A WooCommerce AI shopping assistant helps shoppers find what they want, even when they don’t know what it’s called on your store. AI Assistant for WooCommerce by RyanPlugins gives them a shopping assistant that understands plain language, searches your real catalogue and lets them add to cart right from the chat.
What is this WooCommerce AI shopping assistant?
It’s a WordPress plugin that adds a Claude-powered shopping chat to your WooCommerce store. A shopper types something like “a hoodie under $50” or “what’s on sale?”. The assistant finds matching products and answers in a few lines. It shows product cards with live prices, stock, sale badges and an Add to cart button.
Unlike SaaS chat tools, this WooCommerce AI shopping assistant runs entirely inside your own WordPress site. There’s no SaaS subscription and no outside dashboard. You connect your own Claude API key from Anthropic and pay only for what you use: about $0.005 per answer on Claude Sonnet 5.5.
What your shoppers get
- A chat button on every page, with your own welcome message and suggested questions
- Answers in plain language, taken from your real catalogue
- Product cards with image, live price, stock, sale badge, option pickers and Add to cart
- The header cart updates instantly, with no page reload
- Answers about shipping, returns and promotions, taken only from the pages and answers you provide
- A contact link (page, email or phone) when they need a person
- A 👍 / 👎 rating on every answer
The chat is hidden on the cart and checkout pages by default, so it never gets in the way of payment.
What you get in WP Admin
- A 5-minute setup wizard: license, Claude API key with a free connection test, model and budget, product search, store information, go live
- A monthly budget with email alerts at 80% and 100%. The assistant pauses when the budget is reached, so there are no surprise bills.
- Insights: conversations, answers, spend, the chat-to-checkout funnel, top products and questions without a good answer
- Conversations: see what shoppers asked, filtered by Needs attention, Not helpful or No matching products
- Knowledge: add short answers for sizing, gift wrapping, opening hours and anything else
- Status: if the chat button doesn’t show, it tells you why
Safe by design
- Nothing is sent to Anthropic until you agree to it in the setup wizard
- Your API key is stored encrypted and is never shown again in full
- The AI can only look things up. It can’t change carts, orders or customer data. Shoppers add items themselves.
- Prices, discounts and stock always come from WooCommerce, never from the AI’s wording
- Built-in abuse protection, so nobody can run up your bill
- Works with WordPress’s privacy tools (export and erase) and includes suggested privacy-policy text
- Deactivating never deletes your data
How much does a WooCommerce AI shopping assistant cost to run?
The plugin is included with the RyanPlugins membership. AI usage is billed by Anthropic straight to your own Claude API key. On the recommended model, an answer costs about $0.005, so a $20 monthly budget covers roughly 3,700 answers. You set the budget, and the assistant stops at that limit.
| Membership | Monthly | Yearly (save 20%) | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $15 | $144 | 1 production site + staging/localhost |
| Pro | $39 | $374.40 | Up to 3 production sites |
| Agency | $399 | $3,830.40 | Unlimited, white-label friendly |
Requirements
- WordPress 6.2 or later (tested up to 7.1)
- WooCommerce 8.0 or later (tested up to 11.1)
- PHP 8.1 or later
- A Claude API key from the Claude Console, with credit
- A RyanPlugins membership (Starter, Pro or Agency). Your license key comes with it.
How to install
- Download the plugin zip from the RyanPlugins Patreon post.
- In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, upload the zip and activate it.
- The setup wizard opens. Paste your license key and your Claude API key, set a budget and go live.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a separate AI subscription?
You need a Claude API key from Anthropic, with credit on the account. You pay Anthropic directly for what you use, about $0.005 per answer on Claude Sonnet 5.5.
Can it make up prices or coupon codes?
No. Prices, discounts and stock on the product cards come straight from WooCommerce. The assistant only mentions policies and coupon codes that you’ve given it.
Can it add things to the cart or place orders?
It can’t. Shoppers add items themselves by clicking Add to cart on a product card.
What happens if I reach my budget?
The assistant pauses until next month, or until you raise the budget. You get an email at 80% of the budget and again when it is reached.
Does it work with my theme?
The chat runs in its own isolated layer, so your theme’s styles don’t affect it, and it doesn’t affect them.
Get the WooCommerce AI shopping assistant
Every paid RyanPlugins membership includes the WooCommerce AI shopping assistant, from $15 a month. Existing members can download it now with their current license key.
Questions? Email support@ryanplugins.net, or see our other WooCommerce plugins.
