# Connect Shopify to WhatsApp

> Three ways to connect Shopify to WhatsApp, compared and priced. Volty answers product, price and policy questions on WhatsApp from your own store.

When customers ask about price, stock or delivery on WhatsApp, staff have to look the answer up in Shopify and type it back. This page compares three ways to connect WhatsApp to Shopify.

Volty connects to Shopify. Volty reads the store's policies and FAQs through Shopify's storefront and the store's product pages through its website, and answers customers on WhatsApp from both.

Talk to Volty

Updated 16 Oct 2026

## What a store runs with Shopify and WhatsApp connected

- Answer product questions · A customer asks the price of an item at midnight. Volty answers from the store's own product page and sends the link.
- Answer policy questions · Shipping times, returns and exchanges come from the policies and FAQs the store wrote in Shopify.
- Hand over to sell · When a customer is ready to buy or asks for something the pages do not say, Volty brings in a named member of staff.
- Order updates · When your store's order feed is connected as a custom connection, an approved automation sends the update template.

## Three ways to connect Shopify to WhatsApp

### Shopify's own tools

Shopify Messaging sends WhatsApp marketing campaigns from the Shopify admin: templates Meta has approved, sent to a segment of customers who opted in, charged per message on the Shopify bill. Shopify Messaging's automations, such as an abandoned-cart message, run on email and SMS. The AI agent in Shopify Inbox works only in the store's own chat widget. A WhatsApp Business account already connected to another provider must be disconnected before Shopify Messaging can use it.

Best for stores that want campaigns to opted-in subscribers from inside Shopify, with staff answering customers' WhatsApp questions themselves.

### Build it yourself

Order data comes from Shopify's GraphQL Admin API. A new custom app is created in Shopify's Dev Dashboard, since admin-created custom apps can no longer be made. The client credentials grant works only for a store in your own Shopify organisation, and its tokens expire after 24 hours. Shopify's agent endpoint for catalogue and cart tools requires an agent profile on every request, and sees only orders placed through your own agent.

What the store then owns:

- Order history · The read_orders scope covers orders from the last 60 days. Older orders need the read_all_orders scope, which Shopify must approve.
- Rate limits · The Admin API allows 100 cost points a second on Shopify's standard plans, up to 2,000 on Shopify for enterprise, and no single query may cost more than 1,000.
- Webhooks · Shopify sends order and fulfilment events to your server, and Meta sends incoming WhatsApp messages to it, retrying for up to 7 days, so the code must handle duplicates.
- The 24-hour window · Meta allows free-form replies for 24 hours after the customer's last message. An order update outside that window must be a template Meta has approved.
- Customer data · Names, addresses, emails and phone numbers are protected customer data in Shopify, and the store answers for how they are used.

Best for stores that have a developer to build the connection and keep it current as Shopify changes its APIs.

### Use a workflow tool

Zapier, n8n and Make each have a Shopify app and a WhatsApp app on Meta's Cloud API. Zapier's Shopify app triggers on new, paid, fulfilled and cancelled orders and abandoned carts, and Zapier lists ready-made flows that send a WhatsApp template for each new order. n8n's Shopify node creates, reads and updates orders and products. Make's Shopify app watches orders and products. Each tool also offers an AI agent step, which you prompt and test yourself. The tools run automations; people read and answer the conversations in another app.

Zapier starts at US$19.99 a month billed annually for 750 tasks, and both Shopify and WhatsApp Business are premium apps that need a paid plan. n8n Cloud starts at €20 a month billed annually for 2,500 executions, and n8n is free to self-host. Make starts at US$9 a month billed annually for 10,000 credits.

Best for stores that want fixed notifications, such as an order confirmation template on WhatsApp for every new order.

Volty is an AI agent that answers customers on WhatsApp and Outlook email from one shared inbox. Connected to Shopify, Volty answers customers from the store's policies and FAQs, and from the product pages on the store's own site. The table compares Volty with the three ways above.

|  | Shopify's own tools | Build it yourself | Workflow tool | Volty |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Setup | Built into the Shopify admin | A developer project | A flow per notification | The store's address and website |
| Reads and writes in Shopify | Customer segments for campaigns | What you build, including orders | Orders and products | Policies, FAQs and product pages; no orders |
| AI replies | In the store's chat widget only | What you build | An AI step you prompt and test | Volty writes the replies, with draft mode for staff review |
| Inbox and handoff | Campaigns only on WhatsApp | What you build | Conversations read in another app | A shared inbox, where staff take over any conversation |
| Who maintains it | Shopify | Your developer | You | Voltade |
| Cost | Charged per message on the Shopify bill | Developer time and hosting, plus Meta's message charges | From US$9 to US$19.99 a month, or free self-hosted, plus Meta's message charges | US$157 a month on Plus, plus Meta's message charges |

## How Volty connects to Shopify

Volty connects to Shopify through the public storefront endpoint Shopify serves for every store. An admin enters the store's address, such as yourstore.com, and needs no sign-in or API key. Volty also reads the store's website as a source.

- Reads · The store's policies and FAQs, through Shopify's storefront search. Product pages, prices and descriptions, from the store's website, which Volty indexes from its sitemap, up to 5,000 pages, and re-reads every night.
- Writes · None in Shopify.
- Orders · Volty's Shopify connector sees no customer orders, accounts or addresses. For order questions, the store's Admin API can be added as a custom connection that an admin approves once; until then Volty hands order questions to your staff.
- Draft mode · Staff can review every reply before it is sent, conversation by conversation.

## One enquiry, start to finish

A customer messages at 11pm asking whether a necklace comes in a longer chain and how long delivery takes. Volty finds the product page, answers with the lengths and the price, quotes the delivery time from the store's shipping policy and sends the link. In the morning the customer asks to reserve one, and Volty brings in the staff member on duty.

What changes for the store: the customer gets the answer at 11pm, while still deciding, instead of the next morning. Staff step in only for the reservation, and see the whole conversation when they do.

## Common questions

### Does Shopify have a WhatsApp integration?

Shopify Messaging sends WhatsApp marketing campaigns to customers who opted in, using templates Meta has approved, charged per message on the Shopify bill. Answering customers' WhatsApp questions from the store's policies, FAQs and product pages takes a connector such as Volty, or a build on Shopify's APIs.

### Can Volty check Shopify order status on WhatsApp?

Not through Volty's Shopify connector, which reads the public storefront and sees no customer orders. For order questions, the store's Admin API can be added as a custom connection that an admin approves once; until then Volty hands order questions to your staff.

### What does Volty need to connect to a Shopify store?

Volty needs the store's address, such as yourstore.com, and the store's website added as a source. Shopify's storefront endpoint needs no sign-in or API key, so the store shares no credentials with Volty.

### Can Zapier send WhatsApp messages for new Shopify orders?

Yes. Zapier's Shopify app triggers on new, paid and fulfilled orders, and its WhatsApp Business app sends templates Meta has approved. Both are premium apps on Zapier, so the flow needs a paid plan, from US$19.99 a month billed annually.

### How does Volty answer product questions from a Shopify store?

Volty reads the store's own product pages, indexed from its sitemap, up to 5,000 pages, and re-read every night, and the policies and FAQs the store wrote in Shopify. Volty answers on WhatsApp from those pages and sends the product link.

### How much does it cost to connect Shopify to WhatsApp with Volty?

Volty starts at US$157 a month on the Plus plan, with unlimited users and a free 7-day trial. Meta bills the store separately for WhatsApp message charges.

## Related

- WhatsApp answers from your Shopify store · How a store answers product and policy questions on WhatsApp with Volty.
- WhatsApp template best practices · Writing templates Meta approves for order updates.
- WhatsApp API pricing changes, October 2026 · What Meta charges per message, for every way above.
- Google Calendar WhatsApp integration · Booking appointments from a WhatsApp chat.
- Microsoft Outlook email integration · Answering customer email beside WhatsApp.

## Links

- [WhatsApp answers from your Shopify store](https://voltade.com/integrations/shopify)
- [WhatsApp template best practices](https://voltade.com/learn/whatsapp/template-message-best-practices)
- [WhatsApp API pricing changes, October 2026](https://voltade.com/learn/whatsapp/whatsapp-api-pricing-changes-october-2026)
- [Google Calendar WhatsApp integration](https://voltade.com/whatsapp-business-api/integrations/scheduling-and-booking/google-calendar)
- [Microsoft Outlook email integration](https://voltade.com/whatsapp-business-api/integrations/meetings-and-comms/outlook)