AcquireShopify InboxAcquire vs Shopify Inbox

Acquire vs Shopify Inbox: customer engagement or free chat

A customer engagement platform against a free chat for Shopify stores: one prints a price and one quotes. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Acquire if you need cobrowsing and video calls in the same tool as chat. Pick Shopify Inbox if you run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view. For five people it is a quote on Acquire, and $0 a month on Shopify Inbox, before AI; Sellio Mini is $45 for the workspace. Acquire and Shopify Inbox both include website chat in the price. Neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Acquire and Shopify Inbox sell here at one price.

At a glanceAcquireAcquireShopify InboxShopify Inbox
Built aroundChat, cobrowse and video · priced by quoteThe storefront chat · free with a Shopify plan
Entry planQuote · no printed prices$0 · with any Shopify plan
Chat in the priceQuote · Self Service tier$0 · storefront and Shop app
AI agentComing soon · bots listed, not pricedIncluded · AI chat from the catalog and policies
Copilot for agentsNone printedIncluded · suggested replies
Free planNone · trial on requestYes · the app is free

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    AcquireAcquire

    As a chat that can turn into a cobrowse or a video call with the same agent. Shopify Inbox has no ticket queue either.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    As a chat on the storefront or in the Shop app, with the cart and orders beside it. Acquire has no ticket queue either.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    AcquireAcquire

    No seat price is printed; the Self Service and Integrated tiers are quoted after a demo. No figure for five people here; Shopify Inbox prints $0.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    There is no seat price; staff are limited by the Shopify plan's staff accounts. $0 for five people; Acquire prints no figure to set beside it.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    AcquireAcquire

    Bots are listed as coming soon with no price; today the product is human agents with cobrowsing. Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan instead.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    The AI chat learns the catalog and policies and is included; there is nothing to meter. Acquire has no AI to bill (coming soon) instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    AcquireAcquire

    Website chat, SMS, email and voice or video on the Integrated tier; no WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. The same set as Shopify Inbox.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Storefront chat and the Shop app; no email, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. The same set as Acquire.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    AcquireAcquire

    Cobrowsing, screen sharing and video for guided support; workflows, SLAs and queues. Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores instead.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Product recommendations, discount codes and order updates inside the chat. Acquire is a customer engagement platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    AcquireAcquire

    A sales cycle: a demo, a quote, then onboarding by their services team. Shopify Inbox is minutes.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Minutes: install the app from the Shopify admin. Acquire is a sales cycle.

Sources: Acquire pricing · Shopify Inbox pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Acquire agent view: a chat with the cobrowse and video controls beside it
AcquireAcquire. The Acquire agent view: a chat with the cobrowse and video controls beside it
The Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side
Shopify InboxShopify Inbox. The Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side

Pricing references: Acquire pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification); Shopify Inbox pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Acquire, Shopify Inbox and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureAcquireAcquireShopify InboxShopify InboxSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Quote after a demo
Free with Shopify
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; trial on request
The whole app
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
With cobrowse and video
Storefront and Shop app
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Integrated tier
Not offered
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
SMS only
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Not offered
No longer connected
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not offered
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Notifications only
Not offered
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Bots listed as coming soon
Learns the catalog
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Not priced
Included
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
No AI to hand off from
Hands to staff
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Cases, not a ticket queue
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Workflows and queues
Instant answers, greetings
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reporting
Assisted orders
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser only
Admin and mobile
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Acquire if

  • You need cobrowsing and video calls in the same tool as chat.
  • You are buying for a regulated or high-touch team and want a services-led rollout.
  • Time to the first reply is a sales cycle here and minutes on Shopify Inbox.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Shopify Inbox's: no prices printed; three tiers quoted after a demo.

Pick Shopify Inbox if

  • You run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view.
  • One channel is enough and you do not need tickets.
  • You want a free plan to start on; Acquire offers a free trial.
  • It prints its price ($0 a month for five) where Acquire quotes.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Acquire or Shopify Inbox who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with a quote on Acquire, and $0 a month on Shopify Inbox for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Acquire has no AI to bill (coming soon), Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Acquire quotes per team, so two, five and ten people are three conversations with sales. Shopify Inbox: $0 a month for five (free; five staff need the Shopify plan that allows them); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, against a quote on Acquire and more than Shopify Inbox's $0 for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Acquire is a customer engagement platform built around chat, cobrowse and video; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Only Shopify Inbox has a free plan (the app is free); Acquire offers a free trial. Acquire and Shopify Inbox both include website chat in the price. Neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Acquire has no AI to bill (coming soon); Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan. Neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox has a ticket queue, and neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox ships a desktop app. Acquire is a sales cycle; Shopify Inbox is minutes.

What each price leaves out

Acquire: Bots are listed as coming soon; no AI price is printed. Shopify Inbox: AI chat and suggested replies included. Beside Acquire's coming soon and Shopify Inbox's included, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How these figures were read

Acquire does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (No prices printed; three tiers quoted after a demo.), so they are marked unverified here beside Shopify Inbox's, and Acquire's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    AcquireAcquireSee vendorNot quoted
    Shopify InboxShopify InboxSee vendorNot quoted
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    AcquireAcquire · Free trial on request
    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox · Not applicable; free
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Acquire vs Shopify Inbox: the questions people ask

Acquire is a customer engagement platform built around chat, cobrowse and video; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox has a ticket queue, and neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Acquire Quote (no printed prices); Shopify Inbox $0 (with any Shopify plan).
  • Chat in the price: Acquire Quote (Self Service tier); Shopify Inbox $0 (storefront and Shop app).
  • Sellio's inbox: email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Acquire nor Shopify Inbox has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Acquire and Shopify Inbox on the same rows.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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