How are AI SDRs like Conversica, 11x and Artisan different from an AI Sales Agent built for Chinese export factories?
The difference starts with direction. 11x and Artisan are AI SDRs that do outbound prospecting for US B2B sales teams: building lists, sending cold emails and LinkedIn messages, booking meetings. Conversica mainly follows up English-language inbound leads. An AI Sales Agent for exporters does the opposite job: overseas buyers send inquiries, and it answers specs, MOQ, lead time and certifications on WhatsApp and the factory website in the buyer’s language, then hands a qualified conversation to a human rep. Channels, languages, pricing and delivery all follow from that.
What is an AI SDR?
An AI SDR automates the Sales Development Representative role in a US sales team. A human SDR finds prospects, sends the first outreach, follows up and books meetings for an account executive who then works to close deals. An AI SDR does those steps in software: picking contacts from a database, enriching them, writing personalized email and LinkedIn sequences, following up on a schedule and filling calendars.
It assumes you already have a clear ideal customer profile, a US-style sales process and a CRM such as Salesforce or HubSpot. As a category, these tools are built for US B2B SaaS and enterprise sales teams, work mainly in English, connect to Salesforce/HubSpot, LinkedIn and email sequences, bill in US dollars on annual contracts, and do not offer a Chinese-speaking delivery team or integrate with Chinese workplace tools (vendor public materials, 2026).
What do 11x, Artisan and Conversica each do?
All three get labeled “AI SDR,” but their focus differs. The summary below draws on vendor sites and public reporting; check each vendor’s current pricing page.
11x: Alice for outbound, Julian for inbound
11x offers two “digital workers.” Alice handles outbound across email, LinkedIn and other channels; Julian handles inbound calls and leads. Alice’s pricing page lists a Growth tier from about $3,750/month on an annual contract, while the site FAQ says from $36,000/year, so the two figures do not match (11x website, 2026). TechCrunch reported that 11x had listed companies on unpaid trials as customers and questioned its ARR figures; 11x responded that it uses contracted ARR (TechCrunch, 2025-03-24).
Artisan: Ava, an outbound AI BDR
Artisan positions Ava as an AI BDR that finds leads, enriches contact data, sends outreach emails and books meetings. It is a typical outbound tool. The site prices by usage credits without published numbers; third-party 2026 estimates put self-serve plans at roughly $280–$660/month, with enterprise annual contracts higher (third-party estimates, 2026).
Conversica: veteran inbound follow-up, now leaning into US auto retail
Founded in 2007, Conversica follows up and nurtures inbound leads over email, SMS and website chat. It does not publish prices; third-party estimates start around $3,000/month on annual terms. In July 2026 it launched a product for car dealers and completed a recapitalization led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, a clear shift toward US automotive retail (public reporting, 2026).
What are the core differences?
In one line: an AI SDR is about going out to find buyers; an AI Sales Agent for exporters is about catching buyers who come to you. There are seven practical differences.
- Direction: outbound vs. inbound. Alice and Ava send messages out. A factory’s pain is usually inquiries that already arrived and went unanswered overnight, got a wrong answer, or were never fully qualified.
- Process: US SaaS sales vs. factory RFQs. An AI SDR aims to book a demo. A factory inquiry is about model numbers, specs, MOQ, lead time, certifications, samples and Incoterms, where one wrong parameter breaks the quote.
- Channels: LinkedIn and email sequences vs. WhatsApp, website chat and Messenger. WhatsApp has a 24-hour window that reopens each time the buyer writes; outside it, only template messages can be sent (Meta developer docs, 2026). Messenger has the same 24-hour standard messaging window (Meta developer docs).
- Language: mostly English vs. following the buyer. Factory inquiries come in German, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and more.
- Billing: US-dollar annual contracts. All three are priced in dollars per month, billed annually, by list price or estimate.
- Delivery: self-serve vs. done-for-you. With an AI SDR your team configures sequences, writes prompts and maintains lists.
- Collaboration: Salesforce/HubSpot vs. Chinese workplace tools. Factory sales teams work in Feishu, DingTalk or WeCom, so handoff alerts need to land there.
How do they compare side by side?
| 11x (Alice / Julian) | Artisan (Ava) | Conversica | Exporter AI Sales Agent (e.g. DeepSales) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main direction | Mostly outbound, plus inbound | Outbound | Inbound follow-up | Inbound inquiries |
| Built for | US B2B sales teams | US B2B sales teams | US companies, now car dealers | Chinese exporters |
| Channels | Email, LinkedIn, phone | Email, LinkedIn | Email, SMS, web chat | WhatsApp, website chat, Messenger, Instagram, LINE |
| Language | Mainly English | Mainly English | Mainly English | Follows the buyer |
| Answers | Outreach, meeting booking | Outreach, meeting booking | Lead follow-up | Specs, MOQ, lead time, certifications, quote drafts |
| CRM / collaboration | Salesforce / HubSpot | Salesforce / HubSpot | Salesforce etc. | Feishu handoff cards, reps reply in-platform |
| Price (public or estimated) | From ~$3,750/mo, annual | ~$280–$660/mo (est.) | From ~$3,000/mo (est.) | Not published; annual service by scope |
| Delivery | Mostly self-serve | Mostly self-serve | Vendor-assisted | Done-for-you, Chinese-speaking team |
Prices come from 11x’s site, third-party estimates and public reporting (2025–2026) and are for reference only. See our vendor overview and comparison page for other categories.
Example: one German inquiry, two kinds of tools
At 11 p.m. Beijing time a German distributor asks in the factory’s website chat: “What tonnage is this four-column hydraulic press? Can you do 400V 50Hz? Is it CE certified? What’s the MOQ and lead time to Hamburg?” He then sends a site photo on WhatsApp.
- AI SDR: this is not its home ground. It is built to email a list and book replies into a calendar; website chat, WhatsApp images and German technical Q&A usually need other tools.
- Exporter AI Sales Agent: replies in German, answers tonnage, voltage options, CE status and MOQ from that model’s product fields, asks for quantity, destination port and application because lead time and freight need a rep, then pushes the conversation and summary to the rep for a quote next morning.
Why do buyers still want a human after talking to AI?
Gartner surveyed 645 B2B buyers in May 2026: 45% had used generative AI in purchasing, and 69% would check AI-provided conclusions with a sales rep (Gartner, 2026). Negotiation, payment terms and the final decision should stay with people.
When should you choose an overseas AI SDR?
- You have a US sales team or subsidiary prospecting US companies and already run Salesforce or HubSpot.
- You sell software, services or standardized products that move forward in one online meeting.
- Your key metric is new meetings, not reply speed on inquiries you already get.
- Your team can configure sequences, maintain lists and review outbound copy in English, and accepts dollar annual contracts.
If instead your problem is inquiries on WhatsApp and your website that go unanswered or get wrong answers, an exporter AI Sales Agent fits better. The two can coexist: prospects found by an AI SDR who come back to ask for a price on WhatsApp can be handled by the agent. Using AI on WhatsApp is allowed when it serves your own customers; Meta’s updated terms ban general-purpose AI assistants from 2025-10-15 for new users and 2026-01-15 for all (TechCrunch, 2025-10-18).
How does DeepSales handle this?
DeepSales from Singoo Cloud handles inbound inquiries only; we do not do outbound or cold email.
- Channels: AI replies on website chat, WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business API, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and LINE, on your own accounts. Email inquiries can be viewed in the same platform but are handled by people; the AI does not auto-reply to email.
- Answers: from your knowledge base plus a structured product center (SKU, specs, price, MOQ, certifications), answered field by field.
- Handoff: rule-based triggers push a Feishu card with buyer profile, summary, reason and suggested reply; reps take over in-platform with full history.
- Quotes: higher tiers draft quotes from your rules for human approval; negotiation and final decisions stay with people.
- Delivery: done-for-you. Our team builds and tunes it from your materials and your best reps’ past conversations.
Pricing is not published; see how DeepSales is priced. If US outbound is your main goal, we are not the right fit. Otherwise, book a demo and we will run a sample conversation on your own catalog.