Best live chat for Shopify: apps compared

The best live chat for Shopify depends on who will answer the chats. If your team answers, choose an app with a good operator inbox, a mobile app and Shopify order data next to the chat; if you want answers outside working hours too, add an AI agent. On 20 October 2026 we compared twelve live chat apps from the Shopify App Store. Shopify Inbox is free and includes an opt-in AI agent, so it costs nothing to try first; the others add helpdesk features, more channels or a different pricing model. Chaterimo is our product and is not a live chat; we explain where it fits at the end.

Which live chat apps for Shopify did we compare?

The table lists apps that add a chat window with live chat for your team to a Shopify store and are installed from the Shopify App Store. Prices are from each vendor's own pricing page on 20 October 2026, in USD per month with monthly billing unless the cell says otherwise; sources are in the sections below.

The apps count usage differently (agents, seats, conversations, tickets, resolutions), so calculate the price for your own team size and monthly volume.

Live chat or AI chatbot: what does your store need?

Live chat

A person from your team answers the customer in the chat window, in real time. It builds trust and handles complex questions, but only while someone is online.

AI chatbot (AI agent)

A language model answers from your products, policies and orders, at any hour. It handles the repeated questions, but needs a way to hand the customer over to a person.

Most stores combine the two: the AI answers routine questions such as order status, shipping and returns, and a person takes over the rest. All twelve apps in the table offer live chat, and most of them now add an AI agent. If no one on your team can answer chats during the day, live chat brings little, and an AI agent with a good hand-over is the better start. Our comparison of AI chatbots for Shopify covers that side.

What should a live chat app for Shopify do?

Operator inbox and mobile app

Operators answer from one inbox on desktop and from a phone app, so a chat does not wait when nobody sits at the computer.

Shopify data next to the chat

The operator sees the customer's cart and orders without switching to the Shopify admin.

AI agent

It answers outside working hours or before an operator joins. Check what it answers from and how it verifies a customer before it shows an order.

Offline messages

When nobody is online, the customer leaves a message or an e-mail address, and the conversation becomes a ticket.

Installation

On Shopify, an app adds its chat window through an app embed in the theme editor. Some vendors without an app ask you to paste code into the theme instead.

Pricing model

Per agent or seat, per conversation or ticket, or per workspace, often with a separate price for the AI agent.

How do the apps differ?

Shopify Inbox

Shopify's own chat app is free¹. Your team answers on desktop or in the iOS and Android apps² and sees the customer's active cart and order details in the conversation once the customer is signed in⁴. The opt-in Inbox agent answers from your catalogue, policies, pages and knowledge base, looks up order status after the customer signs in and hands the chat to your team with its context. You choose whether it takes all conversations, only those outside your team's availability, or none. Shopify Inbox needs the Basic plan or higher, and the Inbox agent needs new customer accounts³. Start here if you want live chat inside the Shopify admin at no cost.

Tidio

Tidio combines live chat, automated flows and the AI agent Lyro, with a free plan and a mobile app⁵. Lyro answers from your support content, and its Shopify order status action asks for the e-mail and order ID⁶. With monthly billing, Starter costs $29 a month for 100 billable conversations and the Lyro AI Agent starts at $39 a month for 50 Lyro conversations ($24.17 and $32.50 a month with annual billing); paid plans have a 7-day trial⁷. Tidio fits stores that want live chat and an AI agent from one vendor at a low entry price; other options are in Tidio alternatives.

Chatty

Chatty is an AI chatbot with live chat, a shared inbox and a mobile app⁸. The free plan includes unlimited conversations with your team and 50 AI conversations a month; with monthly billing, Basic costs $19.99 a month for 100 AI conversations ($16.99 with annual billing), and each extra AI conversation costs $0.40. Handing a chat from the AI to a person starts with the paid plans⁹. The AI learns your products and FAQ and helps with order tracking; the listing does not say how it verifies the customer. Chatty fits small stores that want the AI to do most of the work.

Gorgias

Gorgias is a helpdesk for online stores, priced by tickets: Starter costs $10 a month for 50 tickets (monthly billing only), with a 7-day trial and no free plan¹¹. Operators edit, refund and cancel Shopify orders inside the ticket¹⁰. The AI Agent answers order, shipping and return questions and costs $1.00 per automated interaction with monthly billing ($0.90 with annual billing); each one also counts as a ticket¹¹. Gorgias fits teams that handle e-mail, chat and social messages together; Gorgias alternatives for Shopify compares similar helpdesks.

Re:amaze

Re:amaze is a helpdesk with live chat and chatbots, in which operators manage, change and create Shopify orders in the chat¹². It is priced per team member: from $29 a month with monthly billing ($26 with annual billing), including 5 AI resolutions per user a month; each additional resolution costs $0.85, and the trial lasts 14 days¹³. Re:amaze fits teams with several people on support.

Text (formerly LiveChat)

Text, the company behind LiveChat, has two Shopify apps. In the older “LiveChat: AI live chat by Text”, operators see the shopper's cart and past orders¹⁴. The newer “Text ‑ AI Agent & Live Chat”, launched on 12 May 2026, adds an AI agent that answers from your live Shopify catalogue and answers “where's my order?” by itself¹⁵. Plans are per user: Essential costs $25 a month with monthly billing ($19 with annual billing) and includes 10 AI resolutions a month, Growth $99 ($79) with 200; 50 more resolutions cost $49.50, and the trial lasts 14 days¹⁶. Text fits teams that want a dedicated live chat tool with cart and order data.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service platform for larger teams. Suite Team, the first plan with live chat, costs $55 per agent a month with annual billing ($69 monthly), and the trial lasts 14 days¹⁸. Operators see Shopify orders in a sidebar next to the ticket¹⁷. AI agents answer from your knowledge base¹⁹; each agent seat includes 5 or 10 automated resolutions a month, and more cost $1.50 each with a committed volume or $2.00 pay-as-you-go¹⁸. Zendesk fits companies that already use it for other channels.

Intercom

Intercom combines live chat with the AI agent Fin, which answers product and order questions with real-time data²⁰. Seats cost from $29 a month with annual billing (Essential; Advanced $85, Expert $132), Fin costs $0.99 per outcome, and the trial lasts 14 days²¹. Intercom fits larger teams with a support process across channels.

Chatra

Chatra is a simple live chat with chatbots and mobile apps; operators see the shopper's cart²². The free plan has one agent and up to 5 chats a month; Essential costs €31 per agent a month with monthly billing (€25 with yearly billing), and the trial lasts 10 days²³. Chatra describes chatbots but no AI agent that answers from your content. Chatra says it is now a Brevo company: the app keeps working and is supported, but new features are released only in Brevo Conversations²⁴.

tawk.to

tawk.to is a free live chat with apps for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac, and operators can view and manage Shopify orders from chats and tickets²⁵. tawk.to earns from add-ons: removing its branding costs $29 a month, hired chat agents $1 an hour, and AI Assist starts at $29 a month, with a free plan for sites with little chat volume; AI Assist answers from your help center, website pages, FAQ and documents²⁶. tawk.to fits stores with a small budget and their own people on the chat.

Crisp

Crisp is a helpdesk with live chat, priced per workspace: the free plan has 2 agents and no AI credits, Mini costs $45 a month for 4 agents with $5 of AI credits, Essentials $95 for 10 agents with $25 of credits and Plus $295 with $75, VAT excluded; the trial lasts 14 days²⁸. The custom-trained AI agent appears on the Shopify listing from the Essentials plan²⁷. With Shopify connected, the AI agent's order tool answers “where is my order?” from your store's orders; the help article does not describe how it verifies the customer²⁹. Crisp fits teams that want many seats at a fixed price.

Smartsupp

Smartsupp combines live chat with the AI agent Mira; operators see the customer's order details³⁰. The free plan has 1 operator and 25 conversations a month. With annual billing, Solo costs $17 a month (€14) for 1 operator, Plus $25 and Expert $83, VAT excluded; Mira starts at $16 a month for 100 conversations, also with annual billing, and the trial lasts 14 days³¹. Its Shopify listing shows higher prices for monthly billing through Shopify³⁰. Smartsupp fits stores that want live chat with AI sold in bundles of conversations.

Which live chat apps are no longer in the Shopify App Store?

Older lists of Shopify chat apps name products that changed. We checked them on 20 October 2026:

• JivoChat, Pure Chat and Acquire: their listing pages say the app is not currently available on the Shopify App Store³²³³³⁴.
• Olark, HelpCrunch and Zoho SalesIQ: we found no app in the Shopify App Store; their guides tell you to paste their code into the theme³⁵³⁶³⁷.
• LiveAgent: no app in the Shopify App Store; LiveAgent connects through a plugin in its own settings with your store's API credentials³⁸.
• Drift: Salesloft says it has moved from Drift to 1mind, an AI chat agent for B2B sales³⁹.
• ChatBot.com has a Shopify app, but it is a chatbot builder rather than a live chat, and the prices on its listing differ from its own pricing page⁴⁰.
• Other live chat apps with a Shopify listing that we did not compare in detail include Formilla Live Chat and Willdesk.

What does live chat for Shopify cost?

All the apps install for free from the Shopify App Store, and Shopify adds app charges to your Shopify bill. The price then depends on the model:

• Free: Shopify Inbox, including its Inbox agent; tawk.to (the chat itself); free plans with limits from Tidio, Chatty, Chatra, Crisp and Smartsupp.
• Per agent, seat or user: Zendesk, Intercom, Re:amaze, Chatra, Text (on its own pricing page).
• Per conversation or ticket: Tidio, Chatty, Gorgias.
• Per workspace: Crisp.
• AI agent on top: per AI conversation (Chatty $0.40), per resolution or outcome (Re:amaze $0.85, Intercom $0.99, Gorgias $1.00 with monthly billing, Zendesk $1.50–2.00), in credits (Crisp), or a bundle (Tidio Lyro, Smartsupp Mira, tawk.to AI Assist).

A store with one person on the chat pays little for seats; a store with a busy chat pays mostly for AI resolutions. Calculate both parts for last month's number of conversations.

Where does Chaterimo fit?

Chaterimo is our product, and it is not a live chat. It is an AI agent for customer support of online stores: it answers from your products, imported through the Shopify API, and from your knowledge base, around the clock and in the customer's language. It tells a customer the status of an order when they give the order number and the e-mail or phone number used on the order, and shows nothing without a matching contact. It answers in the chat window on your store and in Facebook Messenger, works with GPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok, and you can use your own API key (BYOK).

When the customer wants a person or the problem stays unresolved and the customer leaves a contact, Chaterimo creates a ticket with a summary of the conversation. The e-mail about the new ticket goes to the ticket notification address you set in Chaterimo; your team then answers by e-mail or phone. No one from your team answers inside the chat window. Tickets are part of the 7-day trial and of the Evolve plan and higher; plans are on the pricing page for Shopify.

Chaterimo fits stores where nobody can watch the chat during the day, or where most questions are about products and orders. If your team wants to talk to customers live, choose one of the apps above. The setup is in the guide to Chaterimo for Shopify.

How do you choose a live chat for your store?

1. Decide who answers: your team, an AI agent, or both, and during which hours.
2. Count your operators and last month's conversations; they decide the price more than the plan name.
3. Shortlist two or three apps and install them in a test theme or during the trial.
4. Ask the same real questions, including an order status question with someone else's order number, and check what the AI reveals.
5. Try the mobile app and the hand-over from the AI to an operator, then choose.

Summary

On 20 October 2026 you choose a live chat for Shopify from at least twelve apps in the Shopify App Store. Shopify Inbox is free and has its own AI agent; Tidio, Chatty, Chatra, tawk.to, Crisp and Smartsupp have free plans; Gorgias, Re:amaze, Text, Zendesk and Intercom are full helpdesks priced per ticket or per agent. Decide by who answers, how many operators you have and how the AI agent is priced, and test two or three apps on real questions. If nobody on your team can answer live, compare AI chatbots for Shopify instead.

TopicsShopifyAI customer service