer on the page itself:
- Facts next to the buy button: shipping, delivery time and returns, one line each.
- An FAQ section on the page: it stays on the page, but only shoppers who scroll to it see it.
- An FAQ popup triggered by hesitation: it brings the product's questions to the shopper, who taps one and sees the answer. That is how BOOX works, and BOOX is our app.
You can also combine them: answers to the common questions on the page, and chat for the rest, in the hours someone can answer.
A full comparison, with the apps for each way: five ways to answer shoppers.
Where BOOX fits
BOOX fits a store whose shoppers stall on the same few questions about a product, with no one to answer them in real time. 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.
- Every answer ends with an add-to-cart button that takes the shopper to the store's own buy button. Your data shows, per product and per question, how many saw the popup, how many answered, and how many bought after answering.
- 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, such as very different questions, custom orders, or questions about an order already placed. Also when shoppers reach you by email and social media and you want every message in one place. For both, a chat like Shopify Inbox or Tidio 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.