NOT FOR
Single-SKU stores.
If you sell one product, the classifier has nothing to classify, the lifecycle has one state, and the decision_log is a tweet. The math doesn't carry.
// magistry vs alternatives
What we are. What we aren't.
We get asked 'isn't this just ChatGPT?' and 'isn't this just Zapier?' often enough that we wrote it down. Below: ten specific capabilities, honestly scored — including the three teams who shouldn't buy us yet.
10 capabilities compared 3 honest exclusions 3-step migration
// side-by-side
Ten capabilities. Three categories. Honestly scored.
Green ✓ = ships out of the box. Yellow − = partial, with operator scaffolding. Red ✗ = not designed for it. Where we said partial for ourselves on something we ship today, we changed our minds.
| // capability | MagistryAutonomous control plane | Generic AI chatChatGPT · Claude · Gemini | Workflow toolsZapier · Make · n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
Writes to live external systems Shopify, Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, helpdesk inbox — not suggestions, mutations. | |||
Carries store context across runs Order history, margin tiers, brand voice, past decisions — persisted, not pasted. | |||
Reversible by row Every action paired with its rollback op at write time. One tap restores. | |||
Brand-voice grounded outputs Sampled from your last 200 sent replies; judge floor before publish. | |||
Kill switch default-on Operator-owned, drilled monthly, kills every executor inside 90 seconds. | |||
Decision evidence stored forever Append-only, HMAC-signed chain. Tier-of-evidence stamped on every row. | |||
Self-calibrating thresholds Winner floor = max(2.0, p75 of your own distribution). Not someone else's playbook. | |||
Per-action rate limits Configurable per executor — caps the blast radius of any single mistake. | |||
Margin-aware writes Tier-gated: Tier A unlocks all actions, Tier C is read-only. No guessing. | |||
Trademark + uniqueness filter Runs before any LLM-generated copy enters the catalog or ad pipeline. |
// honest exclusions
When you should NOT use Magistry.
The fastest way to a refund is selling someone the wrong tool. Three teams who genuinely shouldn't be customers yet — and why.
NOT FOR
Agencies not running Shopify.
We're Shopify-deep. WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento are on the roadmap but not in the type system. Wait for those builds before you commit.
NOT FOR
Brands not ready to dry-run.
If 'autonomous' is a feature you want to promise the board without ever flipping Phase 2, this isn't the tool. Magistry's value lives in the writes.
// migration
Migrating from Zapier / Make.
If you already glue your stack with Zapier or Make, you already have the muscle memory. Three steps to swap the brittle parts for an autonomous spine.
Inventory your Zaps.
List every Zap or Scenario currently touching Shopify, Google Ads, Meta, or your inbox. Tag each as: write / read / notify. Magistry replaces the writes — keep the read-only ones.
next
Run the dry-run in parallel.
Connect a read-only Shopify token. Magistry drafts the same writes your Zaps would have, side-by-side, for 14 days. Compare outcomes in the audit plane — same input, two opinions.
next
Sunset by category.
Pause the Zaps that wrote to Shopify first — that's where the decision_log gives you the cleanest provenance. Ads + CS second. Notifications last (most don't need replacing).
// keep the right tool
The honest verdict per tool.
// chatgpt / claude
ChatGPT / Claude
Keep it for thinking, ideation, drafting.
Swap it for anything that writes to a live external system.
// zapier / make
Zapier / Make
Keep it for static integrations and notifications.
Swap it for state-aware decisions across many SKUs or campaigns.
// magistry
Magistry
Keep it for the decision spine — agents that act, log, reverse.
Swap it with humans on policy. Operators still own the kill switch.
// see the difference
Compare your current stack — live.
On the demo we'll walk through your top three Zaps or Scenarios and show what the decision_log would look like for the same workflow. No tear-down required.
Dry-run by default · Append-only logs · One-click rollback