H
HOctane AI vs Shopify Sidekick
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
O
Choose Octane AI if…
- you need an API to build on
- you're in its core audience: shopify merchants, e-commerce marketing teams
S
Choose Shopify Sidekick if…
- you're in its core audience: new shopify merchants, established shopify store owners
Side by side
Feature Octane AI Shopify Sidekick
Pricing modelFree trialFree trial
Starting price$43/mo—
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Data retentionKept only as long as necessary; then deleted or anonymizedStore info kept two years after closure before deletion begins
Security and complianceGDPR—
Updates, last 90 days—11
Shopping recommendations—
Product content generation—
Product image generation—
Revenue attribution—
MCP server—
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryE-commerceE-commerce
CompanyOctane AI, Inc.Shopify Inc.
Based in—Canada
Founded20162006
Part of——
Key features
O Octane AI
- AI quiz creation from a description, spreadsheet or document
- Image analysis, such as reading skin tone from a selfie
- Design tools with image generation and site color matching
- Issues finder for broken logic and out-of-stock products
- Analytics for drop-off, completion, orders and revenue by answer
- Shopper profiles combining quiz answers, visits and orders
- Experiments for testing quiz variants
- REST API, webhooks, Storefront JS API and MCP server
S Shopify Sidekick
- Takes actions directly in the Shopify admin using store data
- Writes product descriptions and generates images
- Builds Shopify Flow workflows to automate repeated work
- Writes and runs code to forecast or summarize store data
- Generates custom apps
- Tests draft storefront changes with AI-simulated shoppers
- Saves reusable instructions as skills
- Voice mode and screen sharing
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
Octane AI
Octane AI Basic$50/mo, or $43/mo billed yearly
Octane AI Plus$200/mo, or $170/mo billed yearly
Octane AI Enterprise & Unlimited$500+/mo, or $425+/mo billed yearly
Shopify Sidekick
Basic£19/mo billed yearly, or £25/mo billed monthly
Grow£49/mo billed yearly, or £65/mo billed monthly
Advanced£259/mo billed yearly, or £344/mo billed monthly
PlusFrom £1,800/mo
Strengths and limitations
Octane AI
- All plans include a 14-day free trial with full feature access
- AI features are included on every plan, including Basic
- No setup fees on any plan
- Quizzes keep working if credits run out
- No free plan is listed
- Basic is limited to two quizzes and shows the Octane AI logo
- Credit overages are billed at the end of the billing cycle
- AI features use extra credits, and unused credits roll over for only 30 days
Shopify Sidekick
- Included with Shopify plans, with no separate Sidekick pricing tiers listed
- No setup or configuration required
- Presents changes for review before applying them
- Access follows each staff member's admin permissions
- Works inside Shopify, so it requires a Shopify store
- Features and usage limits vary by plan
- In some stores, Sidekick can't run code
More comparisons
Other options to consider
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From $249/mo
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From $249/mo
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Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy