The main Rep AI alternatives for Shopify are BOBBI Smart Store, Dialog, Zipchat and Manifest AI for selling, Tidio with Lyro AI and Gorgias for support, Shopify Inbox as Shopify's free option, and Octane AI or Gobot for product quizzes. Rep AI adds a proactive AI sales chat to your existing theme and automates support. Merchants usually look elsewhere for one of three reasons: its plans are priced by monthly visitors, they want the store itself to guide shoppers rather than a chat window, or they need a support-first helpdesk or a product quiz instead.
Disclosure: this comparison is published by BOBBI Oy, the maker of BOBBI Smart Store, which is listed first. The "Best for" and "How it differs" columns are our own summary of what each app does best. Pricing models, prices, free plans and ratings come from each app's official Shopify App Store listing, checked on 14 October 2026; the last column links the listing.
| App | Best for | How it differs from Rep AI | Pricing model | Starting price | Free plan / trial | App Store rating | Source, date checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOBBI Smart Store | A storefront that guides every shopper to the right product | The store is the conversation: shoppers chat and tap simple choices with products in view, instead of a chat window on top of the page | Platform fee on BOBBI sales, billed through Shopify | 3% of sales made through BOBBI; no monthly fee | No monthly fee; pay only on BOBBI sales | 5.0 (4) | BOBBI pricing, App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Dialog | Detailed product questions on larger stores | Also priced by visitors, with a free plan and paid plans from 25,000 monthly visitors | Monthly unique visitors | $249/month (up to 25,000 visitors) | Free plan (200 conversations/month); 14-day trial | 5.0 (38) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Zipchat | Sales and support chat across messaging channels | Priced by AI replies instead of visitors; also covers email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger | AI replies | $80/month (750 AI replies, about 300 conversations) | Free plan (120 AI replies/month); 7-day trial | 4.9 (207) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Shopify Inbox | A free AI sales associate from Shopify | Shopify's own free chat assistant on your current theme | Free | Free | Free | 4.6 (5,817) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Manifest AI | ChatGPT-style product recommendation chat | A similar chat on your existing theme; paid pricing is not published | Contact sales | Contact sales | Free to test | 4.6 (59) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Tidio (Lyro AI) | Support-first live chat with an AI agent | Stronger on support tickets and live chat; selling is secondary | Conversations | $29/month; Lyro AI from $39/month (200 Lyro conversations) | Free plan; 7-day trial | 4.8 (1,355) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Gorgias | Support teams that need a helpdesk | A full helpdesk priced by tickets; automation is an add-on | Tickets | $10/month (50 tickets, 3 agents) | 7-day trial | 4.3 (704) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Octane AI | Product-finder quizzes | A scripted quiz instead of open chat; collects answers for email and SMS | Credits for quiz engagements and AI use | $50/month (Basic, two quizzes) | 14-day trial | 4.7 (208) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Gobot | A quiz plus chatbot on a small budget | Combines a guided quiz with a support bot; check recent reviews | Engagements | Paid plans on request | First 5,000 engagements free | 3.3 (20) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
| Rep AI (for reference) | Proactive AI sales chat plus support automation | — | Monthly visitors | $104/month (Starter, up to 10,000 visitors) | 100 free visitors/month on Pay-as-you-Grow; 14-day trial | 4.6 (119) | App Store listing 14 Oct 2026 |
Prices in USD as listed on each app's Shopify App Store listing on 14 October 2026; several plans scale with visitors, AI replies, conversations or tickets, and several apps list 17–20% lower yearly prices. Prices and ratings are a snapshot of that day and change over time.
BOBBI turns your Shopify catalog into a Smart Store: shoppers say what they need, tap simple choices, and see the matching products while the conversation narrows them down, then pay in your native Shopify checkout. It installs from the Shopify App Store in minutes and runs in parallel with your theme. It costs 3% of the sales made through BOBBI, with no monthly fee. Consider that it is new (launched August 2026) and focuses on selling rather than support tickets. See BOBBI Smart Store: the facts.
Dialog adds an AI shopping assistant that answers product questions and recommends products. Like Rep AI it is priced by monthly unique visitors: $249 for up to 25,000, $399 for up to 50,000 and $799 for up to 100,000, with a free plan of 200 conversations a month and a 14-day trial. Rated 5.0 from 38 reviews.
Zipchat is an AI chatbot and live chat for your site, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. It is priced by AI replies rather than visitors: free for 120 a month, then $80 for 750, $300 for 3,000 and $600 for 6,000, with a 7-day trial. Rated 4.9 from 207 reviews.
Shopify Inbox is Shopify's own free app: an AI sales associate on your storefront that answers questions and helps shoppers find products from your catalog, and personalizes replies for shoppers signed in with Shop. Rated 4.6 from 5,817 reviews. More in Shopify Inbox alternatives.
Manifest AI is the closest like-for-like alternative: an AI chat on your existing store that recommends products, with cart and checkout recovery and lead collection. It is free to test; paid pricing is not published on the listing.
Tidio is a widely used live chat and helpdesk; its Lyro AI agent answers common customer questions. Choose it when support volume is the main problem. There is a free plan, paid plans from $29/month and Lyro AI from $39/month.
Gorgias is a helpdesk with live chat for ecommerce support teams, priced by tickets: $10 a month for 50 tickets, $60 for 300 and $360 for 2,000, with an automation add-on and a 7-day trial. Rated 4.3 from 704 reviews.
Octane AI builds quizzes that recommend products and collect answers for email and SMS. The path is scripted rather than an open conversation. From $50/month with a 14-day trial.
Gobot pairs a guided-selling quiz with an AI support chatbot, and the first 5,000 engagements are free. Its App Store rating is 3.3 from 20 reviews, so read recent reviews before committing.
It depends on why you are switching. If you want the store itself to guide every shopper to the right product, BOBBI Smart Store turns the storefront into a conversation where shoppers chat and tap simple choices. For a similar AI shopping assistant priced by visitors, Dialog; priced by AI replies and covering WhatsApp and Instagram, Zipchat; for the same chat-on-theme model, Manifest AI. If support tickets are the main job, Tidio with Lyro AI or Gorgias. For a free starting point, Shopify Inbox. If a fixed product quiz is enough, Octane AI.
Yes. As listed on the Shopify App Store on 14 October 2026, Shopify Inbox, Shopify's own AI sales associate, is free. Dialog has a free plan with 200 conversations a month, Zipchat a free plan with 120 AI replies a month and Tidio a free plan; Manifest AI is free to test. BOBBI Smart Store has no monthly fee and charges 3% of the sales made through BOBBI.
As listed on the Shopify App Store on 14 October 2026, Rep AI is priced by monthly visitors: Starter is $104 per month for up to 10,000 visitors, Basic $209 for up to 25,000 and Standard $368 for up to 50,000, plus $12 for each additional 1,000 visitors. A Pay-as-you-Grow option is free to install with 100 free visitors per month. Paid plans include a 14-day free trial, and yearly billing saves 20%.
Rep AI opens a proactive AI chat on top of your existing theme and also automates support questions such as order tracking. BOBBI Smart Store is the storefront itself: shoppers find and buy the right product by chatting and tapping simple choices, with the matching products in view, and pay in your native Shopify checkout. Rep AI is priced by monthly visitors; BOBBI costs 3% of the sales made through BOBBI, with no monthly fee. BOBBI focuses on guiding the purchase, so you keep your helpdesk for support tickets.
Yes. BOBBI installs from the Shopify App Store, reads your catalog from Shopify automatically and runs in parallel with your theme. You choose what share of visitors sees the Smart Store, so you can compare before you change anything else.
Eero