Gladly vs Kustomer
Gladly and Kustomer, side by side across AI, pricing, channels, security, and seven more categories. We pull every figure from public sources and don’t pick a winner.
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Gladly
The only AI built for LTV. People-centered AI support; no ticket model.
Best for Mid-market to enterprise retail, ecommerce, and hospitality (Ulta, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, TUMI).
2014 · San Francisco, CA.
Kustomer
AI-native customer service platform and CRM. Unifies AI agents, omnichannel, and CRM in one timeline.
Best for Mid-market to enterprise retail, travel, and finance replacing legacy ticketing (e.g. Turo, Everlane, Sweetgreen).
2015 · New York, NY
Claimed: from the vendor, not independently verified.
3rd-party: sourced elsewhere, not on the vendor's site.
Everything else: from the vendor's own pages and verifiable.
Pricing
List prices, seat rules, trials, and pricing transparency.
- Pricing model
- GladlyPer agent/mo, annual; usage fees for voice, SMS, and AI; not published on site.
- KustomerPer-seat, annual; two plans (Enterprise, Ultimate); voice/SMS/WhatsApp pay-as-you-go on top.
- Free trial / guarantee
- GladlyNo (enterprise); 30-day trial with 100 AI interactions via Shopify only.
- KustomerNot disclosed
- Price
- Gladly~$180/agent/mo (Hero, annual). · ~$210/agent/mo (Superhero, annual). · Not disclosed. Enterprise quote above Superhero.(3rd-party)source
- KustomerEnterprise ~$89/seat/mo (annual). · Ultimate ~$139/seat/mo (annual).(3rd-party)source
- Seat minimum
- Gladly~10 agents (Hero); ~45 (Superhero).(3rd-party)source
- Kustomer8 seats minimum.(3rd-party)source
- Implementation fee
- GladlyNot disclosed. Custom quote; Professional Services.(3rd-party)source
- KustomerPaid add-on; price not disclosed.
- Transparency
- GladlyOpaque. No pricing on site; requires a demo.
- KustomerLow. Base prices not published; Talk to Sales required.
Channels
Where each tool can talk to customers.
- GladlyNative
- KustomerNative
- Live chat
- GladlyNative
- KustomerNative
- In-app messenger
- GladlyNative
- KustomerNative (web/mobile SDKs).
- Voice
- GladlyNative. Built-in, enterprise-ready.
- KustomerNative (Kustomer Voice; $0.02/min US/CA inbound).
- SMS
- GladlyNative
- KustomerNative (pay-as-you-go).
- GladlyNative (via WhatsApp Business API).
- KustomerNative (up to 5 accounts; Meta fee + 20% markup).
- Social
- GladlyNative. Facebook Messenger, Instagram.
- KustomerNative (up to 50 FB pages, 50 IG accounts).
- Unified inbox
- GladlyNative. Single people-centered timeline (no tickets).
- KustomerNative. Single customer timeline.(claimed)source
Voice & Telephony
Native voice vs telephony integrations.
- Native vs via integration
- GladlyNative. Voice and IVR built-in, no third-party telephony needed.
- KustomerNative. AI-powered voice native; also 8x8, Aircall, Amazon Connect, Cordless integrations.
- Voice AI / transcription
- GladlyYes. AI voice summaries and transcription (Deepgram).
- KustomerAI conversation summaries confirmed; real-time transcription not explicit; PCI redaction across voice.
- Telephony billed separately
- GladlyYes. Per-minute on top of the seat fee (inbound local ~$0.0186/min).(3rd-party)source
- KustomerYes. Pay-as-you-go from $0.02/min US/CA.
AI & Automation
Autonomous resolution, agentic actions, models, and how AI is priced.
- Autonomous AI agent
- GladlyYes. Gladly Sidekick resolves end-to-end on chat, SMS, and voice (email soon); human handoff.(claimed)source
- KustomerYes. Concierge customer-facing agent. Multi-step workflows, refunds, subscriptions, GET/POST/PUT/DELETE API calls.
- Copilot / Assist mode
- GladlyYes. Team Assist: AI-drafted responses, real-time translation, and summaries.(claimed)source
- KustomerYes. Envoy (ex KIQ Agent Assist): suggested responses, summaries, text enhancement, 2-way translation.
- Claimed automation rate
- Gladly76% of conversations fully resolved by AI (homepage); KUHL 59%.(claimed)source
- Kustomer70% of chat fully automated (Vuori); 98% WhatsApp AI-powered (unnamed); copilot up to 65% efficiency.(claimed)source
- AI channel coverage
- GladlyChat, SMS, and voice (Sidekick Voice); email launching soon; social not confirmed.(claimed)source
- KustomerChat, email, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, forms.
- Agentic actions (API) vs answer-only
- GladlyBoth. Refunds, cancellations, and booking updates via connected commerce and logistics APIs.(claimed)source
- KustomerActions via API. Refunds, subscription changes, shipment tracking (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE).
- Knowledge sources
- GladlyBrand KB (Guides), conversation history, and integrated commerce, logistics, and order data.(claimed)source
- KustomerKB articles, public web pages, full CRM timeline (purchase history, conversations, loyalty), Guru integration.
- Underlying model
- GladlyNot publicly disclosed; uses Azure, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Deepgram (voice).
- KustomerOpenAI (GPT-3.5/GPT-4), Anthropic, AWS Bedrock; Amazon Translate.
- Trains on past tickets
- GladlyYes. Learns from every conversation, including human resolutions; not used to train its own models.(claimed)source
- KustomerCustomer data not used to train global models; OpenAI zero-retention.
- Pre-deploy simulation / sandbox
- GladlyNot disclosed
- KustomerYes. AI Evaluations (hundreds of test conversations); Automation Assistant flags conflicts pre-launch; sandbox.
- Multilingual
- GladlyPartial. Platform translation in 70+ languages; Sidekick AI authoring English-only; IVR 30 languages.
- KustomerYes. 2-way translation in 53 languages; agent templates in FR/NL/DE/Amharic.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- GladlyNative only. Sidekick needs Gladly as the primary helpdesk.
- KustomerNative only. The Kustomer AI layer needs the Kustomer platform for full functionality.
- AI pricing model
- GladlyUsage-based (per conversation or resolution) on top of a per-agent fee.(3rd-party)source
- KustomerCustomer-facing agents per engaged conversation; rep copilot per user/mo.(3rd-party)source
- AI unit price
- Gladly~$0.60/conversation (enterprise); $1.50/AI Resolution + $0.25/AI Assist (Shopify tier).(3rd-party)source
- Kustomer$0.60 per engaged conversation (add-on).(3rd-party)source
- Copilot / Assist price
- GladlyNot disclosed (Team Assist not broken out).
- Kustomer$40/user/mo (AI for Reps/Envoy); historically $39 KIQ Agent Assist.(3rd-party)source
How Open.cx compares
Open.cx runs on top of Gladly or Kustomeras an AI layer, or works as its own helpdesk. Here's where it lands on the same questions.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- Both. Add it on top of the helpdesk you already run, or use it as your own inbox. Works with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Twilio Flex, and Creatio.
- Autonomous AI agent
- Yes. Autopilot resolves tickets end to end on its own, across every channel.
- AI pricing model
- Per resolution, so you pay for outcomes. Escalations to a human are free.
- Claimed automation rate
- 77% average automation; up to 80% (Trunkrs)(claimed)source
Security & Compliance
Certifications, data residency, and access controls.
- SOC 2 Type II
- GladlySOC 2 Type II (and AI sub-processors).
- KustomerSOC 2 Type II.
- GDPR
- GladlyYes. DPAs with AI vendors; VeraSafe EU/UK representative.
- KustomerYes. Data processor; DPA; US and EU hosting; CCPA.
- HIPAA / PCI
- GladlyNot disclosed. PCI-DSS and GDPR confirmed; HIPAA not referenced.
- KustomerPaid add-on (Enterprise/Ultimate); BAA; requires SSO+MFA.
- SSO / SAML
- GladlyYes. SSO; SAML certificates.
- KustomerYes. SAML; Google and MS365 SSO; SCIM.
- Data residency
- GladlyPartial. 9 global regions for voice; no explicit customer-selectable residency.
- KustomerAWS US and EU via sub-processors; customer-selectable residency not disclosed.
Integrations
Marketplace breadth, APIs, and developer tooling.
- Marketplace / integrations (approx.)
- Gladly60+ integrations.
- Kustomer~60+ integrations.(3rd-party)source
- Shopify depth
- GladlyDeep native. Customer and purchase history, order management, returns (via Loop), and shipping; Shopify App Store trial.
- KustomerDeep native. One-click; full order history, SKUs, images, LTV; process returns/exchanges; Shopify Plus.
- Open / public API
- GladlyYes. Open APIs; developer.gladly.com.
- KustomerYes. REST API + webhooks; MCP server.
- Developer SDK / MCP
- GladlyYes. SDKs, sample apps, and testing; webhooks via Messaging Automation APIs.
- KustomerYes. Chat SDKs (web, iOS, Android, React Native); Apps Platform.
Automation & Workflows
Builders, triggers, routing, and SLAs.
- Workflow builder
- GladlyRouting and entry-point config; no named workflow builder.
- KustomerYes. Visual builder with Workflow Assistant (AI-guided).
- Triggers / automations
- GladlyYes. Automated routing, proactive outreach (voice, SMS, email), and entry-point rules.
- KustomerYes. Up to 200 business rules; message-attribute AI activation; Automation Assistant.
- Routing
- GladlyYes. People Match intelligent routing (history, skills, attributes).
- KustomerYes. Smart routing, business-hours-aware, team filtering, queue routing.
- Macros / canned responses
- GladlyYes. Quick Reply (button responses) and macros.
- KustomerYes. Shortcuts; AI-suggested responses.
- SLA management
- GladlyYes. SLA Business Hours and Entry Point SLA settings.
- KustomerYes. SLA management with visual dashboard; up to 10 queues/teams.
Collaboration
How support teams work a queue together.
- Internal notes
- GladlyYes. Notes and @mentions.
- KustomerYes. Visible to team; @mentions.
- Collision detection
- GladlyReferenced in comparisons; not confirmed on a Gladly page.(3rd-party)source
- KustomerYes. Presence indicators when multiple agents view.(3rd-party)source
- Side conversations
- GladlyNot disclosed
- KustomerNot disclosed (notes/@mentions confirmed).
- Shared inbox
- GladlyYes. Unified inbox; task management tied to customer threads.
- KustomerYes. Unified omnichannel timeline.(claimed)source
Self-Service & Knowledge
Knowledge base, help center, and deflection.
- Knowledge base
- GladlyYes. Answers KB for agents and AI; configured via non-developer Guides.
- KustomerYes. SEO-optimized; internal and public; theme builder, multi-brand/language.
- Help center
- GladlyYes. Customer-facing, 45+ languages.
- KustomerYes. Customer portal with search; request submission and tracking.
- Community forum
- GladlyNot offered
- KustomerYes. Referenced as help center component.
- AI answers from knowledge base
- GladlyYes. Sidekick serves answers from the Answers KB autonomously.(claimed)source
- KustomerYes. Concierge surfaces AI answers from KB; KB Assistant improves accuracy.
Reporting & Analytics
Dashboards, custom reports, and CSAT.
- Dashboards
- GladlyYes. Liveboards (real-time) and Insight Builder.
- KustomerYes. Prebuilt dashboards (volume, handle time, CSAT, SLA); real-time.
- Custom reports
- GladlyYes. Insight Builder custom reports.
- KustomerYes. Chart Editor; Data Explorer (NL analytics).
- Included in lowest tier
- GladlyReporting tier restrictions not published; appears standard.
- KustomerReporting in base platform (no tier gating noted).(claimed)source
- CSAT surveys
- GladlyYes. Native CSAT; integrates Delighted, SimpleSat, Stella.
- KustomerYes. Native CSAT; real-time tracking; AI Evaluations scores every AI interaction.
Onboarding & Support
Implementation, CSM tiers, and partners.
- Onboarding
- GladlyDedicated implementation team; Professional Services; guided docs.
- KustomerImplementation services paid add-on; vendor-managed onboarding; ~2 months typical.
- Support channels
- GladlyGladly Support team (bugs, how-tos, config); dedicated CSM post-implementation.
- KustomerHelp Center, community portal; direct channels not public.
- Dedicated CSM
- GladlyYes. All customers get a dedicated CSM post-implementation.
- KustomerEvery customer gets a CSM.
- Implementation partners
- GladlyNot disclosed. No partner or SI page found.
- KustomerYes. Referral/Reseller/Developer/Integration partner tiers.
Frequently asked questions
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