Open.cx vs Gladly
Open.cx and Gladly, side by side across AI, pricing, channels, security, and seven more categories.
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Open.cx
RecommendedAn AI layer that runs on top of the helpdesk you already use, or works as its own. It resolves tickets across every channel on its own.
Best for High-volume teams (5,000+ tickets/mo) that want automation without switching helpdesks.
2024 (YC W24) · San Francisco, USA
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.
Pricing
List prices, seat rules, trials, and pricing transparency.
- Pricing model
- Open.cxPer resolution. No seat, setup, or per-message fees.
- GladlyPer agent/mo, annual; usage fees for voice, SMS, and AI; not published on site.
- Free trial / guarantee
- Open.cx30-day pilot, then a 120-day money-back guarantee (every dollar of Open spend, up to $2M)
- GladlyNo (enterprise); 30-day trial with 100 AI interactions via Shopify only.
- Price
- Open.cx$0.90 per resolution · $0.75 per resolution (higher volume) · Custom (100K+ resolutions/mo)
- Gladly~$180/agent/mo (Hero, annual). · ~$210/agent/mo (Superhero, annual). · Not disclosed. Enterprise quote above Superhero.(3rd-party)source
- Implementation fee
- Open.cxNone
- GladlyNot disclosed. Custom quote; Professional Services.(3rd-party)source
- Transparency
- Open.cxHigh. Tiered pricing published.
- GladlyOpaque. No pricing on site; requires a demo.
Channels
Where each tool can talk to customers.
- Open.cxNative
- GladlyNative
- Live chat
- Open.cxNative (web widget)
- GladlyNative
- In-app messenger
- Open.cxNative (web, React, Vue)
- GladlyNative
- Voice
- Open.cxNative (hosted numbers in 100+ countries), inbound and outbound, or bring your own carrier via SIP
- GladlyNative. Built-in, enterprise-ready.
- SMS
- Open.cxNative
- GladlyNative
- Open.cxNative (WhatsApp Business)
- GladlyNative (via WhatsApp Business API).
- Social
- Open.cxNative (Instagram, Facebook Messenger, X/Twitter)
- GladlyNative. Facebook Messenger, Instagram.
- Unified inbox
- Open.cxNative, and syncs with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Gorgias
- GladlyNative. Single people-centered timeline (no tickets).
Voice & Telephony
Native voice vs telephony integrations.
- Native vs via integration
- Open.cxNative numbers in 100+ countries, or bring your own carrier (SIP)
- GladlyNative. Voice and IVR built-in, no third-party telephony needed.
- Voice AI / transcription
- Open.cxYes. Real-time transcripts in the inbox.
- GladlyYes. AI voice summaries and transcription (Deepgram).
- Telephony billed separately
- Open.cxCarrier minutes at cost (<$0.10 per resolution); no per-minute fee
- GladlyYes. Per-minute on top of the seat fee (inbound local ~$0.0186/min).(3rd-party)source
AI & Automation
Autonomous resolution, agentic actions, models, and how AI is priced.
- Autonomous AI agent
- Open.cxYes. Autopilot resolves tickets end to end on its own, across every channel.
- GladlyYes. Gladly Sidekick resolves end-to-end on chat, SMS, and voice (email soon); human handoff.(claimed)source
- Copilot / Assist mode
- Open.cxYes. Drafts replies for an agent to review and send (Assist).
- GladlyYes. Team Assist: AI-drafted responses, real-time translation, and summaries.(claimed)source
- Claimed automation rate
- Open.cx77% average automation; up to 80% (Trunkrs)(claimed)source
- Gladly76% of conversations fully resolved by AI (homepage); KUHL 59%.(claimed)source
- AI channel coverage
- Open.cxChat, email, voice, WhatsApp, SMS, Slack, social
- GladlyChat, SMS, and voice (Sidekick Voice); email launching soon; social not confirmed.(claimed)source
- Agentic actions (API) vs answer-only
- Open.cxTakes real actions through your APIs, like processing a refund or updating an order.
- GladlyBoth. Refunds, cancellations, and booking updates via connected commerce and logistics APIs.(claimed)source
- Knowledge sources
- Open.cxHelp Center, websites, and 28+ connected tools (Zendesk, Notion, Shopify, Slack, and more)
- GladlyBrand KB (Guides), conversation history, and integrated commerce, logistics, and order data.(claimed)source
- Underlying model
- Open.cxAgent 5, its own model. Claims 95%+ accuracy and a 0% hallucination rate.(claimed)source
- GladlyNot publicly disclosed; uses Azure, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Deepgram (voice).
- Trains on past tickets
- Open.cxYes. Learns from your resolved tickets, and you can roll back if a change misfires.
- GladlyYes. Learns from every conversation, including human resolutions; not used to train its own models.(claimed)source
- Pre-deploy simulation / sandbox
- Open.cxYes. Sandbox mode lets you test full workflows against a demo environment before you go live.
- GladlyNot disclosed
- Multilingual
- Open.cxYes. 100+ languages, with an auto-translated help center.
- GladlyPartial. Platform translation in 70+ languages; Sidekick AI authoring English-only; IVR 30 languages.
- Runs on your existing helpdesk vs native-only
- Open.cxBoth. 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.
- GladlyNative only. Sidekick needs Gladly as the primary helpdesk.
- AI pricing model
- Open.cxPer resolution, so you pay for outcomes. Escalations to a human are free.
- GladlyUsage-based (per conversation or resolution) on top of a per-agent fee.(3rd-party)source
- AI unit price
- Open.cx$0.75–$0.90 per resolution; lower at higher volume, custom above 100K/mo
- Gladly~$0.60/conversation (enterprise); $1.50/AI Resolution + $0.25/AI Assist (Shopify tier).(3rd-party)source
- Copilot / Assist price
- Open.cxIncluded free, with no separate copilot fee.
- GladlyNot disclosed (Team Assist not broken out).
Security & Compliance
Certifications, data residency, and access controls.
- SOC 2 Type II
- Open.cxSOC 2 Type II
- GladlySOC 2 Type II (and AI sub-processors).
- GDPR
- Open.cxYes. EU-resident, TLS 1.3 and AES-256, tenant-isolated, with automatic PII redaction.
- GladlyYes. DPAs with AI vendors; VeraSafe EU/UK representative.
- HIPAA / PCI
- Open.cxHIPAA- and PCI-ready(claimed)source
- GladlyNot disclosed. PCI-DSS and GDPR confirmed; HIPAA not referenced.
- SSO / SAML
- Open.cxYes. SAML and OIDC (Okta, Entra, Google, or any IdP); SCIM. Enterprise plan.
- GladlyYes. SSO; SAML certificates.
- Data residency
- Open.cxEU. Storage in Frankfurt, AI processing in Sweden; all sub-processors EU-based.
- GladlyPartial. 9 global regions for voice; no explicit customer-selectable residency.
Integrations
Marketplace breadth, APIs, and developer tooling.
- Marketplace / integrations (approx.)
- Open.cx~40 integrations + 28 data sources (Notion, BigQuery, Snowflake, Slack, and more), plus Zapier
- Gladly60+ integrations.
- Shopify depth
- Open.cxReads Shopify orders, products, and customers (read-only)
- GladlyDeep native. Customer and purchase history, order management, returns (via Loop), and shipping; Shopify App Store trial.
- Open / public API
- Open.cxYes. REST API (~30 resource areas) with webhooks and scoped keys.
- GladlyYes. Open APIs; developer.gladly.com.
- Developer SDK / MCP
- Open.cxReact widget SDK (npm) plus a headless variant; MCP server (140+ tools) for Claude, Cursor, and VS Code; REST API and webhooks.
- GladlyYes. SDKs, sample apps, and testing; webhooks via Messaging Automation APIs.
Automation & Workflows
Builders, triggers, routing, and SLAs.
- Workflow builder
- Open.cxYes. Visual builder with 50+ prebuilt templates (API in beta).
- GladlyRouting and entry-point config; no named workflow builder.
- Triggers / automations
- Open.cxYes. Per-channel automation, topic routing, office hours.
- GladlyYes. Automated routing, proactive outreach (voice, SMS, email), and entry-point rules.
- Routing
- Open.cxYes. AI topic classification, VIP/segment, frustration and low-confidence triggers, office-hours-aware.
- GladlyYes. People Match intelligent routing (history, skills, attributes).
- Macros / canned responses
- Open.cxYes. Macros that can trigger workflows.
- GladlyYes. Quick Reply (button responses) and macros.
- SLA management
- Open.cxYes. SLA tracking and breach analytics.
- GladlyYes. SLA Business Hours and Entry Point SLA settings.
Collaboration
How support teams work a queue together.
- Internal notes
- Open.cxYes. Also posts notes into Intercom, Front, and Zendesk.
- GladlyYes. Notes and @mentions.
- Collision detection
- Open.cxYes. Warns when teammates are on the same conversation.
- GladlyReferenced in comparisons; not confirmed on a Gladly page.(3rd-party)source
- Side conversations
- Open.cxYes. Side conversations, internal notes, and @mentions.
- GladlyNot disclosed
- Shared inbox
- Open.cxYes. Unified threads across channels.
- GladlyYes. Unified inbox; task management tied to customer threads.
Self-Service & Knowledge
Knowledge base, help center, and deflection.
- Knowledge base
- Open.cxYes. Help Center with categories, versioning, and access controls.
- GladlyYes. Answers KB for agents and AI; configured via non-developer Guides.
- Help center
- Open.cxYes. Custom domain and branding.
- GladlyYes. Customer-facing, 45+ languages.
- Community forum
- Open.cxNo. (Can use forum content as a knowledge source.)
- GladlyNot offered
- AI answers from knowledge base
- Open.cxYes. Cites articles and writes new ones from resolved tickets.
- GladlyYes. Sidekick serves answers from the Answers KB autonomously.(claimed)source
Reporting & Analytics
Dashboards, custom reports, and CSAT.
- Dashboards
- Open.cxYes. Handoff, SLA, CSAT, and customer-insights dashboards.
- GladlyYes. Liveboards (real-time) and Insight Builder.
- Custom reports
- Open.cxYes. Custom dashboards (Metabase) and natural-language queries.
- GladlyYes. Insight Builder custom reports.
- Included in lowest tier
- Open.cxEverything's included. No feature tiers.
- GladlyReporting tier restrictions not published; appears standard.
- CSAT surveys
- Open.cxYes. Post-conversation, across 8 channels.
- GladlyYes. Native CSAT; integrates Delighted, SimpleSat, Stella.
Onboarding & Support
Implementation, CSM tiers, and partners.
- Onboarding
- Open.cxWhite-glove. A named team runs your setup. Self-serve quickstart too.
- GladlyDedicated implementation team; Professional Services; guided docs.
- Support channels
- Open.cx24/7, included
- GladlyGladly Support team (bugs, how-tos, config); dedicated CSM post-implementation.
- Dedicated CSM
- Open.cxYes. A named team owns your deployment end to end.
- GladlyYes. All customers get a dedicated CSM post-implementation.
- Implementation partners
- Open.cxYes. Partner and reseller program.
- GladlyNot disclosed. No partner or SI page found.
Frequently asked questions
Open.cx works with Gladly, or replaces it
Open.cx resolves tickets end to end across chat, email, voice, and WhatsApp. Run it as an AI layer on top of Gladly, or as your whole helpdesk. You pay per resolution, escalations to a human are free, seats are unlimited, and there's a 120-day money-back guarantee.