The first AI tools for Shopify to try are the ones already in your admin. Shopify's text generation writes product descriptions and email text, Sidekick takes on tasks and content, and the file editor's media generation swaps product photo backgrounds. Separate tools fill the gaps: larger lifestyle images, ad copy in more formats, and short product videos. The sections below go task by task: what Shopify's own feature does, where it stops, and a brief or prompt you can reuse in another tool.
AI tools for Shopify at a glance
For most store tasks, Shopify's own AI is the first stop and a separate tool is the backup. As of September 2026:
| Job | Built into Shopify | Separate tool | Check before publishing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product descriptions | Shopify's text generation | AI Writer, currently 5 credits | Every material, size and claim |
| Product photo scenes | Media generation: Generate, Color background, Extend | Product Mockup, currently 75 credits | One aspect ratio; about 2048 px |
| Email and ad copy | Shopify's text generation in Shopify Messaging | AI Writer, "Ad" type | Discount terms and dates |
| Social and ad images | Sidekick image creation | Product Mockup, Story (9:16) or Portrait (4:5) | Google's AI metadata rule for Shopping |
| Product videos | Video hosting up to 10 minutes | Video Creator (Pro), 350 credits a clip currently | Labels in motion |
| Store design | Theme generation, theme block generation, Sidekick | None needed | Every page before launch |
Shopify's own AI features
Shopify groups its AI features into one suite across the admin, and says the suite is free regardless of your plan, with availability varying by feature. As of September 2026 it covers:
- Text generation that drafts product descriptions, blog posts, pages, Shopify Messaging emails, Shopify Inbox replies and the theme editor.
- Sidekick, an AI assistant you can chat with from any admin page on desktop or mobile, by text, voice or screen sharing. It can analyze data, manage orders, edit products and create content such as product descriptions and images, and it shows you each change to approve before anything is applied. Prompts you repeat can be saved as skills.
- Media generation in the file editor, Sidekick and the file picker, for background changes and new scenes.
- Theme generation and theme block generation, which make a personalized theme or a custom theme block from a description.
Shopify says it doesn't use one merchant's store data to power these AI features for other merchants. These free AI tools for Shopify come with the plan you already pay for, so try them before paying for anything else. Two gaps show up in Shopify's own specs: generated images are 1 megapixel by default, and none of the features above lists video among what it makes, although Shopify hosts product videos.
Product photos and lifestyle scenes
Shopify's product photo rules set the target. Shopify points to 2048 px squares as its best-displaying size, caps uploads at 5000 px a side and 20 MB, and wants one shape for every featured image. The full specs are in Shopify product photo sizes.
Media generation offers three edits. Color background puts a solid color behind the detected product, Generate rewrites the setting or the lighting from a short text prompt, and Extend (not in the Shopify mobile app) grows the scene outward so a tight crop gets more room. Shopify's prompt advice is specific: at least 3 to 7 words, sizing information when the scale looks wrong ("8oz jar candle"), and how the object rests in the scene ("drink bottle sitting on table"). A prompt in that style: "8 oz amber jar candle sitting on a marble bathroom counter, warm even light". The catch is size: generated images default to 1 megapixel, roughly 1000 px on each side for a square, and larger photos are scaled down to it.
For bigger lifestyle sets, Product Mockup in Toybox AI stages one product photo in a preset scene (Workspace, Outdoors and Flat lay are three of them), with sizes that include Square (1:1) and Portrait (4:5). Describe props and light in its "Anything else?" box:
Place the amber jar candle on a marble bathroom counter beside a rolled white towel and a small eucalyptus sprig, warm morning light from the left, eye-level view, label turned toward the camera and fully legible.The tool has no pixel-size setting, so measure each download against the 2048 px target and read the jar's label letter by letter.
Product descriptions
Shopify's text generation suggests a product description from the information you give it, and Sidekick can write one when you ask. Both work from your input, so the useful habit is writing a fact list first: material, dimensions, weight or volume, care, what's in the box, and who it's for. A list like "soy wax, 8 oz, amber glass jar, 45-hour burn time, cedar and orange scent, cotton wick" gives the AI every fact it needs, and anything in the draft that isn't on your list is a flag to check or delete.
AI Writer does the same job outside Shopify: set its Type to "Product description" and write a brief, up to 2,000 characters long. For example: "Product description for a Shopify store. Soy wax candle, 8 oz amber glass jar, cedar and orange scent, 45-hour burn time, cotton wick. For people buying a housewarming gift. Mention trimming the wick to 1/4 inch before each burn." It can't read a photo, so every detail has to be in the brief. Output is plain text without headings, for 5 credits a draft at current pricing. More on this job is in the guide to AI product description generators.
Ad creative and email: AI marketing tools for Shopify
Shopify's text generation writes email text in Shopify Messaging, including subject lines, and Sidekick can write content on request. For ad copy in more formats, the "Ad" type in AI Writer takes the same fact list plus the offer: "Ad for a fall candle sale, 20% off all 8 oz candles, Friday, October 16 to Sunday, October 18, code FALL20." Keep the discount, dates and code identical in the ad, the email and the store banner.
For ad images, Product Mockup's Story (9:16) size fits vertical placements and Portrait (4:5) fits feed posts. If you run Google Shopping through Merchant Center, two of Google's image rules apply to product images: no promotional overlays such as watermarks or logos on the product image, and AI-generated images must keep metadata that marks them as AI-generated.
Short product videos
Product videos on Shopify can run as long as 10 minutes and weigh up to 1 GB, at resolutions up to 4K. MP4, MOV and WebM all upload, and the theme has to support video for them to appear. Shopify streams them at 480p, 720p or 1080p to match each viewer's connection speed, and it also accepts YouTube and Vimeo links.
Filming the real product on a phone still gives the most accurate video. To animate an existing product photo instead, open Video Creator (Pro plan), tap "Start from a photo", and write one line about the motion. The clip runs 4, 6 or 8 seconds, in 16:9 for a product page or 9:16 for vertical social video. Video Creator, powered by Google Veo 3.1, makes 720p clips; Video Creator Lite goes up to 1080p. A description like "the candle flame flickers, a thin line of smoke rises, the camera slowly moves closer" keeps the product still. A jar label can warp mid-clip, so play the whole thing at full size before it goes on the product page.
AI for Shopify design
Shopify's AI can generate a free personalized theme from the Themes page and write custom theme blocks from a description, producing the Liquid code for you. Shopify also names a new logo and banners for a coming sale among media generation's uses, and Sidekick can build custom apps for running the store.
These give you a first draft of a store, not a finished one. Before launch, click through every generated page on a phone and check that each section shows your real policies, prices and contact details. Sellers who also list on Etsy face a different set of rules, covered in AI tools for Etsy sellers.
What to be careful about
- AI images must show the real product. A scene that shifts the label, the color or the size misleads buyers, even when it looks good.
- Generated images carry a hidden mark. Shopify's watermark on them can't be removed, though Shopify says it doesn't limit commercial use.
- Google Shopping reads the file. Keep the AI metadata that Merchant Center requires on AI-generated images.
- Don't feed it other people's images. Shopify says media generation isn't meant for images taken from the web, and it doesn't endorse copyright infringement.
- Ownership. Shopify states that it claims no ownership over images made with media generation. Toybox's Terms of Service say you own the rights to the outputs you generate, subject to the Terms, and that you're responsible for how you use them.
- Read Sidekick's proposed changes. It asks for approval before applying edits, so check them, especially bulk product edits.
Build a lifestyle set in Product Mockup
Take one product photo on a plain background in daylight, then run it through Product Mockup three times with three scenes, for example Workspace, In hand and Flat lay, all at Square (1:1) so they line up on the product page. Tap "Create mockup" for each, compare the label and color with the real product, and download the PNGs. At the current 75 credits per image, a three-scene set is 225 credits; the 20-credit starting balance on a new account covers four AI Writer descriptions instead. See current prices for plans and top-ups.