Can I use both Shipwork and Feed Doctor?

Yes — they see different things. Shipwork sees pages as a crawler does; Feed Doctor sees feed-only Merchant Center fields when connected. Run the outside check first, then the insider.

Why does Shipwork not check GTINs?

GTINs are feed-only values invisible in your public catalogue. Any outside tool claiming to validate them is guessing; Shipwork reports only what it can actually see.

Does Feed Doctor require installing an app?

The full version is a Shopify app with optional Merchant Center connection. The public scan works from a store URL without install.

Which is better for landing-page problems?

The outside read: bot blocks, 500s on cold paths and redirect chains are visible only from outside your network.

Shipwork vs Feed Doctor: Which Free Feed Check?

Two free starting points for the same pain — Google rejecting your products. Feed Doctor is a Shopify app that can reach into your store and Merchant Center; Shipwork is a no-install outside read of what crawlers see. They overlap, they differ, and the honest answer is that some stores should use both. Here is the comparison without the sales pitch.

The one-line difference

Feed Doctor installs in your Shopify admin, and with your permission reads your catalogue and your Merchant Center account — then proposes fixes you approve inside Shopify. Shipwork never touches your store: you paste a URL, it reads your public catalogue and product pages from outside your network the way a crawler does, and hands you the full report free. Installed insider versus outside inspector. Everything below follows from that choice.

	Shipwork	Feed Doctor
Access	No install, no signup, store URL only	Shopify app install; optional Merchant Center connection
Sees feed-only fields (GTIN, shipping config)	No — and says so openly	Yes, when Merchant Center is connected
Sees landing pages as a crawler does	Yes — the core of every check	Yes — landing-page issues listed
Applies fixes in your store	No — guides + checks, you fix	Yes — reviewable fixes with merchant approval
Beyond the feed (AI crawlers, schema, sitemap)	Yes — 25 checks across the whole site	No — feed and landing pages
Starting price	Free full report; $149 watch once, not a subscription	Free scan (limited offer); then from $9.99/mo

What each one can see

Feed Doctor's insider position is a genuine advantage where it matters: GTINs, identifier_exists, shipping and tax configuration live inside Merchant Center and no outside tool can validate them — Shipwork deliberately refuses to guess at them. Shipwork's outsider position is the advantage everywhere else: bot protection that 403s crawlers, 500s on cold paths, redirect chains and slow pages are visible only from outside your network, and an installed app shares your network's blind spot. Neither view is complete; together they cover the whole failure surface.

Use both where it is free

Run the outside check first (two minutes, nothing to install). Fix what it finds. Then use the insider view for the feed-only fields it alone can reach. The order matters: landing-page blocks make feed data irrelevant until fixed.

What each one costs

Shipwork's report is free and complete — the only paid thing is the watch ($149 once for 12 months of daily re-scans), which exists because no free check can tell you about the day something breaks. Feed Doctor's public scan was advertised free until 30 August 2026; its plans start at $9.99/mo (Starter) and $19.90/mo (AI) with a trial. Check current pricing before deciding — subscription versus one-time is the real fork, and it depends on whether you want monitoring bundled with the checker or separate from it.

Which store each fits

Pick Shipwork first if: you want an answer in two minutes with no install, you suspect crawl or landing-page problems, or you want AI-crawler, schema and sitemap coverage in the same pass.
Pick Feed Doctor if: you want fixes applied inside Shopify with approval clicks, or your Diagnostics are dominated by identifier and shipping-config issues that need Merchant Center data.
Use both if: rejections persist after the first pass — outside view for pages, insider view for feed-only fields.

Find out if this is happening to you

Shipwork reads your entire public Shopify catalogue from outside your network and flags every product that breaks the data-level rules — the same outside view this comparison recommends starting with. Free, no account, no signup — paste your store address.

Run the free check

Questions

Can I use both Shipwork and Feed Doctor?: Yes — they see different things. Shipwork sees pages as a crawler does; Feed Doctor sees feed-only Merchant Center fields when connected. Run the outside check first, then the insider.
Why does Shipwork not check GTINs?: GTINs are feed-only values invisible in your public catalogue. Any outside tool claiming to validate them is guessing; Shipwork reports only what it can actually see.
Does Feed Doctor require installing an app?: The full version is a Shopify app with optional Merchant Center connection. The public scan works from a store URL without install.
Which is better for landing-page problems?: The outside read: bot blocks, 500s on cold paths and redirect chains are visible only from outside your network.

Keep reading

Google Merchant Center Requirements for Shopify Google Shopping Title Optimization for Shopify Google Shopping Product Descriptions (Examples)Shipwork vs Shopify Feed Rescue — Instant?