SparkGPT vs Manifest AI (2026): A Quoted Platform Fee or Pay Per Sale?

What Manifest AI does well

Manifest AI launched on the Shopify App Store on June 9, 2023, as a ChatGPT shopping assistant. It has since grown into a much broader product, and a fair comparison starts with its strengths.

It sells, not only supports. Manifest lists product recommendations, sizing help, quizzes, a fit predictor, review summaries on product pages and conversation starters aimed at add to cart. Its homepage claims a 30% uptick in add to carts. That is a vendor figure without a stated method, but the intent is clear: this is a sales tool.

It covers many channels. The help center lists website chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice. Cart recovery can include AI voice calls, which few tools in this category offer.

It handles support too. Order status, shipping, returns and policy questions are automated, and anything the agent cannot answer is handed to your helpdesk. Gorgias, Zendesk and Freshdesk are named integrations, and the Shopify listing also names Klaviyo and Yotpo.

It is built for larger brands. Manifest says it serves more than 500 brands, shows logos including LEGO and Durex, offers more than 100 prebuilt commerce agents, and states SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR compliance. It supports Shopify natively and other platforms through its API, with WooCommerce and BigCommerce named on its homepage.

Reviews are mostly positive. The Shopify listing shows 4.4 out of 5 from 61 reviews, with 49 five star ratings and 7 one star ratings.

Manifest AI pricing in November 2026

This is where the two products differ most, and where buyers need to read carefully. Manifest's public signals do not agree with each other.

The most reliable number is the one in Manifest's own help center: from $500 a month. The startup plan price, the trial length, what is metered, the size of any allowance and what happens when you go over are not published on the pages we checked. Zipchat's comparison page, checked in October 2026, reached the same conclusion: Manifest pricing is "tailored" and quoted on a call.

None of this is unusual for a platform that sells to mid market brands, and a quote can be a good deal. The practical problem for a small store is that you cannot work out your bill before you talk to sales.

The real difference: what triggers a charge

Manifest AI charges a platform fee you agree in advance. Based on its help center, the fee starts at $500 a month. Whether more chats, more channels or more agents raise that fee is not public. Either way, the fee does not depend on how many orders the AI helped close. A slow month and a record month cost the same unless your contract says otherwise.

SparkGPT charges for attributed sales. When a visitor chats with the SparkGPT agent, the session is tagged. If that visitor places an order within 24 hours, the order is attributed to the agent, listed in the ROI dashboard and charged at 5%. Chats that end without an order cost nothing beyond the $2.99 base, and conversations are unlimited. You can read the whole price on our pricing page without booking a call.

Is attribution a report or a bill?

Manifest's Shopify listing names conversion rates, funnel performance, recommendation performance and A/B testing as analytics features. Its case studies quote results such as a 14.7x ROI for one brand. We did not find a published definition of which orders count as AI influenced, or how long after a chat an order can happen and still be credited. That is common in this market and not a criticism of the product: when attribution only feeds a report, a vendor has little reason to publish a window.

SparkGPT has to publish one, because the same number sets your bill. The 24 hour rule is stated on our pricing page and FAQ, and every attributed order appears in the ROI dashboard so you can match it against your order list. Our guide on how to measure chatbot attributed revenue shows how to audit any vendor's numbers, including orders that email or ads also claim.

What happens in a slow month

With a fixed platform fee, a slow month raises your cost per order. If Manifest costs $500 and the AI helps close $3,000 of sales in January, you paid about 17% of those sales for the tool. SparkGPT in the same month would cost $2.99 plus $150, or $152.99. In a month with no attributed sales, SparkGPT costs $2.99.

SparkGPT Growth runs on prepaid credits, where 1 credit equals $1. Only attributed sales draw the balance down. If the balance reaches zero, the agent pauses instead of charging you more, and you can top up.

The math: when is SparkGPT cheaper?

SparkGPT is cheaper whenever your monthly attributed sales are below (the other tool's monthly bill minus $2.99) divided by 0.05. Because Manifest's prices are quoted, the table below uses its published starting price and two example quotes. Replace them with the number in your own proposal.

And here is what SparkGPT costs as sales grow:

The honest reading: if your AI regularly drives more than about $10,000 a month in attributed sales and Manifest quotes you its $500 starting price, Manifest costs less than 5%, and you also get WhatsApp, Instagram, email and voice in the same product. Below that level, or in months when traffic drops after the holidays, SparkGPT costs less because the bill shrinks with sales. Over a year at $500 a month, Manifest's starting price adds up to $6,000. A store whose agent is credited with $5,000 a month would pay SparkGPT $3,035.88 over the same year.

Feature comparison

Which one should you pick?

Pick Manifest AI if you run a mid size or larger brand, you want one vendor for website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, email and voice cart recovery, you already use Gorgias, Zendesk or Freshdesk, and you are comfortable agreeing a monthly fee through a sales call.

Pick SparkGPT if you want to see the full price before you sign up, you want the bill tied to sales rather than a fixed platform fee, your sales swing with seasons or ads, or you want an attribution rule you can check order by order because it decides what you pay. SparkGPT installs on any site with one line of code:

<script src="https://admin.sparkgpt.ai/widget.js" data-api-key="YOUR_WIDGET_KEY"></script>
      

For setup, see adding an AI sales agent to Shopify and AI sales agents for WooCommerce. If you are comparing other ecommerce AI agents, read SparkGPT vs Alhena, SparkGPT vs Zipchat and SparkGPT vs Gorgias. For the bigger picture, see performance based AI chatbot pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Manifest AI cost in 2026?

As of November 2026, Manifest AI's help center says plans start at $500 per month, with a startup plan for newer brands and enterprise pricing on request. Its Shopify App Store listing shows a single Free plan. The homepage has no prices and asks you to book a demo, so the price you pay is quoted.

Is Manifest AI free?

Its Shopify App Store listing shows a Free plan, but its own help center says "there is no free plan, but a free trial is available." The trial length is not stated. If cost matters, ask Manifest to confirm in writing which plan your store will be on after the trial.

Does Manifest AI do sales or only support?

Both. Manifest lists product recommendations, sizing help, quizzes, a fit predictor and cart recovery alongside order status, returns and helpdesk handoff. It works across website chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice.

Does Manifest AI track sales from chat?

Its Shopify listing names conversion rate, funnel and recommendation analytics plus A/B testing, and its case studies report ROI figures. We did not find a published attribution window or a definition of which orders count, and Manifest's published starting price does not depend on attributed sales.

What attribution window does SparkGPT use?

24 hours. When a visitor chats with the SparkGPT agent, the session is tagged, and an order placed within 24 hours of that chat is attributed to the agent, listed in the ROI dashboard and charged at 5%. Orders outside that window, or from visitors who never chatted, are not charged.

Is SparkGPT cheaper than Manifest AI?

It depends on how much the AI sells. SparkGPT is cheaper whenever monthly attributed sales are below your Manifest fee minus $2.99, divided by 0.05. At Manifest's published starting price of $500 a month, that line is $9,940 in attributed sales. In a month with no attributed sales, SparkGPT costs $2.99.

Try it on your own store

Enter your store URL at SparkGPT and you will have a sales agent to test on your real catalog in about 10 minutes, free and with no credit card and no sales call. When you go live, you pay $2.99 per month plus 5% of the sales it is credited with inside a 24 hour window, and nothing for conversations that do not lead to an order. Questions? Write to hello@sparkgpt.ai.