eesel AI for SMS vs Jack The Butler

eesel AI for SMS is a web-based agent that replies to customer text messages using connected business knowledge. Named sources include Zendesk, Freshdesk, Google Drive, Notion, Confluence, websites, and Shopify. Teams can set the agent’s tone, topics, and escalation rules through a conversation, then preview responses and address knowledge gaps before launch. The agent supports more than 80 languages and can detect the customer’s language to reply accordingly. It can identify missing knowledge, draft articles for uncovered topics, and surface recurring conversation themes. Teams can set handoff rules based on topic, confidence, or customer request, with escalation through email or a connected helpdesk. A dedicated SMS number is required, and the page says any number that can receive texts can be added. The free plan is free with 100 credits; SMS usage is $0.40, with no platform fee or monthly minimum. The maker says customer data is not used to train AI models and connections are encrypted.

Jack The Butler is an open-source AI concierge for hospitality businesses, bringing WhatsApp, SMS, email, and web chat into one inbox. It can answer routine guest requests automatically and route more complex issues to staff with context. A property-specific knowledge base can inform guest responses. Jack supports Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, Ollama, and built-in local AI models. It is self-hosted, and its documentation says guest data remains on the property's server. Local AI can work offline without API costs, though responses are simpler and models need about 2 GB of RAM. WhatsApp connects through the WhatsApp Business API, SMS through Twilio, and property email through SMTP/IMAP. Deployment options include one-click cloud deployment and Docker installation. A REST API covers conversations, guests, tasks, knowledge-base entries, staff, and settings. The software is free and open source, with no per-message fees or per-room pricing; hosting and AI API use may cost extra. The maker estimates production hosting at about $5–10 per month and AI API use at about $5–20 per month.