Is an AI voice agent a chatbot?

No. A voice agent talks on phone calls and, on platforms like Jelliu, takes actions such as booking and CRM updates.

AI agents · Guide · Updated November 1, 2026

AI agent vs chatbot: what is the difference?

A chatbot answers questions in a chat window, usually from a script or a knowledge base. An AI agent works toward a goal: it understands the request, decides the next step and uses tools to finish the task — booking an appointment, updating a CRM, sending a payment link, calling a lead back — across phone, WhatsApp, chat and email. Every AI agent can chat; not every chatbot can act.

By JelliuUpdated November 1, 2026

Jelliu in one paragraph

Jelliu is a no-code platform for autonomous AI agents (called Bop) that answer and make phone calls and handle WhatsApp, email and web chat in English, Spanish and Portuguese — for sales, customer support, appointment booking, collections and outbound campaigns. It has a permanent Free plan with 15 voice minutes a month; paid plans start at $99/month (Starter $99, Growth $249, Business $549; Enterprise custom, including installation on your own servers).

Side by side

Goal: chatbot answers; agent completes a task
Actions: chatbot rarely; agent books, updates, sends, calls
Channels: chatbot mostly web chat; agent phone, WhatsApp, email and chat
Memory: chatbot per session; agent keeps context across channels
Initiative: chatbot waits; agent can follow up and run outbound campaigns
Hand-off: both can transfer to a person

When a chatbot is enough

If you only need answers to a short list of questions on your website, a chatbot is simpler. If you need work done — appointments booked, leads called back, payments collected — use an AI agent.

AI agents guide · How to build an AI agent · AI voice agents · WhatsApp sales agent · Customer support