Shopify's AI is the comparison we get asked about most, because it is free and already in the admin. This page takes it seriously: what Magic, Sidekick and the new Campaign Autopilot actually do as of September 2026, from Shopify's own help pages, and the exact line where Ralph starts.
Direct answer: Shopify Magic writes copy and edits images for free. Sidekick answers questions about your store and performs admin tasks, showing changes for review before applying them. Campaign Autopilot, in early access, creates and manages Meta and Microsoft campaigns after you approve a tactic, with out-of-stock products simply unable to serve. None of the three covers Google Ads, dayparts, reasons about size runs or buffers, excludes a SKU from one campaign, or joins spend to stock. Ralph does those things, after approval, and its Free plan shows them before you pay.
Side by side
| Shopify Magic | Sidekick | Campaign Autopilot | Ralph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Copy, images, theme blocks, segment descriptions | Answers, admin tasks, custom apps, background jobs, with review | Creates and manages campaigns from store data | Stock next to Meta and Google spend; staged actions |
| Ad channels | None | None directly; can trigger Autopilot | Shopify Messaging, Shop Campaigns, Meta, Microsoft | Meta and Google |
| Approval | You accept the text | Changes presented for review | You approve a tactic; control can be loosened over time | Every write approved; writers off by default |
| Inventory logic | None | Can query stock and low-stock alerts | Out-of-stock items cannot serve | Cover, core-size, buffers, per-campaign exclusions with revert |
| Dayparting | None | None | None | Meta yes; Google recommend only |
| Google Ads and Merchant Center | None | None | Not listed | Exclusions, supplemental feeds, attribute fixes, after approval |
| Price (seen September 2026) | Free with any plan | Included; limits vary by plan | Free on paid plans, early access only | Free £0; £99; £249; £599; private beta |
What Shopify's AI is genuinely good at
It knows your store completely and it is already there. Sidekick can build a smart collection, write a ShopifyQL query, set up a low-stock alert or a discount, and it shows you the change before applying it, which is the right posture. Autopilot turns "I should run a Meta campaign" into a launched campaign from a dedicated catalogue after one approval. For a store owner who has never opened Ads Manager, that is a real door.
Where it stops
- Google. Autopilot's channel list is Shopify Messaging, Shop Campaigns, Meta and Microsoft. Google Ads and Merchant Center are outside it.
- The clock. No dayparting anywhere.
- The size run. An out-of-stock product cannot serve, which is availability doing its job. There is no rule for a style whose core sizes are gone while tail sizes remain, no buffer, and no spend check.
- The join. Sidekick can tell you what is low. Autopilot can run a campaign. Nothing puts the two together and says "this campaign spent £340 yesterday on a style that cannot ship".
- Access. Autopilot is early access for certain merchants at the time of writing.
Where Ralph starts
Exactly at that line. Ralph reads variants and maps them to Meta and Google catalogue items, computes cover and core-run health, lists the campaigns still paying, and stages the fix: exclude here, buffer that size, throttle those hours, fix these attributes, write this supplemental feed. You approve, it applies, it can be reverted. On Google as well as Meta. The mechanics are in how Ralph handles out-of-stock variants and how Ralph dayparts Meta and Google.
Use Shopify's AI for everything it does. It is free and it is good. Ralph is for the part after "the campaign is live": keeping it honest against the shelf.
Using both
Most Ralph users will keep using Sidekick and Magic; there is no conflict. If Autopilot is running your Meta campaigns, Ralph still reads the account and the catalogue, and its staged exclusions and throttles apply to those campaigns like any other. Where you should not have two tools is on the same write at the same time, so decide which one owns product sets before you turn on both.
Questions people actually ask
What is the difference between Shopify Magic and Sidekick?
Magic is the set of free AI features built into the admin: product descriptions, email text, image editing, theme blocks, segment descriptions. Sidekick is the chat assistant that answers questions about your store and performs tasks, presenting changes for review before applying them. Both are included with a Shopify plan.
Can Sidekick run my Meta or Google ads?
Not directly. Ad writes come through Campaign Autopilot, launched in early access in June 2026, which creates and manages Meta campaigns and syncs a dedicated Meta catalogue after you approve a tactic. Its channels are Shopify Messaging, Shop Campaigns, Meta and Microsoft Advertising. Google Ads is not listed.
Does Autopilot handle out-of-stock products?
Only active products sync, and Shopify's help says an out-of-stock product stays in the Meta catalogue but its ads cannot serve until you restock. That is availability, not a size-run rule, a buffer, or a spend check.
Does Shopify's AI daypart?
We found no dayparting in Sidekick, Magic or Autopilot.
Why would I pay for Ralph if Shopify's AI is free?
If Shopify's AI does what you need, do not. Ralph earns its price where Shopify's stops: Google as well as Meta, dayparting, variant-level cover and core-size logic, per-campaign exclusions with revert, supplemental Merchant Center feeds, and P&L next to spend. Free Ralph shows all of that before you pay anything.
If you want stock, ads and the morning list in one place: that is what we built Ralph for. A growth operator for Shopify, with review before anything ships. Not magic. Fewer tabs. See Ralph · Docs