SupportBot
$0.03 / reply, from $9/mo
Flat plans: the AI replies are already in the price.
SupportBot vs Shopify Inbox
Flat per-reply pricing.
Not not metered: the app is free.
Shopify Inbox positions itself as “An AI sales associate that knows your customers.” SupportBot answers the same customer questions (grounded only in your own store content) starting at $0.03 per reply, with no metering surprises.
Competitor pricing verified 2026-08-17, from published App Store listings.
Shopify Inbox
Free. Shopify Inbox is built by Shopify and has no paid tier and no published cap on AI replies
4.6★ (5,493 reviews) · billed not metered: the app is free
Feature by feature
Where SupportBot and
Shopify Inbox actually differ.
| Feature | SupportBot | Shopify Inbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan: 100 AI replies/month. Paid plans from $9/mo when you need more replies, higher content limits, or handoff | Free, with no paid tier. On price alone Shopify Inbox is cheaper than any SupportBot paid plan, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise |
| Reaching a human | The shopper gives an email address inside the chat and the conversation is handed to the merchant by email (Starter+) or Slack (Growth+), with the full transcript and a written summary. No store account is needed | Shoppers can chat with the Inbox AI agent without signing in, but Shopify's own documentation describes a 'Require sign-in to chat with staff' setting: reaching a human staff member can require a customer account, and order lookup and order context are available only for signed-in customers |
| How answers are grounded | Every answer is generated only from the merchant's own store content (products, pages, blog posts, policies, FAQs, and private notes); the widget says so when it can't find an answer and hands off to a human | Shopify Inbox's AI agent draws on the store's catalog and Shopify data; its exact grounding and fallback behavior on a given store is not independently verified here |
| Tone of voice | Paste writing samples on Starter and above; upload a brand-guideline PDF on Growth and Pro | Shopify Inbox does not publish a tone-of-voice or brand-guideline training feature on its App Store listing |
| What it's built for | A standalone AI answer engine for one Shopify storefront, with its own knowledge base, analytics, escalation rules and conversation history | Shopify's own first-party chat and sales-associate app, tightly bound to Shopify Admin and the Shop app: the default option, and a reasonable one for many stores |
Competitor pricing verified 2026-08-17, from published App Store listings.
Why merchants switch
Answers from your store.
Nothing made up.
Only your store content
Every answer is generated from the merchant's own products, pages, policies, and FAQs: never invented, never guessed.
Admits what it doesn't know
If the answer isn't in the store content, SupportBot says so honestly instead of fabricating a plausible-sounding response.
Clean human handoff
When it can't help, the conversation hands off to a real person by email or Slack, with a summary of what the customer already asked: no dead ends.
FAQ
Common questions about
switching from Shopify Inbox.
Shopify Inbox is free. Why would I pay for SupportBot?
For a lot of stores you shouldn't. Inbox is free, made by Shopify, and deeply integrated. SupportBot is worth paying for when you want answers grounded strictly in your own written content, a shopper to reach you without creating a store account, tone-of-voice matching, and a dashboard showing what the bot could not answer. If none of that is a problem for you, stay on Inbox.
Do shoppers have to sign in to use Shopify Inbox?
Not to talk to the AI agent. Shopify's documentation states customers can chat with the Inbox agent without signing in. A separate setting, 'Require sign-in to chat with staff', governs reaching a human, and order lookup and order context are available only once a customer is signed in.
Can I run both?
Technically yes, but we do not recommend two chat widgets on one storefront. Shoppers get two launchers and neither tool sees the other's conversation.
What happens when SupportBot can't answer a question?
It says so honestly and hands the conversation to a human by email (Starter+) or Slack (Growth+), with a summary. It never guesses at order status or policy details it can't verify.
See it answer from
your own store.
Install SupportBot on your Shopify store and it syncs your products, pages, and policies automatically, no manual setup.
Install on ShopifyFree plan available · no credit card required to start