The best Shopify alt text apps, compared
Last updated: September 11, 2026
A disclosure first: we make Image Voice, which is one of the apps on this page. That is a reason to read everything below with some suspicion, so here is what we did to earn it back. Every figure comes from each app's own Shopify App Store listing, linked, on the date at the top. Every app is described in its developer's words, not ours. Where another app is better than ours at something, we say so. And we have not installed and tested these apps ourselves — so this is a comparison of what each one says it does, not a verdict on how well it does it.
The short answer
There is no single best alt text app, because people buy one for different jobs.
| If you want… | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| It free, with a template | AltKing, YT SEO | AltKing: free, 199 reviews, Built for Shopify. YT SEO: free and unlimited |
| An established AI writer | AltText.ai, SEO HERO | 141 and 171 reviews, both Built for Shopify |
| A whole SEO suite, alt text included | StoreSEO, Tiny SEO | 745 and 2,494 reviews, both Built for Shopify |
| Many languages | ALTerator, AltText.ai | 18 and 130+ languages |
| Huge volume of AI-written alt text | Pixc | $100 a month for 25,000 images |
| Your existing alt text checked before anything is written | Image Voice, ALTerator, Pixc | Different kinds of check — see below |
The question that matters most
Before choosing, it helps to know how each app decides what to write, because there are really three answers, and they produce different results on the same photograph:
- A template. You set a pattern — product title, then variant, then type — and the app fills it in. Fast, predictable, and identical across every image of a product. AltKing and YT SEO work this way.
- Your product data. AI turns the title, description and attributes into a sentence. More natural than a template, but it can only say what is already in the product data. Pixc and Wixpa describe themselves this way.
- The image itself. AI looks at the photograph and describes what is in the frame. AltText.ai says it does this, SEO HERO says it uses "image context," and Image Voice does it for every image.
None of these is wrong. A template is fine for packshots on white. The image matters for detail shots, on-model photography, lifestyle images and banners — everything you shot because the title was not enough. Shopify's own guidance, for what it is worth, is to describe the image and to use keywords "only where they describe the image."
The apps
AltKing — best if you want it free
5.0 across 199 reviews · Built for Shopify · free · launched August 2021
Builds alt text from "simple variables like variants, image names, product titles, product type, product tags, product brand names," and re-syncs daily so new images are covered. The most-reviewed dedicated alt text app on this list, and it costs nothing. One two-star review from September 2025 reports that full variant support needed the developer's separate Variant Image Automator app; the listing itself says AltKing "works in sync with Variant Image Automator." Our full comparison →
AltText.ai — best established AI writer
4.5 across 141 reviews · Built for Shopify · from $5 a month · launched May 2023
Its homepage says its AI "automatically analyzes each image on your site," and its Shopify page says the app uses your product data too. 130+ languages. Metered by the image — $5 for 100 a month up to $59 for 2,000 — with rollover and extra credits available. Our full comparison →
SEO HERO — best if keywords are the point
4.9 across 171 reviews · Built for Shopify · free for 100, then from $5 a month · launched May 2024
Combines "image context + your brand + SEO keywords," with keywords "automatically injected" and templates you control. If you run a keyword strategy and want it in every image, this is built for it. Backup and restore start on its $15 plan. Our full comparison →
StoreSEO — best if you want a whole SEO suite
5.0 across 745 reviews · Built for Shopify · free plan, then from $14.99 a month · launched October 2021
Meta titles, schema, sitemaps, indexing requests, image compression, Search Console — and alt text "in bulk" as one feature among many. Priced by products, not images. If you need the suite, get the suite. Our full comparison →
Tiny SEO — best if speed matters as much as SEO
5.0 across 2,494 reviews · Built for Shopify · free to install, then from $14 a month · launched June 2019
An SEO and page-speed suite: image compression, lazy loading, JSON-LD, redirects, a site audit, and "ALT text & filename optimization." The most-reviewed app on this page by a wide margin. Its listing does not describe how the alt text is written.
ALTerator — best for languages and control
5.0 from 1 review · not Built for Shopify · 50 free generations, then from $5 a month · launched January 2026
Grades every alt text on a 0–100 SEO score, writes in 18 languages, supports custom prompts, and keeps a rollback history on paid plans. The closest thing to Image Voice on this list, and ahead of it on languages. New, with one review. Our full comparison →
Pixc — best for very large catalogues
5.0 from 1 review · not Built for Shopify · 25 free a month, then from $8 a month · launched April 2020
Writes "from your product data" with AI, or from a template, and scans for "missing or poorly written" alt text. Its $100 plan covers 25,000 images a month — the lowest price per AI-written image on this list. (For templates, YT SEO is free and unlimited.) Our full comparison →
YT SEO Optimize Image Alt Text — cheapest template automation
4.6 across 97 reviews · not Built for Shopify · free, or $1.99 a month for daily automation · launched December 2021
Updates alt text "based on the template you set," with unlimited operations on the free plan. If a template is what you need, this is about as cheap as it gets.
Wixpa AI Image Alt Text
4.9 across 12 reviews · Built for Shopify · free to install, credits sold separately · launched May 2025
Its listing says it "uses your product data to create natural, brand-aligned descriptions" and runs on new and updated images. Its pricing section does not list credit prices.
Avada Accessibility — if compliance is the real goal
5.0 across 314 reviews · Built for Shopify · free, then from $9 a month · launched January 2025
Not an alt text app first: an accessibility widget with 25+ adjustments, an AI scanner and an audit statement, covering WCAG, ADA, EAA and BFSG. "AI-generated Alt Text for screen readers" is one of its features. Its listing does not say whether that alt text is written into your Shopify catalogue or supplied by the widget — worth asking if you want it to stay after you uninstall.
Alt Text Generator AI
No reviews · not Built for Shopify · credits from $7 · launched September 2024
Credits that "never expire" and "roll over," which is a genuinely good pricing shape for a slow-growing catalogue. Its listing shows monthly prices but also says "all of our plans are one-time payment plans," and notes that charges "may be billed … separately from your Shopify invoice" — confirm both before buying. Our full comparison →
Image Voice — ours
No reviews yet · not Built for Shopify · audit free forever, then $8.90 or $28.90 a month
Looks at each image and writes what is in the frame. Before writing anything, it grades your existing alt text as missing, junk, weak or good, with a vision-checked sample you read yourself — a verdict on whether each description describes its photograph, rather than an SEO score. A First Sweep writes the backlog up front; nothing reaches the store until you approve it unless you later switch on auto-pilot; and every change is undoable for 30 days on every plan. Seven languages. It is the newest and least proven app on this page, and that should count.
Everything in one table
| App | Rating | Built for Shopify | Starts at | How it writes | Checks existing alt text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AltKing | 5.0 · 199 | Yes | Free | Template / variables | Not on the listing |
| AltText.ai | 4.5 · 141 | Yes | $5/mo | The image, plus product data | Free site scan for missing alt text |
| SEO HERO | 4.9 · 171 | Yes | Free · $5/mo | Image context, brand, keywords | Detects missing; "SEO Health" on top plan |
| StoreSEO | 5.0 · 745 | Yes | Free · $14.99/mo | Not described | Product SEO score |
| Tiny SEO | 5.0 · 2,494 | Yes | Free · $14/mo | Not described | General site audit |
| ALTerator | 5.0 · 1 | No | Free · $5/mo | Not described | 0–100 SEO score |
| Pixc | 5.0 · 1 | No | Free · $8/mo | Product data or template | Missing or poorly written |
| YT SEO | 4.6 · 97 | No | Free · $1.99/mo | Template | Not on the listing |
| Wixpa | 4.9 · 12 | Yes | Credits | Product data | Not on the listing |
| Avada Accessibility | 5.0 · 314 | Yes | Free · $9/mo | "AI-generated" | Accessibility scan |
| Alt Text Generator AI | — · 0 | No | $7 | Not described | Not on the listing |
| Image Voice | — · 0 | No | Free · $8.90/mo | The image | Missing / junk / weak / good |
A note on those ratings: most apps on this list average close to five stars, so the average tells you little. The number of reviews tells you more.
How to choose
Three questions, in order:
- Do you need anything besides alt text? If you want schema, sitemaps and meta titles too, start with StoreSEO or Tiny SEO and stop here.
- Is your photography simple? If it is mostly packshots on white, a template is close to a true description. AltKing is free and well reviewed.
- Do you already have alt text? Many stores do, written by something. Find out whether it describes anything before you pay to write more — by hand with the ten-minute self-audit in our guide, or with an app that grades.
If you want an app to do that last step, Image Voice's audit is free and writes nothing to your store. If what it finds is fine, you will have learned that for nothing.
Every rating, review count, badge, price, launch date and quotation above was taken from each app's Shopify App Store listing on 11 September 2026, apart from AltText.ai's method and language claims, which are from alttext.ai. Listings change; check the one you are considering before you decide. We have not installed these apps. All product names are trademarks of their owners, and this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Shopify's guidance is from
How To Write Image Alt Text for SEO
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