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Zowie alternative

Zowie alternative built for ecommerce

One AI agent that sells and supports across your site, chat, WhatsApp, email and social, with public monthly prices.

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7-day free trial · Live in under 30 minutes

GDPR & AI Act compliant 5.0 on Shopify 4.8 on G2

Example conversation

The short version

Is Zipchat a good Zowie alternative?

Yes, for ecommerce brands that want an AI agent built only for online commerce, on monthly plans. Zipchat is live in under 30 minutes, not after a multi-week enterprise rollout.

  • Pick Zipchat: public monthly prices and a launch in under 30 minutes
  • The difference: Zowie leads with banking, insurance and telecom, Zipchat serves ecommerce only

Zowie's homepage headline is "AI you can hand your customer to", naming banking, insurance and telecom ahead of commerce (homepage, checked October 2026).

One AI agent

Zipchat covers every step of the customer journey

8/8Zipchat

3/8Zowie, plus 5 partial

  1. DiscoversSocial media Zipchat, covered: Comments and DMs Zowie, partial: DMs, no comments
  2. SearchesSite search Zipchat, covered: Answers in search bar Zowie, partial: Search in chat
  3. EvaluatesProduct page Zipchat, covered: Answers on product page Zowie, partial: Answers in chat
  4. DecidesIn chat Zipchat, covered: Recommends products Zowie, covered: Recommends, upsells
  5. LeavesCart abandoned Zipchat, covered: Recovers carts on WhatsApp Zowie, partial: Proactive web chat
  6. Has boughtAfter purchase Zipchat, covered: Orders and after-sales Zowie, covered: Tracking, returns, cancellations
  7. Comes backReturn visit Zipchat, covered: One memory everywhere Zowie, partial: Context across channels
  8. ActsAgent skills Zipchat, covered: Any tool with an API Zowie, covered: REST, Agent Connect

Filled: covered. Half: partial. Empty: not found.

Results

Results, head to head

16.4%+

of AI conversations convert into sales

Under 3%

of conversations go to a human

5.0/5

on the Shopify App Store

AI handles conversations

Zipchat 97%+ of conversations handled by the AI
Zowie 84% of chats fully resolved at one customer (Primary Arms), their claim. Not an average.

Conversations that convert

Zipchat 16.4%+ of AI conversations convert into sales
Zowie 4x conversion at one customer (Total Wine), their claim. A multiplier, not a rate.

Zowie publishes single-customer results. We publish averages across brands. Details in Full comparison

What Zipchat adds

Where the agent sells before the chat and acts after it

Fit questions answered on the shoe page

The only AI agent trained on real sales conversations held by real sales reps and shop assistants.

Example conversation

A search for sunset gets advice too

Eight styles with prices, and an AI answer that asks what they are for.

Example search

The agent swaps a size

It checks the window and the stock, then creates the exchange.*

Explore Agentic Skills

* With an Agentic Skill connected to your tools.

Example conversation

WhatsApp knows the size she asked about

The fit question from website chat follows the shopper to WhatsApp.

Example conversation

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Side by side

Zowie vs Zipchat: side by side

Zipchat compared with Zowie, short version
Topic Zowie Zipchat
Designed forBanking, insurance, telecom, commerceEcommerce brands only
How it is builtEnterprise platform, from Chatbotize (2017)Agent first, ecommerce only
Pricing modelSales-led, 12-month packagesPublic monthly plans
Channels with AIWeb chat, email, messaging appsChat, search, WhatsApp, social, email
Memory across channelsContext across channels claimedOne memory per customer
Setup3 to 6 weeksUnder 30 minutes
Every channel

Comments, DMs, chat, WhatsApp and email with one agent

Replies under the ad

A question about the sea gets a public answer, a price question gets a DM.

Example conversation

Brings the cart back on WhatsApp

One message with the shoe, the size, the price and a checkout button.

Example conversation

Compares two styles in website chat

Sunset and Sunset Shore side by side, with real prices.

Example conversation

Answers shipping questions after the order

Trained on real ecommerce support conversations held by real support agents.

Example conversation

Finds the colour in a DM

A shopper asks for white and gets the card with every size in stock.

Example conversation

Want to see how Zipchat looks on your site?

Enter your website URL and see real conversations with your products.

See it on your site
Price

Zowie pricing compared with Zipchat

Same volume, public prices. Every AI conversation counts as one Zowie automated conversation.

Cost of 25,000 AI conversations a year, Zowie and Zipchat
AI conversations a year Zowie Zipchat Zipchat costs less by
25,000 (about 2,083 a month) $34,500, 12-month contract $7,200 a yearScale, $600 a month, billed monthly $27,300
Pricing

Start at $64 a month, billed annually. Move to a fixed price when you grow.

Billed annually, save 20%

  • Starter

    $64a month

    billed annually

    $80a month

    billed monthly

    • 750 replies a month
    Start free trial

  • ProRecommended

    $240a month

    billed annually

    $300a month

    billed monthly

    • 3,000 replies a month
    Start free trial

  • Scale

    $480a month

    billed annually

    $600a month

    billed monthly

    • 6,000 replies a month
    Start free trial

  • Scale Plus

    $960a month

    billed annually

    $1,200a month

    billed monthly

    • 14,000 replies a month
    Start free trial

  • Unlimited

    from $2,100per month

    Fixed price

    • Unlimited replies
    • Rate locked for 12 months
    • No overage
    Talk to sales

Unlimited team members. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Switch

Switch in four steps

  1. Start the free trial

  2. Connect your ecommerce platform

  3. The AI reads your site

  4. Go live in under 30 minutes

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Zowie vs Zipchat: which is better for Shopify brands?

For most Shopify brands, Zipchat. Zowie is an enterprise AI agent platform for banking, insurance, telecom and commerce, sold through sales. Zipchat is one AI agent built only for ecommerce, on public monthly plans, live in under 30 minutes.

How much does Zowie cost compared with Zipchat?

Zowie sells through sales. Its AWS Marketplace package is $34,500 for 12 months, with 25,000 automated conversations (checked October 2026). Zipchat covers that volume on Scale at $600 a month, $7,200 a year. See Zipchat pricing.

What are the best Zowie alternatives for Shopify?

Zipchat for one AI agent that sells and supports on every channel. Intercom (Fin) and Zendesk serve every industry. Gorgias and Richpanel are helpdesks with AI agents for ecommerce.

Is Zowie still built for ecommerce?

Zowie still serves commerce brands such as Decathlon and Total Wine. Its homepage names banking, insurance, telecom and commerce (checked October 2026). Zipchat serves ecommerce brands only, so every feature starts from the shopping journey.

How long does it take to switch from Zowie to Zipchat?

Zipchat is live in under 30 minutes. Sign up, link your ecommerce platform, and the AI reads your catalog and site. Your team keeps working in the Zipchat inbox.

Can Zipchat handle returns like Zowie?

Yes*. Zipchat creates returns and exchanges in your returns platform during the conversation. Order status and tracking are built in on Shopify. Zowie lists return initiation in its process gallery.
* With an Agentic Skill connected to your tools.

Does Zipchat recover abandoned carts on WhatsApp?

Yes. Zipchat sends one WhatsApp message with the product and a checkout button. Brands see a 13% to 39% purchase rate on recovered carts. Cart recovery runs on Shopify.

Which ecommerce platforms does Zipchat support?

Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Wix. Zipchat reads each brand's catalog from day one.

Is Zipchat free to use?

No. Test Zipchat with the 7-day free trial, then pick a plan from $64 a month billed annually. Team members are unlimited, so you pay no per-seat fees.

Does Zipchat reply in my customers' language?

Yes, automatically. A shopper who writes in French gets French back, with no language setup on your side.

Can my team take over a conversation?

Yes. Your agents take over from the Zipchat inbox in manual reply mode at any time.

Last checked October 2026

Full comparison

Zipchat in one sentence

Zipchat is an AI agent for ecommerce brands: one agent, with one memory of each customer, that sells and supports on every channel.

Full journey table

Zipchat covers 8 of 8 steps. Zowie: 3 covered, 5 partial.

The customer journey, step by step, Zipchat and Zowie
StepZipchatZowie
Discovers Covered: Answers comments and DMs on social. Partial Instagram Direct, Messenger and WhatsApp messaging. Automation of public comments: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
Searches Covered: Answers intent in your site search bar. Partial Sales Skills search the catalog in conversation. A site search bar replacement: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
Evaluates Covered: Answers questions on the product page. Partial Answers product, sizing and compatibility questions from catalog data. An embedded product-page answer component: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
Decides Covered: Recommends products in chat. Covered Sales Skills with catalog-aware recommendations and upsells
Leaves Covered: Recovers the cart on WhatsApp. Partial Cart tracking and proactive web chat. An abandoned-cart recovery workflow: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
Has bought Covered: Tracks orders. Handles returns and exchanges*. Covered Order tracking, time-gated cancellation, return initiation and ticket creation templates for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce
Comes back Covered: Remembers the customer on every channel. Partial Context across channels claimed. Durable memory across anonymous visits: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
Acts Covered: Acts in your tools. Agentic Skills for any tool with an API. Covered REST automations and Agent Connect (REST, A2A and SDKs)

One agent. One memory. Every channel.

Full channel table

Zipchat covers 6 of 6 steps. Zowie: 2 covered, 4 partial.

The channels, Zipchat and Zowie
ChannelZipchatZowie
Social Covered: Answers comments and DMs on Instagram and Messenger. Partial Instagram Direct and Messenger. Instagram comments: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
Website Covered: AI agent in your website chat, search bar and product pages. Partial Web chat with proactive messages. Site search bar and product-page answers: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
WhatsApp Covered: Chat and cart recovery on WhatsApp. Partial WhatsApp messaging. WhatsApp cart recovery: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)
Email Covered: Replies to support email in the same thread. Covered Email through Zowie Inbox, Zendesk or Dixa
Support Covered: Tracks orders, answers after-sales, hands over to your team. Covered Order tracking, time-gated cancellation, return initiation and ticket creation
Memory Covered: One memory per customer on every channel. Partial Context across channels claimed. Durable memory across anonymous visits: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)

Channels as listed on the pages we read. "Not listed" or "Not found" does not mean Zowie lacks it.

Full results table

What Zowie publishes compared with what Zipchat publishes
Metric What Zowie publishes What Zipchat publishes
Automation84% of chats fully resolved at one customer (Primary Arms), their claim97%+ handled by the AI, under 3% escalate
Sales4x conversion and 20% higher average order value at one customer (Total Wine), their claim16.4%+ of AI conversations convert into sales, on average across channels
Best case+20% support driven revenue at one customer (Decathlon), their claimUp to 37.8% in chat, one supplement brand
Scale100M conversations a year across banking, insurance, telecom and commerce, their claimNo cap on concurrent conversations
WhatsApp cart recoveryNot found in public docs (checked October 2026)13% to 39% purchase rate

Every figure here is a vendor's own published claim. Zowie publishes single-customer results, not a platform-wide average. A multiplier is not a conversion rate. Each vendor defines resolution differently.

Full side by side table: Zowie and Zipchat

Zipchat compared with Zowie
Topic Zowie Enterprise AI agent platform ZipchatBuilt for ecommerce One AI agent
Designed forEnterprises in banking, insurance, telecom and commerceEcommerce brands that want one agent for sales and support
How it is builtStarted as Chatbotize (2017), renamed Zowie on 27 July 2020; its AI Agent from 17 June 2024. An LLM-agnostic enterprise agent platform (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, Mistral) with a deterministic Decision Engine and an LLM Reasoning EngineAgent first, deployed on every channel, ecommerce only
Pricing modelSales-led. AWS Marketplace package: $34,500 for 12 months, 25,000 automated conversations; private offers for 24 and 36 monthsPer reply, set by the plan, billed monthly or annually. Unlimited at a fixed price
Channels with AIWeb chat, email (Zowie Inbox, Zendesk, Dixa), WhatsApp, Instagram Direct and Messenger. Instagram comments: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)Website chat, AI site search, product-page questions, WhatsApp, email, Instagram and Facebook comments, Instagram DMs, Messenger
VoiceYes, voice is listed on the homepageNot offered
Product page answersAnswers product questions in chat. Embedded product-page component: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)Yes, PDP Questions where you install it
AI SearchSales Skills search the catalog in conversation. Site search bar: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)Yes, in the site search bar
WhatsApp cart recoveryNot found in public docs (checked October 2026)Yes, 13% to 39% purchase rate
Memory across channelsContext across channels claimed. Memory across anonymous visits: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026)Yes, one memory per customer
Custom actionsREST automations; Agent Connect with REST, A2A and SDKsAgentic Skills: connect any software with an API and the agent can act in it
Ecommerce platformsProcess templates for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerceShopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Wix
HelpdesksZendesk, Gorgias, Intercom and Dixa in the channel docs; Freshdesk in the process galleryWorks inside Zendesk, Gorgias, Intercom, Freshdesk and Salesforce
Setup"3 to 6 weeks depending on scope, data readiness and security review" (their AWS page)Live in under 30 minutes

"Not found in public docs (checked October 2026)" means the sources we read do not say. It does not mean Zowie lacks it.

Zowie ratings and listings

Zowie ratings and listings, checked October 2026
Where Zowie
G24.7/5 (73 reviews)
Shopify App StoreListing not found (checked October 2026)
Trustpilot2.8/5 (3 reviews)

Ratings as each site showed them on 12 October 2026.

Price assumptions and notes

  • In every row, each AI conversation is counted as one Zowie automated conversation.
  • Zowie: the AWS Marketplace "Package of Automated Conversations" includes 25,000 automated conversations for $34,500, cost per 12 months. Zowie's AWS unit is an "Automated Conversation"; its terms also use "automated resolutions".
  • Zipchat: about 2.5 replies per conversation. 2,083 conversations a month x 2.5 = 5,208 replies a month, inside the 6,000 of Scale. $600 x 12 = $7,200 on monthly billing.
  • Direct purchase from Zowie goes through sales. Private offers on AWS Marketplace run 24 and 36 months.
  • Prices checked October 2026.

How the positioning map was drawn

Horizontal axis: Every industry to Ecommerce only. Vertical axis: Part of the journey to Whole journey. Zowie's homepage names banking, insurance, telecom and commerce; Zipchat serves ecommerce only. Zowie sits left of centre because commerce is one of its four named industries. The vertical position follows the journey table: steps covered, with partial steps counted as half.

Zipchat plans compared

The five Zipchat plans compared
Plan Price a month Billed annually Replies a month Extra replies
Starter$80$64 a month750$49 per 250
Pro$300$240 a month3,000$49 per 250
Scale$600$480 a month6,000$49 per 250
Scale Plus$1,200$960 a month14,000$49 per 500
Unlimitedfrom $2,100Fixed price, rate locked for 12 monthsUnlimitedNo overage

Every plan includes all channels, all languages and unlimited team members, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Annual billing saves 20%. See Zipchat pricing.

Footnotes and notes

  • * Tracking orders is built in on Shopify. Returns, exchanges and order edits need an Agentic Skill connected to your tools.
  • Zowie answers product and sizing questions in chat. An embedded product-page answer component: Not found in Zowie's public docs (checked October 2026).
  • Zowie Sales Skills search the catalog in conversation.
  • Zowie claims context across channels.
  • Zowie lists REST automations and Agent Connect (REST, A2A and SDKs).
  • See also AI product questions, agentic AI search, WhatsApp AI for ecommerce and Agentic Skills.

What is the best Zowie alternative for ecommerce?

For Shopify brands that want one AI agent built only for ecommerce, the best Zowie alternative is Zipchat. Intercom (Fin), Zendesk, Gorgias and Richpanel follow, with one neutral line each.

  1. Zipchat

    One AI agent for sales and support on every channel, built only for ecommerce.

    Best for: Shopify brands that want one agent from search to repeat order, on monthly plans

  2. Intercom (Fin)

    One AI agent for sales, service and ecommerce, in every industry.

  3. Zendesk

    Helpdesk for every industry, with commerce agents launched in September 2026.

  4. Gorgias

    Ticket helpdesk with an AI Agent, built first for ecommerce.

  5. Richpanel

    AI-native helpdesk built around autonomous support agents.

Sources

Vendor pricing and docs, checked October 2026. Each link opens the vendor's own page in a new tab.

Results

Side by side

Price