Sidekick vs the ChatGPT and Claude connectors: which to use for which task

Shopify launched official connectors in May 2026 that let ChatGPT and Claude read and write to your store. That gives most merchants three assistants that can touch the same data. They are not interchangeable.

This is the short version. The full comparison with a 17-row feature matrix and sources goes deeper.

Quick comparison

	Sidekick	ChatGPT or Claude with the Shopify connector
Where it runs	Inside the Shopify admin	In the chat app, with your store connected
Cost	Free on all plans	Needs the chat app’s plan for full use
Store data	Full analytics, orders, products, customers, discounts, Flow, theme blocks	Products, orders, customers, inventory, analytics, discounts
Creates things	Discounts, segments, collections, emails, Flows, custom apps, theme blocks	Products, prices, inventory, discounts, order tags
Outside data	None	Anything you paste or upload: ad exports, email exports, spreadsheets
Skills	25 saved shortcuts per user, shareable by link	Uploadable skill files, project instructions
Best for	Daily operations inside the admin, Flow, compound tasks	Blended analysis, long documents, tasks that mix store data with other files

Use Sidekick when

• The task lives entirely inside Shopify: reports, discounts, segments, Flow, theme blocks, Shopify Email.
• You want it done in the admin, with the review screens Shopify provides before anything changes.
• You want teammates to run the same thing with one shortcut.

Use a connector when

• You need to combine store data with ad spend, email metrics or a supplier spreadsheet.
• You are writing something long, such as a full content calendar or a supplier negotiation.
• You want to keep a chat history and files together in a project.

Both

Most stores end up with Sidekick for the daily loop and a connector for monthly analysis. The skills on this site are written for Sidekick. Connector versions of the most popular ones are planned; the raw markdown link on each skill page already works as a starting point.