Vela | AI, optimization & more

I have used Vela for many years. Unfortunately, my experience with Justin from customer service/developer has often been frustrating. Whenever there is a problem with the app, I feel that he tends to blame the user first instead of considering whether there may be an issue with the app or its design. If you read some of the other poor reviews here, you will see that other users have complained about similar experiences. I tolerated this for years, including the repeated price increases, but recently I had a much more serious billing issue. I was continuously charged $23.95/month for Vela Lite, but repeatedly could not access my Shopify store and was shown a message telling me to select an “UPGRADE” plan again “to retain access.” I did not want to upgrade, so I stopped using Vela. Since I could no longer access my store, I naturally believed my subscription was no longer active. Yesterday, I checked my billing and was shocked to discover that I had actually continued to be charged for almost six months. Justin claimed this happened because my listing count changed pricing tiers, which required me to confirm a new price. However, my store had around 2,200 listings and remained within the same 1,000–2,500 listing tier that I was already paying $23.95 for. So I still do not understand what price change required an upgrade. More importantly, whether I confirmed an upgrade or not does not explain why I could not access the service while Vela continued charging me every month. My latest billing period was paid through August 11, yet on August 9 I still could not access my store. Justin refused to refund the months I was charged and did not clearly address these contradictions or restore my access. How is it reasonable to continuously charge a customer for a subscription while they cannot access the service they are paying for? I believe there is a serious problem with the way Vela handles subscription access and billing. What concerns me most is that if I had not noticed the charges myself, it appears the billing would have simply continued. This experience made me feel extremely misled, and I think other Shopify sellers should be aware of it and carefully check their Vela billing.

Great customer service!

I've been using Vela for years. It's very effective and has saved me days of manual labor. Justin is a remarkable service person. The app also keeps evolving regularly. It's a must for large catalog shops.

Absolute gamechanger, great interface, super polished, great support with awesome employees!

Love, love, love this app! It was a game-changer for us! We have shops on Shopify and Etsy, so being able to update, modify, and create listings in one place saves us tons of time. Recently, Vela made an upgrade to their platform that uses AI to optimize copy, create product images, and write SEO ehanced alt tags. I had the privilege of speaking to Justin, one of the creators, and he clarified how it works. When you click the button to optimize tags, titles, descriptions, etc., it tailors everything based on whether you’re listing for Shopify or Etsy. The score it gives you is based on each platform’s specific algorithm—not a generic one-size-fits-all system. So basically, Vela uses different criteria depending on where you’re selling, which makes it way more accurate—and means we don’t have to write everything outside of Vela anymore.

I’ve been using Vela and so far it’s been a great experience. The app is easy to use, smooth, and does exactly what I need it to do. Justin was especially wonderful—he answered all my questions clearly and made everything feel simple and stress-free. That kind of support really makes a difference. I’m loving the app so far and looking forward to using it more. I’ll come back and update my review in a few months!

Vela is a complete game-changer. Managing listings across different platforms used to be my biggest headache, but this app makes everything so much faster and easier to optimize. To top it off, their support is incredibly dedicated. If you want your time back, this is a no-brainer.

I Love Vela and have seen it continue to improve over the last year or 2 that I've been a user. I use it multiple times a week as I'm continuing to improve and grow my own business, and having Vela allowed me to expand beyond Etsy and create my Shopify site and my initial offerings on Faire. Justin and the team are great, and are eager to listen to requests and suggestions, too. I could not be growing at the rate I am now without Vela. A must have for small or single person businesses with multiple items and platforms.

Vela has saved us hours and hours of work - we use it to manage thousands of listings across multiple platforms. It makes bulk edits so much simpler, it is very user friendly and would highly recommend for anyone trying to manage listings across multiple platforms. They also have great customer service, resolve things quickly (Justin has been so helpful whenever we are dealing with issues that arise), they are open to feedback and are constantly adding more features that make it even better!

We use this to manage multiple online stores. Makes it easy to adjust pricing, quantities, descriptions, etc. The new AI feature comes in handy if you're looking to optimize your listings for better search results. Justin and team respond right away and have helped us tremendously. Recommended app.

THIS APP *USED* TO BE GOOD....many many many years ago.... Then the glitches started...then the duplicates started...then the DISAPPEARING OF LISTINGS. That's when I stopped using it...WEEKS of work down the drain. Contacted customer service, "YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED AGAIN" and here I am 4 months later discovering that they have been charging my shopify account all along. 0 STARS.

Been using Vela for many years on and off (etsy and now shopify also) Platform just keep getting better and better You can see there was a lot of thought behind this app, it looks sleek and it works well. Personal customer service, a real person helping with you any obstacle you might have so you can focus on managing your business all in all a powerful tool for managing your online stores Highly recommended

We are very pleased with Vela. This app helped us duplicate our Etsy listings to our Shopify page fast. Utilizing the "profiles" to group different products by style/size is a game changer. The app is easy to use and any questions I had were answered quickly and professionally. I have asked the ai chat bot a question and human followed up later to see if I needed anything. Thank you for helping our business grow!

Have loved this app for years for Etsy and excited it is now on more and more channels like Shopify. Customer service has always been great and well worth the cost for all that it does.

The app itself works well and I like the user interface. Customer Service was where it came off of the rail: Justin, responds promptly and starts off helpful to resolve issues; even on a Sunday in my case. However, disagree with him or critique the service or any part of an ongoing issue and process in anyway and the environment quickly changes. Justin became argumentative and rude during the interaction as a result. He even attempted to reprimand me during our communication - indicating that I would rather send lengthy emails then allow him to fix the issue via screenshare. What customer service dept. speaks to anyone like this? We are not familiar with each other. As I mentioned the app is very nice but I cannot support a business that handles a longtime client (since 2019) in that manner nor can I recommend this business as a result. Justin had to have the last word and kept sending messages. I allowed him the last word to close out communication. He kept mentioning how he was just trying to help. Well, we pay a monthly fee for that help; so, it is not a favor. It is your duty. Customer service reviews for this company have been low across other reviews here and elsewhere as well - indicating the same issue I experienced: Rude, and extremely unprofessional and insulting behavior. Do yourself a favor and research it for yourself FIRST!

I had an issue transferring my files from Shopify to Etsy. Justin was quick to help and spent most of the day with his team figuring out the issue, and got my shop back on track! I don't know any other company that jumps in to help like that. Most would care less, leaving you on your own to figure it out. I can't recommend this company enough! Thanks for all the help!

This app is a life safer. The bulk editing ability is unmatched. Well worth the money!

I have been using Vela since it was in beta several years ago and I can't begin to tell you how many hours of manual work it saved me. I use it for my shop on other platforms as well. Has been working flawlessly and it's so much easier to use than the clunky built-in "bulk editing" Shopify offers. Not to mention the friendly, fast support you receive when you do run into any issue. Super happy, love it!

Love this app—and the fast, responsive customer service is a huge bonus. The interface is clean, intuitive, and makes it incredibly easy to find and bulk edit listings, pricing, and product details. Compared to other bulk editing tools, Vela is far more polished and user-friendly (most others feel clunky, outdated and kinda ugly). Vela is smooth enough to confidently hand off to a VA or team member, which alone makes it incredibly valuable. We use it daily to optimize SEO, update listing titles and descriptions, create pricing profiles, and manage product photos—all in one place. The built-in AI photo editing is a game changer. Being able to edit and improve images directly inside Vela saves so much time compared to exporting designs to Canva and re-uploading them into Shopify. If you manage a Shopify store with more than a handful of products and value your time, this app is absolutely worth the price!

Price almost doubled for no reason at all - who asked for all this AI garbage? Why does the "Lite" plan have limited profiles whereas the top level plan which matches the Lite pricing did not have this limitation?