- Short answer
- Shopify app in AI Research Preview: AI shoppers test a Liquid theme; needs Network Intelligence; not a live A/B test.
- Who can turn on Network Intelligence
- The store owner or staff with the Administrator role
- Past the monthly allowance
- SimGym shows the exact price before a paid run; approve it or cancel without a charge
- Best results
- Stores with existing products and content
- A test on real visitors
- An Experiment in Rollouts, on the Grow plan or higher
What does SimGym test on your store?
Its AI shoppers navigate collections, add items to the cart and give qualitative feedback; Shopify notes that simulations work best on stores with existing products and content. Each run is one of two simulations:
- Live theme against one of your Draft themes
- The highest add-to-cart rate wins; a tie at 0 is inconclusive
- Any live or draft theme, optionally focused on a specific part of your store
- Strengths, areas to improve and recommendations ordered by conversion impact
Who can use SimGym, and what does it cost?
SimGym is free to install and, as of October 2026, in AI Research Preview. It runs only when your store:
- uses a Liquid storefront, not Hydrogen or headless;
- has Shopify Network Intelligence activated;
- isn't set to private mode.
Only the store owner or an Administrator can turn on Shopify Network Intelligence, which lets Shopify use your customer data alongside other merchants' and adds requirements to inform your customers.
A monthly allowance renews on the first of each month; unused simulations don't carry over. Past it, a run costs $0.75 USD for a single-theme simulation and $1.50 USD for a theme comparison, billed only when it completes successfully. SimGym shows the exact price before a paid run starts, so you can cancel without a charge.
Can SimGym replace an A/B test?
No — Shopify's help page sets the limit itself:
Simulations use AI shoppers that mimic real buyer behavior, but results might differ from actual buyer behavior.
Real visitors are measured by Rollouts: an Experiment, on the Grow plan or higher, by default splits traffic 50% control and 50% treatment and ends 90 days after it starts; you can change the split and the end date before you save the rollout. Screen a draft in SimGym, then confirm the winner on real traffic, changing one thing at a time.
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