Guides
AI employee, virtual assistant or chatbot? A side-by-side for business owners
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Every business owner hits the same wall. People reach out by the website, the phone and the front door, and you cannot answer all of them yourself. So you look for help, and three names come up: an AI employee, a virtual assistant and a chatbot.
They sound alike. They are not. This post puts them side by side so you can pick the one that fits the job. We build AI employees, so we say plainly where each of the other two is the better fit.
Three quick definitions
A virtual assistant is a person who works for you remotely. They answer email, manage a calendar and take on tasks by the hour or the month. They bring human judgement. They also keep human hours.
A chatbot is a text box on your website. A visitor types a question and gets a typed reply. Most chatbots wait for the visitor to start, and most have no face and no voice.
An AI employee is an AI agent we set up to do one job for your business, such as answering visitors, following up with leads, or doing marketing or code work. It works from your own information and asks for your approval where the package says so. A NetShow AI employee has a face and a voice.
The side-by-side
| AI employee (NetShow) | Virtual assistant | Chatbot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who greets first | It speaks first, before the visitor types a word | The visitor has to reach them | Usually the visitor, by typing |
| Voice | Voice-first and hands-free | Yes, during their working hours | Usually none |
| Face | A living face on your website | On a video call, if booked | Usually an icon |
| Does the work | Books the next step; writing waits for your approval | Yes, with their own judgement | Answers questions, rarely more |
| Memory | Remembers a visitor only after they say yes | Their own notes | Depends on the product |
| Says what it is | Says it is an AI, every time | A person | Varies |
| How it is paid for | Face at $0 a minute; you pay for what it thinks and says | Their hours | Depends on the product |
Who greets first
This is the row that matters most on a website. A visitor who has to find a form or start a chat often does neither. They leave.
A NetShow AI employee speaks first: the hello is there before your visitor types a word. Browsers keep a page silent until the visitor taps or presses a key, so the greeting is spoken out loud from their first tap. You can watch a host greet on a big screen.
Voice and face
A chatbot asks your visitor to type. An AI employee lets them talk. It is voice-first and hands-free, and the microphone opens only when a visitor presses Talk, never before. A visitor with no microphone or speaker can type instead.
The face matters too. People answer a face. A NetShow face is drawn by your visitor's own browser instead of streamed from a server, which is why it costs $0 a minute to keep on screen.
Doing the work, with your approval
Answering a question is only half the job. An AI employee books the next step: a call, a visit or a callback request. On the rungs that write for you, every post, email or code change waits for your approval. You see calls, transcripts and visitor questions in one place.
A virtual assistant can also do the work, with the judgement of a person. For a messy, one-off task that needs a human call, a virtual assistant is often the right hire.
Memory, under your privacy settings
An AI employee that forgets every visitor is a stranger each time. One that remembers everyone without asking is worse. A NetShow face remembers a visitor only after they say yes, and forgets when they ask. The details are on our security page.
How each is paid for
A virtual assistant is paid for their time. A chatbot's price depends on the product you pick. A NetShow AI employee splits it in two. The face has no per-minute meter. What your agent thinks and says runs on your plan, shown plainly on the plans page. If we build it for you, the AI Front Desk starts from $699 a month, with setup quoted, and your exact price is set in writing after the build call.
FAQ
Is an AI employee a replacement for my team?
No. It answers every visitor and books the next step, so your team spends its time on the people who are ready.
Does it pretend to be a person?
No. Our AI employees are AI agents, and they say so to every visitor and caller.
When is a chatbot enough?
When your visitors only need short typed answers and nobody expects a voice or a face.
When is a virtual assistant the better fit?
When the work needs a person's judgement on unusual, one-off tasks.
Pick the job, then the helper
Start from the job, not the tool. If the job is greeting every visitor, answering from your own information and booking the next step, that is an AI employee's job. Our AI employees page lists every job we build, from a front desk to your own AI workforce, with what each one includes and where its price starts. Each include is marked as working today, set up for you or still in build. Nothing is charged on the page. Pick the closest job and book a build call.