Insights · 4 min read
AI agent or chatbot: which one does your business need?
By Gnaneswar Kalinga, founder, MarketRun · Updated
The short answer
A chatbot answers questions. An AI agent does a job: it reads the message or document, decides the next step and acts in your tools, such as your CRM, WhatsApp or a sheet. If customers mostly ask the same questions, a chatbot or an AI receptionist is enough. If someone on your team spends hours moving information between tools, an agent can take that over, with a person approving anything a customer will see.
Side by side
| Chatbot | AI agent | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Answers questions | Does a job |
| Uses your tools | Rarely, and only to read | Yes: reads and acts in your CRM, WhatsApp, email and other systems |
| What you get | A reply | A changed record, a sent message, a prepared document |
| What can go wrong | A wrong answer | A wrong action |
| How you stay safe | Answers only from approved content, checked before launch | A person approves, every action is recorded, limited permissions |
When a chatbot is enough
- Customers or staff ask the same questions again and again.
- The answer is the end of the job.
- Nothing needs to change in your systems afterwards.
When you need an agent
- Someone on your team copies information between tools every day.
- Leads, orders or requests wait because nobody has time to deal with them.
- The job has clear steps and rules, even if what comes in is messy.
Where an AI receptionist fits
An AI receptionist sits in between. It answers customers on WhatsApp from answers your team approved, books appointments, sends reminders and hands the rest to a person. For most clinics, shops and service businesses, that is the right first step.
What each costs to start
| What you need | What we build | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Customers answered on WhatsApp, bookings and reminders | AI receptionist | from ₹50,000 setup + from ₹30,000 a month |
| A daily job done inside your tools | AI agent: sprint, then a first version | sprint from ₹50,000; focused builds from ₹5 lakh |
Want this as a written scope for your project?
Get a written scope and quoteWhy we keep a person on the approval
AI makes mistakes, especially early on. We build every agent so that anything a customer will see waits for a person to approve it, and every action is recorded. That makes it safe to start sooner, and you can let it do more on its own once you trust what it does.
Questions people ask
Can a chatbot book appointments?
A plain chatbot usually cannot. Once it books into your calendar or updates a record, it is doing a job, which is what an AI receptionist or an agent adds.
Which should I start with?
The job that wastes the most time today. If it is answering the same questions, start with an AI receptionist. If it is copying information between tools, look at an agent. If neither is worth it yet, that is a fine answer too.