Comparison
Fixed messages or real answers? Both have a place.
WhatsApp Business is free and you may already use it. Its auto-replies are fixed messages: a greeting when someone writes first, an away message after hours, and quick replies you send with a tap. They do not understand the question. A fad does. It reads what the visitor asked and answers from your files, then hands over to your WhatsApp when a person is needed.
| fad.fyi | WhatsApp Business auto-reply | |
|---|---|---|
| Understands the question | Yes. It reads the question and finds the answer in your sources. | No. It sends the same fixed greeting or away message to everyone. |
| Answers from your files | Yes. PDFs, Excel, web pages, pasted text, Q&A pairs and product lists. | No. Only the text you typed into each message or quick reply. |
| Where it works | Your public link fad.fyi/yourname, a QR code and your website widget. | Inside WhatsApp chats with people who already messaged your number. |
| Human handoff | Built in. The fad opens your WhatsApp with the question prefilled when needed. | You are already in WhatsApp. You reply yourself when you are free. |
| Hinglish and Hindi | Understands the question and replies in the visitor's language. | Fixed messages in whichever language you typed them. |
| Setup | About 5 minutes. Feed a file or paste text, then share the link. | A few minutes inside the app. Type your greeting and away messages. |
| Learns over time | Yes. Missed questions appear in Teach, you answer once, it remembers. | No. Messages stay as typed until you edit them. |
| Cost | Free plan with 3 fads and 10 sources each. Pro coming soon. | Free app. |
- You only want a polite greeting and an after-hours message inside WhatsApp. Auto-reply does exactly that, for free.
- All your customer conversations already happen on WhatsApp and you reply personally within minutes.
- You have ten regular customers who know you. They do not need a chatbot, they need you.
Keep WhatsApp Business. It is where your customers already are, and its greeting and away messages are useful. Add a fad for the questions auto-reply cannot handle: prices, timings, stock, policies, in Hindi or English, at 11 pm. Put the fad link in your WhatsApp profile and on your counter. When someone needs you, the fad brings them back to WhatsApp.
Try fad.fyi freeQuestions people ask
Can a fad reply inside WhatsApp?
No. A fad lives at your fad.fyi link, on your website widget and behind your QR code, not inside WhatsApp chats. What it does with WhatsApp is the handoff: when a visitor needs a person, one tap opens your WhatsApp with their question prefilled.
Can I put my fad link in my WhatsApp away message?
Yes, and it is a good idea. Your away message can say: We are closed now. For prices and timings ask our assistant at fad.fyi/yourname. The customer gets answers at night, and anything the fad cannot handle comes back to you on WhatsApp in the morning.
Is a fad the same as a WhatsApp chatbot from an agency?
No. Agency WhatsApp bots run on the paid WhatsApp Business API and reply inside WhatsApp, which involves setup and message charges. A fad is a web chatbot at your own link, free to start, that understands questions and hands over to your normal WhatsApp when a person is needed.