Best AI chatbots for ecommerce in 2026: 8 tools compared

The best AI chatbot for ecommerce depends on what your store needs most. Gorgias suits a support team that wants refunds and order edits automated. Tidio is the easiest start for a small store. Zipchat and Rep AI are built to sell on the storefront. HiQBot fits a store whose customers write on WhatsApp and Instagram as much as on the website.

We make HiQBot, so read this list knowing that. To keep it fair, every price and feature below comes from the vendor's own pricing or product page, read on 4 October 2026. We did not run a store on the other seven tools, and we say so where a claim is the vendor's own. Prices change, so check the linked page before you buy.

The short answer

• Tidio, for a small store starting out. It has a free plan and a WordPress plugin.
• Gorgias, for a support team buried in order tickets. Its AI Agent can edit orders, cancel and refund.
• Zipchat or Rep AI, for selling harder on the storefront. Both start conversations with shoppers and recover carts.
• HiQBot, for customers on WhatsApp, Instagram and the website. It runs one agent and one inbox across six channels on a flat plan.
• Text or Intercom, for a team already paying per agent seat. Text is the company behind ChatBot.com and LiveChat.
• Chatbase, for a developer who wants to build the agent.

All eight ecommerce chatbots side by side

“Named” means the vendor lists it on the page we read. A blank is not proof that a tool lacks something. Ask the vendor if a platform or channel matters to you.

Five things to check before you pick an AI chatbot for ecommerce

Most of these tools look the same in a demo. They all answer a product question in a friendly voice. The differences show up a month in, on the day a customer wants a refund at 11 PM.

1. Does it read your live catalogue and orders?

A chatbot trained on your help pages can explain your returns policy. It cannot tell a shopper whether the blue one is in stock in medium. For that it has to read the store itself. Ask which data it reads and how quickly a price change shows up in its answers.

2. How does it check who is asking about an order?

An order holds a name, an address and what someone bought. A careful tool asks for the order number and the email or phone used at checkout before it shows anything.

3. Who moves the money?

Some tools let the AI refund and cancel on its own. Others file the request and leave the decision to a person. Neither is wrong. A high-volume store with a clear policy may want automation, and a small store may want a person to see every refund, so ask which one you are buying.

4. Does it answer where your customers already write?

A storefront widget covers shoppers who are on your site. Many customers ask about the same order on WhatsApp or Instagram instead. Check whether those channels are included, whether they cost extra, and whether every conversation lands in one inbox.

5. What happens to the bill when it works?

Pricing by resolution means you pay more as the AI gets better at its job. Pricing by seat means the cost follows your team size. A flat allowance is easier to budget but can run out. Work out your own month before you compare headline prices.

The eight tools

Tidio

Tidio combines live chat, a ticket inbox and an AI agent called Lyro. It is an easy first choice for a small store because it has a free plan with 50 conversations a month and installs as a WordPress plugin. On WooCommerce, your team can browse the catalogue inside the inbox and send product cards into a chat.

Paid plans start at $24.17 a month billed annually. Lyro is priced separately, from $32.50 a month for 50 AI conversations (Tidio pricing).

Tidio suits a store that wants to start free and add AI later. If you expect the AI to handle most conversations from day one, the add-on and the conversation limits stack up.

Gorgias

Gorgias is a helpdesk built for ecommerce. Its AI Agent goes furthest on order actions: the company lists more than 130 automated actions, including order edits, cancellations and refunds, and says the agent resolves 60% of support tickets. It covers email, chat, social, WhatsApp, SMS and phone.

Plans run from $10 a month for 50 tickets to $750 a month billed annually for 5,000. The AI Agent costs $0.90 for each resolved interaction on annual plans and $1.00 on monthly ones (Gorgias pricing).

It fits a store with a support team that wants refunds and order changes automated. The bill is harder to predict, because you pay for the ticket plan and again for each AI resolution.

Zipchat

Zipchat is a sales-first agent. It starts conversations with shoppers on product pages, recommends products, answers order questions and recovers abandoned carts over WhatsApp. It names the widest list of store platforms here, WooCommerce included.

The entry plan is $64 a month billed annually for 750 AI replies, which Zipchat estimates at about 300 conversations. Extra replies cost $49 for 250 (Zipchat pricing).

Choose it when conversion on the storefront is the goal and cart recovery matters. Watch your volume: the next plan up is $240 a month billed annually.

Rep AI

Rep AI watches shopper behaviour and opens a conversation when it sees hesitation. The company says it lifts conversion by 10 to 30% and cuts support tickets by 50 to 70%. Those are its own figures, with no outside source on the page. It names Shopify, WooCommerce and Salesforce Commerce.

Rep AI does not publish prices. Its pricing page offers a 14-day trial and a demo (Rep AI pricing).

It is worth a trial if you want an agent that approaches shoppers first. You will need to start that trial or book a call to learn the price.

Text, the company behind ChatBot.com

ChatBot.com's AI agent is now sold as part of Text, alongside LiveChat. It is strong on the storefront: product recommendations, a live cart preview in the chat and sales reports tied to conversations. Text also lists abandoned-cart recovery.

Text charges per user. Essential is $19 a month billed annually with 10 AI resolutions a month, and Growth is $79 with 200. Extra resolutions come in packs of 50 for $49.50 (Text pricing).

It makes sense if your team already works in LiveChat. If the AI will do most of the answering, ten resolutions a month is a trial amount and refills add up quickly. We compare the two in more detail on our ChatBot.com alternative page.

Chatbase

Chatbase is a builder for AI agents trained on your own data. It is not ecommerce software, but it describes a retail use and ships actions such as order lookup. Its pricing page lists a Shopify integration.

There is a free plan with 50 message credits, then $40 a month for 700, $150 for 4,000 and $500 for 15,000 (Chatbase pricing).

It suits a store with someone technical who wants control over how the agent is built. Order and refund handling take setup. See our Chatbase alternative page for a closer comparison.

Intercom

Intercom is a full customer service suite. Fin, its AI agent, answers support questions and is billed by outcome. It is a broader product than a store needs on day one: seats, a helpdesk, phone, SMS and email.

Seats cost $29, $85 or $132 a month billed annually, and Fin costs from $0.99 for each outcome on top (Intercom pricing).

A larger brand whose support team needs the whole suite will get the most from it. For a small store it is more than the job requires. See our Intercom alternative page.

HiQBot

HiQBot is ours. It is a conversational platform for customer service, with AI agents and live chat on website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram and LINE. With a WooCommerce store connected, the agent finds products from a shopper's description, quotes your shipping rates, sends a checkout link and reports order status once the order number and checkout email or phone match.

Refunds, cancellations and exchanges are filed as requests with a check against your returns policy. A person on your team approves each one and carries it out in the store.

Plans cost $49, $139 or $229 a month. Each carries a monthly credit allowance (2,500, 6,000 or 10,000), and a standard AI reply uses one credit. Nothing is billed beyond the allowance: AI replies pause until renewal or a top-up (HiQBot pricing).

HiQBot fits a store whose customers message on several apps and that wants one agent and one inbox at a fixed monthly cost. It is the wrong pick if you want abandoned-cart messages, an AI that refunds on its own, or a store platform other than WooCommerce today.

What 1,000 AI conversations a month costs

The tools bill in different units, so headline prices mislead. The table works out the cost for a store where the AI handles 1,000 conversations a month, using only the prices each vendor lists. Plan or seat fees are extra where noted.

Read the table with two cautions. A “resolution” and a “conversation” are different units: the per-resolution tools charge only when the AI settles the question, and ours counts every reply. Our own row also assumes six replies a conversation at the standard level. Longer chats or a deeper AI level use more credits. Tidio and Rep AI are left out because their pages do not give a price at this volume.

The best AI chatbot for WooCommerce stores

Search for a WooCommerce chatbot and most results are WordPress plugins that add a chat widget to your store pages. That works when your shoppers only ask on the website.

Of the eight tools here, Tidio, Gorgias, Zipchat, Rep AI, Text and HiQBot all name WooCommerce. They differ in how deep the connection goes. Tidio's plugin lets your team send product cards. Gorgias brings order data into a helpdesk. HiQBot connects by approval inside WooCommerce, with no plugin, and the agent answers from your catalogue and orders on every channel. Our WooCommerce chatbot page covers what comes across from the store and how to connect it.

The best ecommerce chatbot for stores that sell on WhatsApp

If a large share of your orders start in a chat app, the storefront widget is the smaller half of the job. Gorgias, Zipchat, Tidio, Rep AI, Text, Chatbase and HiQBot all name WhatsApp. Check two things with each: whether WhatsApp is on the plan you would buy, and whether the AI answers there with the same catalogue and order data as on your site.

On HiQBot it does. A shopper on WhatsApp gets product answers, a checkout link as a plain link and order status, and the conversation lands in the same inbox as your website chat. Meta bills its own WhatsApp message fees to your account. See how the agent runs on the WhatsApp Business API.

Common questions

What is the best AI chatbot for ecommerce?

There is no single best one. Gorgias is the strongest for automating order support, Tidio is the easiest start for a small store, Zipchat and Rep AI focus on selling on the storefront, and HiQBot suits stores whose customers write on WhatsApp and Instagram as well as the website.

Can an AI chatbot process refunds for an online store?

Some can. Gorgias lists refunds and cancellations among its automated actions. Others, HiQBot included, file the request and leave the refund to a person. Decide which you want before you compare tools.

Which AI chatbots work with WooCommerce?

Tidio, Gorgias, Zipchat, Rep AI, Text and HiQBot all name WooCommerce on their own sites. Chatbase lists Shopify on its pricing page and does not mention WooCommerce there.

How much does an ecommerce chatbot cost?

From free to several hundred dollars a month. Tidio has a free plan, HiQBot starts at $49, Zipchat at $64 billed annually, and the per-resolution tools charge about a dollar for each conversation the AI settles.

What does an AI chatbot for ecommerce do?

It answers shoppers and customers in chat using the store's own catalogue, orders and policies. Before a sale it helps someone find a product and gives them a way to buy. After the sale it answers where the order is and takes return requests. Our page on the AI chatbot for ecommerce shows each step.