Open.cx vs Kayako
Open.cx and Kayako, 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
Kayako
AI-first support platform. Kay AI agent positioned as an autonomous resolver, tagline "Scale Support Not Headcount."
Best for Mid-market to enterprise (retail/ecommerce, SaaS, financial services, healthcare) wanting managed, expert-led AI.
2001 (Jalandhar, India, by Varun Shoor). · London, UK (plus Gurgaon and Singapore).
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
- Open.cxPer resolution. No seat, setup, or per-message fees.
- KayakoHybrid: flat platform fee (Kayako One) plus $1 per AI-resolved ticket.
- Free plan
- Open.cxNo
- KayakoNot offered
- Free trial / guarantee
- Open.cx30-day pilot, then a 120-day money-back guarantee (every dollar of Open spend, up to $2M)
- Kayako90-day AI Agent Pilot with refund guarantee; 14-day trial also cited.(3rd-party)source
- Price
- Open.cx$0.90 per resolution · $0.75 per resolution (higher volume) · Custom (100K+ resolutions/mo)
- Kayako$79/mo flat (Kayako One). · Single platform tier. · Enterprise/custom via sales.(3rd-party)source
- Seat minimum
- Open.cxNone. Unlimited seats.
- KayakoNone stated (legacy Cloud 5, On-Prem 10).(3rd-party)source
- Unlimited agents
- Open.cxYes. Every seat is free.
- KayakoKayako One flat fee implies unlimited agents, though not stated explicitly.(claimed)source
- Implementation fee
- Open.cxNone
- KayakoWhite-glove onboarding included.
- Transparency
- Open.cxHigh. Tiered pricing published.
- KayakoLow. No plan prices listed publicly; directs to Talk to an Expert. The $1/resolution rate is the only public figure.
- Pricing last verified
- Open.cx2026-06-02
- Kayako2026-06-02
Channels
Where each tool can talk to customers.
- Open.cxNative
- KayakoNative
- Live chat
- Open.cxNative (web widget)
- KayakoNative
- Voice
- Open.cxNative (hosted numbers in 100+ countries), inbound and outbound, or bring your own carrier via SIP
- KayakoListed as a channel (native voice is contested).
- SMS
- Open.cxNative
- KayakoListed as a channel (native SMS is contested).
- Social
- Open.cxNative (Instagram, Facebook Messenger, X/Twitter)
- KayakoNative. X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn.(claimed)source
- Unified inbox
- Open.cxNative, and syncs with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Gorgias
- KayakoNative(claimed)source
Voice & Telephony
Native voice vs telephony integrations.
- Native vs via integration
- Open.cxNative numbers in 100+ countries, or bring your own carrier (SIP)
- KayakoVoice channel listed; native voice/IVR is contested (Twilio suggested as an alternative).
- Voice AI / transcription
- Open.cxYes. Real-time transcripts in the inbox.
- KayakoNot disclosed
- Telephony billed separately
- Open.cxCarrier minutes at cost (<$0.10 per resolution); no per-minute fee
- KayakoNot disclosed
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.
- KayakoYes. Kay triages, drafts, processes refunds, updates shipping, creates users, and closes cases.(claimed)source
- Copilot / Assist mode
- Open.cxYes. Drafts replies for an agent to review and send (Assist).
- KayakoYes. Response suggestions, sentiment coaching, auto-translation, duplicate detection, field autofill.(claimed)source
- Claimed automation rate
- Open.cx77% average automation; up to 80% (Trunkrs)(claimed)source
- Kayako80%+ of repetitive tickets resolved within 90 days; 68% AI resolution rate.(claimed)source
- AI channel coverage
- Open.cxChat, email, voice, WhatsApp, SMS, Slack, social
- KayakoEmail, chat, voice, social (X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, WhatsApp), SMS.(claimed)source
- Agentic actions (API) vs answer-only
- Open.cxTakes real actions through your APIs, like processing a refund or updating an order.
- KayakoActions via API. Refunds, shipping updates, and user creation through external APIs.(claimed)source
- Knowledge sources
- Open.cxHelp Center, websites, and 28+ connected tools (Zendesk, Notion, Shopify, Slack, and more)
- KayakoKnowledge base, ticket history and resolution data, company docs, customer profile data.(claimed)source
- Underlying model
- Open.cxAgent 5, its own model. Claims 95%+ accuracy and a 0% hallucination rate.(claimed)source
- KayakoNot disclosed
- Trains on past tickets
- Open.cxYes. Learns from your resolved tickets, and you can roll back if a change misfires.
- KayakoYes. Continuous Learning trains on resolved tickets.(claimed)source
- Pre-deploy simulation / sandbox
- Open.cxYes. Sandbox mode lets you test full workflows against a demo environment before you go live.
- KayakoNo named simulation mode. No-code builder tests rules against historical data.
- Multilingual
- Open.cxYes. 100+ languages, with an auto-translated help center.
- KayakoYes. Multi-language with auto-translation.(claimed)source
- 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.
- KayakoBoth. Kay can layer onto Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, or Kayako's own helpdesk.(claimed)source
- AI pricing model
- Open.cxPer resolution, so you pay for outcomes. Escalations to a human are free.
- KayakoPer resolved ticket (counts only when Kay solves without a human).
- AI unit price
- Open.cx$0.75–$0.90 per resolution; lower at higher volume, custom above 100K/mo
- Kayako$1 per AI-resolved ticket.
- Copilot / Assist price
- Open.cxIncluded free, with no separate copilot fee.
- KayakoBundled into the platform.
Security & Compliance
Certifications, data residency, and access controls.
- SOC 2 Type II
- Open.cxSOC 2 Type II
- KayakoAWS infrastructure holds SOC 1/2/3; Kayako does not claim its own SOC 2 certification.
- GDPR
- Open.cxYes. EU-resident, TLS 1.3 and AES-256, tenant-isolated, with automatic PII redaction.
- KayakoGDPR referenced; certified under EU-US DPF, UK Extension, and Swiss-US DPF.
- HIPAA / PCI
- Open.cxHIPAA- and PCI-ready(claimed)source
- KayakoListed as an evaluation criterion, not a confirmed certification.
- SSO / SAML
- Open.cxYes. SAML and OIDC (Okta, Entra, Google, or any IdP); SCIM. Enterprise plan.
- KayakoSSO supported; SAML SSO via connectors; 2FA.
- Data residency
- Open.cxEU. Storage in Frankfurt, AI processing in Sweden; all sub-processors EU-based.
- KayakoNot disclosed (data may be stored in the EEA, US, or other countries).
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
- KayakoNo native marketplace; hundreds via Zapier (Integrately lists 554). Native connectors: Salesforce, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, Shopify, Stripe, Jira, GitHub.
- Shopify depth
- Open.cxReads Shopify orders, products, and customers (read-only)
- KayakoPre-built connector syncing order and customer data into the SingleView timeline; bi-directional.(claimed)source
- Open / public API
- Open.cxYes. REST API (~30 resource areas) with webhooks and scoped keys.
- KayakoYes. RESTful API plus webhooks (developer.kayako.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.
- KayakoDev docs exist; no dedicated SDK package named.
Automation & Workflows
Builders, triggers, routing, and SLAs.
- Workflow builder
- Open.cxYes. Visual builder with 50+ prebuilt templates (API in beta).
- KayakoYes. No-code builder: describe rules in natural language, AI drafts them, test on historical data, approval gates.(claimed)source
- Triggers / automations
- Open.cxYes. Per-channel automation, topic routing, office hours.
- KayakoYes. Triggers/monitors with conditions, time-based, and AI-triggered (e.g. sentiment drop escalates).(claimed)source
- Routing
- Open.cxYes. AI topic classification, VIP/segment, frustration and low-confidence triggers, office-hours-aware.
- KayakoYes. AI triage auto-classifies and routes; custom SLAs per channel.(claimed)source
- Macros / canned responses
- Open.cxYes. Macros that can trigger workflows.
- KayakoYes. Prewritten responses and macros.(claimed)source
- SLA management
- Open.cxYes. SLA tracking and breach analytics.
- KayakoYes. Custom SLAs per channel; performance across intents, channels, and regions.(claimed)source
Collaboration
How support teams work a queue together.
- Internal notes
- Open.cxYes. Also posts notes into Intercom, Front, and Zendesk.
- KayakoYes. With @mentions.(claimed)source
- Collision detection
- Open.cxYes. Warns when teammates are on the same conversation.
- KayakoYes. Helps prevent duplicate effort.(claimed)source
- Side conversations
- Open.cxYes. Side conversations, internal notes, and @mentions.
- KayakoNo named feature; collaboration with experts/vendors referenced.
- Shared inbox
- Open.cxYes. Unified threads across channels.
- KayakoYes. Multi-team shared inboxes.(claimed)source
Self-Service & Knowledge
Knowledge base, help center, and deflection.
- Knowledge base
- Open.cxYes. Help Center with categories, versioning, and access controls.
- KayakoYes. Semantic search, freshness scoring, content gaps, multilingual.(claimed)source
- Help center
- Open.cxYes. Custom domain and branding.
- KayakoYes. Public help center in Kayako One.(claimed)source
- Community forum
- Open.cxNo. (Can use forum content as a knowledge source.)
- KayakoNot offered
- AI answers from knowledge base
- Open.cxYes. Cites articles and writes new ones from resolved tickets.
- KayakoYes. AI drafts KB articles from resolved tickets; AI chat widget; 80%+ deflection claimed.(claimed)source
Reporting & Analytics
Dashboards, custom reports, and CSAT.
- Dashboards
- Open.cxYes. Handoff, SLA, CSAT, and customer-insights dashboards.
- KayakoYes. Prebuilt dashboards (volume, handle time, FCR, CSAT/NPS, deflection, SLA).(claimed)source
- Custom reports
- Open.cxYes. Custom dashboards (Metabase) and natural-language queries.
- KayakoCustom-report builder not confirmed (legacy product had 100+ reports).
- Included in lowest tier
- Open.cxEverything's included. No feature tiers.
- KayakoPrebuilt reports in the Kayako One base.(claimed)source
- CSAT surveys
- Open.cxYes. Post-conversation, across 8 channels.
- KayakoYes. CSAT tracked (76%-90% in a case study).(claimed)source
Onboarding & Support
Implementation, CSM tiers, and partners.
- Onboarding
- Open.cxWhite-glove. A named team runs your setup. Self-serve quickstart too.
- KayakoWhite-glove, expert-led onboarding included; phased 2-4 week implementation; 90-day AI Pilot with refund guarantee.(claimed)source
- Support channels
- Open.cx24/7, included
- KayakoHelp center (support.kayako.com), Talk to an Expert, email; reviews note responsiveness gaps.(claimed)source
- Dedicated CSM
- Open.cxYes. A named team owns your deployment end to end.
- KayakoYes. CSM as a single point of contact (appears standard).(claimed)source
- Implementation partners
- Open.cxYes. Partner and reseller program.
- KayakoNo partner directory; ESW/Trilogy implies internal services only.
Frequently asked questions
Powered by Open.cx
Open.cx works with Kayako, 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 Kayako, 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.