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What Shopify's AI does for your store

Shopify AI is Sidekick, the AI store builder and the old Shopify Magic tools. Here's what each does, and where it stops.

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Build my store freeReplo vs Sidekick
Price
Included with Shopify plans; limits vary by plan
Where it runs
The Shopify admin and mobile app
Store builder
Up to three themes per description

Works with

Replo vs Shopify SidekickWhat Shopify Magic writesAI store builder on ShopifyReplo for Claude

What is Shopify AI?

Shopify AI is the set of AI tools built into Shopify. There are three you'll hear about: Sidekick, the assistant in your admin; the AI store builder, which generates themes from a description of your business; and Shopify Magic, the older name for the writing and image tools Sidekick now runs.

All three come with your Shopify plan at no extra cost, though features and usage limits vary by plan. They work on your Shopify store, from inside Shopify.

Sidekick, the store builder and Magic

What each tool does today, and where it stops. Every row comes from Shopify's own help center and product pages.

ToolWhat it doesWhere it stops
SidekickAnswers questions from your sales, products and customers; builds reports, Flow automations and store edits for you to reviewReads Shopify and the Shopify apps that support it; answers when you ask
AI store builderGenerates up to three themes from a description of your businessOnly in the Shopify app or a phone's browser; not on the Starter plan
Shopify MagicWrites product descriptions, blog posts, store pages and emails; edits imagesNow part of Sidekick; shopify.com/magic redirects to the Sidekick page

What Sidekick does in your admin

  • Answers questions about your sales, products and customers.
  • Writes ShopifyQL reports and charts when you ask.
  • Builds Shopify Flow automations you review and turn on.
  • Changes theme settings and adds sections your theme has.
  • Writes product descriptions and generates product images.
  • Generates custom admin apps on Basic plans and up.

How Shopify's AI store builder works

  1. Open the Shopify app, or Shopify in a phone's browser. The desktop admin no longer generates themes.
  2. Go to Online Store, then Themes, and describe your business in a sentence or two.
  3. Shopify generates up to three themes from your description, on the free trial or Basic, Grow and Advanced.
  4. Pick one. It lands in your draft themes, where you add products and pages before you publish.

What Shopify's AI leaves to you

It waits for you to ask. Sidekick answers in the admin; a report that arrives every morning needs a Flow workflow you build and turn on.

It sees your store, not everything around it. Sidekick reads Shopify data, files you attach and Shopify apps that support it, so your Meta and Google ads, Search Console and pages off Shopify sit outside its view.

It works inside your theme. The store builder makes themes and Sidekick adds sections your theme already has; a separate landing page for each ad or audience is still yours to build.

Where Replo fits

Add what Shopify's AI doesn't cover

Keep Sidekick for your store. Replo builds landing pages and whole sites from a prompt, A/B tests them, shows heatmaps and emails your reports, from Replo, Claude or ChatGPT.

  1. Create a free Replo account and connect your Shopify store.
  2. Describe the page or site you need, and Replo builds it on your products.
  3. Publish it with your Shopify checkout, then A/B test the new version.
  4. Schedule a weekly report of sales, ads and pages to your inbox.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify AI free?
Yes. Sidekick and Shopify's other AI tools come with Shopify plans at no extra cost. Features and usage limits vary by plan: generating custom apps needs Basic or higher, and image generation has monthly limits shared across your store.
Is Shopify Magic the same as Sidekick?
Mostly, now. Shopify Magic was the name for Shopify's writing and image tools. Shopify's help center now credits Sidekick for them, and shopify.com/magic redirects to the Sidekick page. See what Shopify Magic writes, and where.
Can Shopify's AI build my whole store?
It can start one. The AI store builder generates up to three themes from a description of your business, in the Shopify app or a phone's browser, on the free trial or the Basic, Grow and Advanced plans. You still add products, pages and settings.
Does Shopify's AI work with ChatGPT or Claude?
Yes. Shopify lets you connect your store to tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot, and you choose what each can reach. Replo also runs inside Claude and ChatGPT, so you can build pages and read sales from the same chat.
Why use Replo if I have Sidekick?
For the work outside the admin. Replo builds landing pages and whole sites on your brand, hosts them with your Shopify checkout, A/B tests them, shows heatmaps, and emails reports across Shopify, ads and search. Keep Sidekick as your store assistant.

More on Shopify's AI

What Shopify Magic writesEvery place it writes or edits for youReplo vs Shopify SidekickAnswers you ask for vs reports that arriveAI store builder on ShopifyPages built on the catalog you already runReplo for ClaudeBuild pages and read sales from the chat

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