At a glance
Shopify's built-in AI suite: Magic (AI writing, image, and theme tools across the admin) plus Sidekick, a conversational AI assistant in the admin that analyzes store data, generates content, and performs multi-step tasks. Free with all Shopify plans.
Who it fits
Best forEvery Shopify merchant — particularly small-to-mid stores without dedicated copywriters, designers, or analysts.
Skip ifNon-Shopify merchants; customer-facing chatbot use cases (Sidekick is merchant-facing only); enterprises needing AI tied to external knowledge bases (Notion/Confluence/Slack).
Pros & cons
- Native context-aware help across Shopify admin
- Natural-language task execution with approval workflow
- Saves admin navigation time for non-technical merchants
- Limited visibility into third-party app data
- Not strategic for creative/design tasks
- No autonomous multi-step or customer-facing chat
Pricing
Starting price
$0/mo
- up to
- $0/mo
- Model
- bundled
Pricing source: www.shopify.com/pricing
Features
Native Context-Aware AI in Admin
AIDirect access to your Shopify store data (products, orders, customers, themes)
- AI kind
- LLM grounded on Shopify data
- plan
- Included with all Shopify plans (Basic and above)
Take-Action Agent
AIPerforms admin tasks: creates discounts, edits products, builds collections, changes theme settings via natural language
- AI kind
- agentic action execution
- plan
- Included with all plans
AI Image Generation
AIGenerates up to 5 banner/product images per prompt and saves to Files
- AI kind
- generative image model
- plan
- Included
AI Theme Section Generator
AIGenerates custom theme sections from natural language
- AI kind
- generative UI
- plan
- Included (theme must support AI sections)
Voice Mode + Apple Watch
AIVoice chat from desktop / mobile / Apple Watch
- AI kind
- voice interface
- plan
- Included
Sidekick Pulse (proactive)
AIProactively analyzes store data and surfaces recommendations
- AI kind
- proactive analysis agent
- plan
- Included (Winter '26 release)
Flow Automation Builder
AIDescribe an automation in plain English; Sidekick builds the Shopify Flow workflow
- AI kind
- workflow generation AI
- plan
- Included
Custom App / Code Generation
AIGenerate small custom apps and code to extend store functionality
- AI kind
- code-generation AI
- plan
- Included
Permission-Respecting
Operates within each staff member's Shopify admin permissions
- plan
- Included
App Extension Framework
AIThird-party apps can expose data/actions to Sidekick
- AI kind
- extensible agent
- plan
- Included (developer feature)
Multilingual
AIAdapts to store language settings
- AI kind
- multilingual LLM
- plan
- Included
Bundled at No Add-on Cost
No Sidekick-specific charge - included free in Shopify plans
- plan
- Included
Shopify integration
Yes — fully native; built into Shopify Admin; free with all Shopify plans; multimodal AI assistant (text, voice, screen share, Apple Watch); Sidekick app-extension framework lets third-party apps expose data and actions
Integrations
External platforms
- Shopify
- Shopify Admin
- Shopify Apple Watch app
Rating breakdown
Ease of use
8.5/10
[I] inferred
Features
7.5/10
[I] inferred
Value
8.5/10
[I] inferred
Support
7.5/10
[I] inferred
What operators say
“Sidekick handles straightforward configuration tasks well. It saves time navigating through menus.”
AdsX 2026 third-party review · 2026
“It will not design a beautiful, award-winning homepage banner—it will just place the elements where you tell it to.”
Create8 review · 2026
“A key factor is the agentic loop — it can complete nearly any action in your store for you.”
Medium / Jake Moshel · 2025
Our verdict
The data points to a universal Shopify profile: every merchant on the platform already has Sidekick — it's bundled free into Basic ($39/mo), Shopify ($105/mo), Advanced ($399/mo), and Plus ($2,300/mo 3-year). The economic question isn't "should we pay for Sidekick" — there's no separate charge — it's "where does it replace another tool and where do we still need that tool". Two operational realities matter. First, Sidekick is genuinely useful for admin-task automation, content drafting in admin, theme tweaks, and natural-language Shopify Flow building. The take-action agent and code-generation features are credible time-savers for non-technical merchants. Reviewer quotes consistently note "saves time navigating through menus" and "completes nearly any action in your store for you". Second, Sidekick is merchant-facing only — it does not serve as a customer chatbot. It also has limited visibility into third-party app data unless that app uses the Sidekick app-extension framework. Anyone expecting it to replace Gorgias, Tidio, or a third-party CDP is misreading the surface. For non-Shopify merchants, customer-facing chatbot use cases, or AI tied to external knowledge bases (Notion / Confluence / Slack), Sidekick is structurally outside the scope. For Shopify merchants without dedicated copywriters, designers, or analysts, it raises the floor on admin productivity at zero marginal cost — there's no decision to make beyond "use it".
