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BASIC vs Automation Tools: A Practical Comparison

Understanding how General Bots BASIC compares to other automation platforms

Overview

General Bots BASIC provides a conversational-first approach to automation. This chapter compares BASIC with popular automation tools to help you understand when each approach works best.

Comparison Matrix

Feature Zapier n8n Make Power Automate BASIC
Webhooks ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Scheduling ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ SET SCHEDULE
HTTP/REST ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
GraphQL ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅
SOAP ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅
Database Native ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Conversations ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅
WhatsApp Native Plugin Plugin Plugin Plugin ✅ Built-in
Telegram Native Plugin Plugin Plugin ❌ ✅ Built-in
Multi-Channel Limited Limited Limited Limited ✅ Native
LLM Integration Plugin Plugin Plugin GPT-5 ✅ Any model
Self-Hosted ❌ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅
Open Source ❌ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ AGPL

Key Differences

Conversation-First Design

Traditional automation tools focus on backend workflows. BASIC adds interactive conversations:

I'll help you file an expense report. What's the amount?

10:30

$150

10:30

What category? (travel/meals/supplies)

10:30

meals

10:31

Upload the receipt photo

10:31

📎 receipt.jpg

10:31

✅ Expense submitted! Reference: EXP-2025-0142

10:31

Multi-Channel Native

The same bot works across all channels without modification:

Your order has shipped! 📦

Tracking: 7891234567890

14:20

This message reaches users on WhatsApp, Telegram, Web, or any configured channel—same content, adapted formatting.

LLM Model Freedom

BASIC supports any LLM provider:

  • OpenAI (GPT-5, o3)
  • Anthropic (Claude Sonnet 4.5, Opus 4.5)
  • Local models (Llama, Mistral via llama.cpp)
  • Groq, DeepSeek, and others
  • Any OpenAI-compatible API

Configure in config.csv:

name,value
llm-url,http://localhost:8081
llm-model,model.gguf

When to Use Each Tool

Choose BASIC When You Need

  • Interactive workflows - Users participate in the process
  • Multi-channel presence - Same bot on WhatsApp, Telegram, Web
  • AI-powered conversations - Natural language understanding
  • Self-hosted deployment - Full data control
  • Open source flexibility - Modify and extend as needed

Choose Traditional Automation When You Need

  • Backend-only workflows - No user interaction required
  • Visual workflow builders - Prefer drag-and-drop interfaces
  • Existing integrations - Specific pre-built connectors
  • Team familiarity - Team already knows the tool

Migration Examples

From Zapier

Zapier workflow: Form submission → Slack notification → CRM entry → Welcome email

BASIC equivalent:

New lead captured! 🎉

👤 John Smith

📧 john@example.com

🏢 Acme Corp

Added to CRM and notified the team.

09:15

From n8n

n8n workflow: Monitor website → Alert on error → Create ticket

BASIC equivalent runs on schedule and notifies immediately:

🔴 Website Alert

mysite.com returned status 503

Ticket #IT-2025-0891 created

DevOps team notified

03:42

Complete Office Suite

BASIC provides built-in capabilities for common office tasks:

Capability BASIC Keyword
Send email SEND MAIL
Create draft CREATE DRAFT
Schedule meetings BOOK
Manage files UPLOAD, DOWNLOAD, LIST
Create tasks CREATE TASK
Video meetings CREATE MEETING

Example: Daily Report Automation

📊 Daily Sales Report - May 15, 2025

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

💰 Revenue: $15,340

📦 Orders: 47

📈 +12% vs yesterday

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Report sent to executives@company.com

09:00

Getting Started

Quick Start

  1. Download and run botserver
  2. Edit your bot's .bas files
  3. Configure settings in config.csv
  4. Deploy to any channel

Resources