TL;DR
Vendschat has two different AI systems. AI Workspace Co-Admin talks to your employees and never sends customer messages. Customer AI Agents talk to shoppers on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram when assigned to a Chat thread.
Confusing the two is the most common operator mistake. Deep guide: https://docs.vendschat.com/co-admin/co-admin-vs-customer-ai-agents
Quotable facts: Co-Admin lives under AI Workspace Co-Admin (/co-admin). Customer AI Agents live under AI Agents + Chat assignment. Co-Admin uses product docs + live workspace tools. Agents use FAQ, website crawl, and files you upload. Paid plans from $20/mo; first 100 customers get 80% off.
What is the one-line difference?
Co-Admin = internal guide for your team. Customer AI Agent = bot that can reply to customers. If you want to change what customers hear, edit the AI Agent — not Co-Admin.
How do Co-Admin and AI Agents compare?
Audience: Co-Admin helps your internal team. AI Agents talk to end customers on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.
Where they live: Co-Admin is AI Workspace Co-Admin in the left nav. Agents are configured under AI Agents and assigned per Chat thread.
Knowledge: Co-Admin knows Vendschat product docs and live workspace metrics. Agents know the FAQ, website, and files you train.
Can they send customer messages? Co-Admin: no. Customer AI Agents: yes, when assigned to a thread.
Never train customer FAQs into Co-Admin expecting shoppers to hear them. Co-Admin cannot access agent knowledge bases and cannot send inbox messages.
What are customer AI Agents?
Customer AI Agents are bots you configure for shoppers, patients, or leads. Typical path: AI Agents → create agent → add knowledge → sandbox test → assign in Chat. They can hand off to a human when configured to escalate.
Walkthrough: Answer WhatsApp after hours with a Vendschat AI Agent — https://vendschat.com/blog/whatsapp-ai-agent-after-hours
What is AI Workspace Co-Admin?
Co-Admin helps your team run Vendschat: how templates work, which webhooks are active, unread overview, channel setup questions. It never impersonates your brand in the customer inbox.
Is Generate Reply a third thing?
Yes. Generate Reply is a Chat assist for human agents drafting a reply. It is not Co-Admin and not an autonomous customer AI Agent. Agent = automatic bot replies. Generate Reply = draft for a human to edit and send.
When should you use which?
- Use Co-Admin when an operator asks “How do I…?” or needs workspace stats.
- Use a customer AI Agent when customers should get automatic replies after hours or for FAQ.
- Use Generate Reply when a human is already in the thread and wants a draft.
FAQ
Can Co-Admin reply to WhatsApp customers?
No. Co-Admin never sends customer messages on WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram. Assign a customer AI Agent (or a human) in Chat if customers need replies.
Do I need Growth plan for Co-Admin?
Co-Admin is an internal assistant enabled with your workspace deployment. Customer AI usage may count against plan AI limits — see billing docs on docs.vendschat.com. Paid plans start at $20/mo.
Where do I change what customers hear?
Edit the customer AI Agent under AI Agents — instructions, knowledge sources, and test panel. Changing Co-Admin will not change customer replies.
Can Co-Admin read full chat transcripts?
No. Co-Admin works with product docs and aggregate workspace tools. Full message content for a thread stays in Chat. Customer AI Agents see messages on threads they are assigned to.
Should clinics put medical advice in an AI Agent?
No. Keep agents to logistics only — hours, booking, parking, location. Never symptoms, diagnoses, or lab values in templates or knowledge.
Where is the full comparison documented?
See docs.vendschat.com/co-admin/co-admin-vs-customer-ai-agents plus the Co-Admin and AI Agents sections of the docs site.
Pick the right AI, then ship
Sign up at vendschat.com — no card. New to the product? Start with the get-started checklist and docs.vendschat.com.
