“Chatbot” and “AI assistant” are often used as if they meant the same thing, but they are different tools. Both answer customers in a chat window on your website or in a messenger, yet they work differently and solve different problems. Let’s look at the difference and how to tell which one you need.
A regular chatbot: buttons and a script
A classic bot follows a script written in advance. The customer taps “Prices” — the bot shows the price list. Taps “Book” — the bot asks for a name, phone number and a convenient time. Everything is predictable: the bot does exactly what it was built to do.
That’s reliable and affordable, but it has a limit. If someone writes in their own words — say, “do you have something similar but cheaper, delivered by Saturday?” — a simple bot usually won’t understand and will ask them to pick a button again.
An AI assistant: understands questions in plain words
An AI assistant is built on a language model — software that understands ordinary human text and can put answers into words. So the customer doesn’t have to hunt for the right button: they just write the way they would to a manager, and the assistant answers to the point.
- finds a product or service from a description: “I need a gift for my mum, budget up to two thousand”;
- explains the difference between plans, models or packages;
- answers follow-up questions about delivery, payment and warranty;
- collects contact details and sends the lead to your CRM or Telegram.
How it knows your business
The assistant doesn’t make answers up. We train it on your own materials: price list, catalogue, delivery and returns terms, FAQs, internal guidelines. When a customer asks something, the assistant looks for the answer in exactly these documents.
One important rule: if the answer isn’t in the materials, or the question is complex — a complaint, a custom order, a personal discount — the assistant doesn’t improvise. It hands the conversation to a manager along with the full chat history, so the customer doesn’t have to explain everything again.
When a regular bot is enough
If customers mostly ask the same questions and your goal is to collect a lead or take a booking, a simple bot will do the job perfectly well. Think of a salon with a handful of services, a café with delivery or a service with one main scenario. With ORBITA such a bot starts from 6,000 ₴ — a sensible first step.
When you need an AI assistant
- A large range. Hundreds of products that a customer can’t navigate without a hint.
- Complex services. Lots of options, terms and packages you have to explain again and again.
- Many similar consultations. Managers answer the same questions all day instead of selling.
- Messages after hours. People write in the evening and at weekends and only get a reply the next morning.
What it costs and how we launch it
An AI assistant with ORBITA starts from 18,000 ₴, and the launch takes 1–2 weeks. We gather and organise your materials, train the assistant on them, set up a widget (the chat window) on your website or connect a messenger, and configure the handover of complex questions to a manager. The price is fixed in the contract before work starts, and all accounts and settings are registered in your name. Language-model requests are paid separately; their cost depends on the number of conversations.
Not sure whether you need a bot or an assistant? At a free audit we’ll look at what your customers actually ask and suggest a solution that does the job without unnecessary spending.
