Comparison · updated 19 Sept 2026
Shopify Sidekick vs Shopify Magic
Shopify Magic and Sidekick are both free, both built in, and often confused. Magic generates text and images inside specific fields; Sidekick is an assistant that reads your data and takes multi-step actions. Here is exactly what each does.
By the MerchantSkill team at Pixelspiece Solutions, a Shopify Partner. Data as of 19 September 2026. We build MerchantSkill, a free library of Sidekick skills; we are not affiliated with any product on this page.
Quick verdict
Magic is the fastest way to fill a single field with decent copy or a clean image. Sidekick is the only one that can answer a question about your numbers or do something that takes more than one step. If you only learn one, learn Sidekick, then save the prompts you repeat as skills.
Shopify ships two AI features and calls them different things for a reason. Shopify Magic is the sparkle button you see inside a product description, an email subject line or the media editor: click it, and it generates something for that field. Sidekick is the chat panel at the top right of the admin: ask it a question about your store or tell it to do something, and it reads your data and works through the steps.
Merchants ask which one they should use. The honest answer is both, for different moments. This page lays out what each feature does according to Shopify's own documentation, where they overlap, and the one thing that makes Sidekick worth learning properly: saved skills.
We build MerchantSkill, a free library of Sidekick skills, so we spend more time in Sidekick than most. We have kept the Magic side of this comparison strictly to what Shopify documents.
Side by side
As of 19 September 2026. A ⚠ cell means partial or not verified from public sources. Sources are listed at the end.
| Feature | Shopify Magic | Shopify Sidekick |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Generators inside specific fields | A conversational assistant for the whole admin |
| Cost | Free on every plan | Free on every plan |
| Where you find it | Sparkle buttons in product, email, blog, page, theme and media editors, and Inbox | Chat panel top-right of the admin, mobile app, voice |
| Product descriptions | in the product editor | from a prompt, with your brand voice if you set it |
| subject lines | full Shopify Email campaign drafts | |
| Blog and page text | headings and posts | posts saved as drafts |
| Shopify Inbox replies | suggested replies in Inbox | drafts you paste into Inbox |
| Images | background removal, logos, hero banners | generation and edits |
| Theme | custom theme block code, personalized theme | theme blocks and guided edits on Horizon themes |
| Answers questions about your numbers | No | analytics with tables and charts |
| Creates discounts, segments, collections | (describes segments only) | Yes |
| Builds Flow automations | No | Yes |
| Builds custom apps | No | Grow plan and above |
| Multi-step tasks | No | with a review step |
| Saved, reusable prompts | No | 25 skills per user, shareable |
| Languages | All languages for generally available features | see Shopify's documentation for your language |
Shopify Magic
By Shopify · Visit
Shopify Magic is a set of generative features embedded in the admin wherever text or media is edited. It is free regardless of plan, works on desktop and mobile, and supports all languages for its generally available features.
- Zero learning curve: a button next to the field you are already editing.
- Covers the most common content jobs: product descriptions, email subject lines, online store headings, blog posts, page and theme editor text, suggested replies in Shopify Inbox.
- Media tools: background removal, logo generation, hero banners, all inside the media editor.
- Generates custom theme block code and a free personalized theme without coding.
- Extras merchants rarely notice: app review summaries, customer spending projections in cohort reports, automatic customer segment descriptions.
- Works one field at a time; it does not know what happened in your store this week.
- No memory of your brand voice across fields beyond what the field itself contains.
- Cannot run a report, create a discount, build a Flow or take any multi-step action.
- Output often needs an edit before it reads like your store rather than any store.
Best for: Filling a blank description, subject line or image quickly while you are already on that page.
Shopify Sidekick
By Shopify · Visit
Sidekick is Shopify's AI-powered commerce assistant. It answers questions from your store data, generates content and images, builds segments, discounts, Flow automations and custom apps, edits theme blocks on Horizon themes, and runs multi-step tasks in the background.
- Reads your analytics, orders, products, customers and inventory and answers in tables or charts.
- Takes action: discounts, segments, collections, Shopify Email drafts, Flow workflows, custom apps on Grow and above, Horizon theme blocks.
- Multi-step and compound tasks with a review step before changes.
- Saved skills: 25 slash-command prompts per user, shareable by link, so good prompts become repeatable.
- Voice on desktop and mobile, background tasks, and proactive suggestions through Pulse.
- Needs a clear prompt; vague requests produce generic answers, which is why skills matter.
- Cannot edit theme code on non-Horizon themes or read data outside Shopify.
- Some features, such as custom apps, depend on your plan.
- Memory is per user and per conversation.
Best for: Any task that needs your data, more than one step, or that you will run again next week.
They overlap on content, and that is where the confusion starts
Both features write product descriptions, and both draft email copy. The difference is context. Magic writes from the field it sits in: the product title, existing text and a tone selector. Sidekick writes from whatever you tell it plus whatever it can read, which means you can say "match the voice of our three best sellers" or "write it for gift buyers" and it will go and look.
For a single new product on a Tuesday afternoon, Magic is faster. For twenty products that need to sound the same, Sidekick with a saved brand-voice skill is faster and more consistent, and it can update the SEO title and meta description in the same pass.
Everything else is Sidekick only
Magic does not know that sales dipped this week or that the Classic Tee has nine days of stock left. It cannot create a discount, build a segment of lapsed customers, or set up a Flow that holds high-risk orders. Sidekick does all of that, and since the Summer 2026 Edition it can chain steps: a flash sale that needs a collection, a timed discount and an email can be one prompt with one approval.
The catch is that Sidekick is only as good as the prompt. "Show me sales" gets a generic answer. "Compare the last 7 complete days with the previous 7 in the shop's timezone and give me three actions tied to the numbers" gets a useful one. That is why Sidekick lets each user save 25 prompts as skills, and why we built MerchantSkill: a library of those prompts, structured the way Sidekick's own skills are, ready to add in one click.
A simple rule for which to use
If you are already on the page and the field is empty, click Magic. If the task needs your data, more than one step, or you will do it again next week, open Sidekick and run a skill. Merchants who follow that rule stop asking which is better, because they use both every day.
Our recommendation
Magic for the field in front of you; Sidekick for everything that needs data, steps or repetition.
- Blank description, subject line or image while editing: Magic.
- Reports, discounts, segments, Flow, theme blocks, compound tasks: Sidekick.
- Consistent brand voice across many products: Sidekick with a saved brand-voice skill.
- Both are free on every plan, so there is nothing to choose between on price.
Frequently asked
Is Shopify Magic the same as Sidekick?
No. Magic is a set of generators inside fields and editors. Sidekick is a conversational assistant that reads store data and takes actions. Shopify documents them separately.
Do I pay for either?
No. Shopify states Magic is free regardless of subscription plan, and Sidekick is available on every plan. Some Sidekick capabilities, such as custom apps, depend on your plan.
Which writes better product descriptions?
Magic is quicker for one product. Sidekick produces more consistent copy across many products once you have told it your brand voice, and can update SEO fields at the same time.
Can Magic create a discount or a report?
No. Those are Sidekick tasks.
What are Sidekick skills?
Saved prompts triggered with a slash shortcut. Each user can keep 25 and share them by link. MerchantSkill is a free library of ready-made ones.
How we compared
Feature lists come from Shopify's help centre pages for Shopify Magic and Sidekick and from the Winter and Summer 2026 Edition announcements. We use Sidekick daily on a live store; Magic features are listed as documented, not ranked by our opinion of their quality.
MerchantSkill is made by Pixelspiece Solutions, a Shopify Partner. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Shopify.
Sources
Related comparisons
Skills mentioned
Product Description in Brand Voice
Writes a product description, bullets, SEO title and meta description for one product in your brand voice, then updates it on approval.
Brand Voice
Teaches Sidekick your tone, vocabulary, customer and no-go words once, so every other skill writes like your store.
Shopify Email Campaign Draft
Drafts a complete Shopify Email campaign for a goal: subject, preview text, body, product picks and CTA, saved as a draft.
Create a Discount Code
Creates a percentage or fixed discount code with dates, limits and eligibility in one go, after checking for clashes.