Can I use Simple Chat on a development store?

Yes, free, with full functionality. There's no stripped-down dev-store mode: you get the same storefront widget, dashboard inbox, AI behavior, tools, and optional email support you'd run in production, so your testing reflects real operational workflows.

A development store is where you answer the practical questions before customers can see the answers. Does the widget look right on your theme? Do order lookup tools behave the way you expect? Are escalation rules clear enough that staff know when they own a thread? It's also the safe place to validate theme embed placement, AI instructions, tools, and email workflows without customer-facing mistakes on a live shop.

A launch rehearsal that holds up

1. Install Simple Chat on the development store from the Shopify App Store.
2. Enable the app embed in your theme and preview the widget on key templates: home, product, cart.
3. Configure merchant instructions, FAQs, and the tools you plan to enable at launch.
4. Run test conversations, including handoffs to staff, and review them in the dashboard.
5. If you'll use email support, connect and test inbound mail here before copying settings to production.

Going live

When you're ready, install or migrate the configuration to your production store using the same onboarding checklist. Because the dev store ran full functionality, launch day holds no surprise feature gaps — just the normal pass over theme-specific styling and traffic scale on the live shop.