LiveChat vs OpenAI

Make an informed decision with our comprehensive comparison. Discover which RAG solution perfectly fits your needs.

Priyansh Khodiyar's avatar
Priyansh KhodiyarDevRel at CustomGPT.ai

Fact checked and reviewed by Bill Cava

Published: 01.04.2025Updated: 25.04.2025

In this comprehensive guide, we compare LiveChat and OpenAI across various parameters including features, pricing, performance, and customer support to help you make the best decision for your business needs.

Overview

When choosing between LiveChat and OpenAI, understanding their unique strengths and architectural differences is crucial for making an informed decision. Both platforms serve the RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) space but cater to different use cases and organizational needs.

Quick Decision Guide

  • Choose LiveChat if: you value mature 20+ year platform with proven enterprise reliability (adobe, paypal, ikea, samsung, best buy)
  • Choose OpenAI if: you value industry-leading model performance

About LiveChat

LiveChat Landing Page Screenshot

LiveChat is enterprise live chat platform with ai-augmented customer support workflows. Mature 20+ year live chat platform owned by publicly-traded Text S.A. (WSE: TXT, $88.9M annual revenue) serving 37,000+ businesses including Adobe, PayPal, IKEA. NOT a RAG-as-a-Service platform—operates as human-agent live chat with AI augmentation features. Proprietary AI engine (not LLM model selection), limited knowledge sources (PDFs/websites only), no vector database controls, no anti-hallucination mechanisms. Strong for traditional customer support workflows. $20-$59/agent/month + $52/month ChatBot addon. Founded in 2002, headquartered in Wroclaw, Poland, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.

Overall Rating
86/100
Starting Price
$20/mo

About OpenAI

OpenAI Landing Page Screenshot

OpenAI is leading ai research company and api provider. OpenAI provides state-of-the-art language models and AI capabilities through APIs, including GPT-4, assistants with retrieval capabilities, and various AI tools for developers and enterprises. Founded in 2015, headquartered in San Francisco, CA, the platform has established itself as a reliable solution in the RAG space.

Overall Rating
90/100
Starting Price
Custom

Key Differences at a Glance

In terms of user ratings, both platforms score similarly in overall satisfaction. From a cost perspective, pricing is comparable. The platforms also differ in their primary focus: Customer Support versus AI Platform. These differences make each platform better suited for specific use cases and organizational requirements.

⚠️ What This Comparison Covers

We'll analyze features, pricing, performance benchmarks, security compliance, integration capabilities, and real-world use cases to help you determine which platform best fits your organization's needs. All data is independently verified from official documentation and third-party review platforms.

Detailed Feature Comparison

logo of livechat
LiveChat
logo of openai
OpenAI
logo of customGPT logo
CustomGPTRECOMMENDED
Data Ingestion & Knowledge Sources
  • Supported formats – PDFs and website crawling only (max 2,000 pages)
  • Plan limits – Team: 10 files/3 sites, Business: 30 files/10 sites
  • ⚠️ NO DOCX, TXT, CSV, Excel – No audio, video, code files (vs 1,400+ formats)
  • ⚠️ NO cloud storage sync – No Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Notion, Confluence
  • ✅ Embeddings API – text-embedding models generate vectors for semantic search workflows
  • ⚠️ DIY Pipeline – No ready-made ingestion; build chunking, indexing, refreshing yourself
  • Azure File Search – Beta preview tool accepts uploads for semantic search
  • Manual Architecture – Embed docs → vector DB → retrieve chunks at query time
  • 1,400+ file formats – PDF, DOCX, Excel, PowerPoint, Markdown, HTML + auto-extraction from ZIP/RAR/7Z archives
  • Website crawling – Sitemap indexing with configurable depth for help docs, FAQs, and public content
  • Multimedia transcription – AI Vision, OCR, YouTube/Vimeo/podcast speech-to-text built-in
  • Cloud integrations – Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, Notion with auto-sync
  • Knowledge platforms – Zendesk, Freshdesk, HubSpot, Confluence, Shopify connectors
  • Massive scale – 60M words (Standard) / 300M words (Premium) per bot with no performance degradation
Integrations & Channels
  • Messaging platforms – Website, Facebook, WhatsApp, Apple Messages, Telegram, SMS, email
  • 200+ marketplace integrations – Zapier (5,000+ apps), HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk, Intercom
  • E-commerce platforms – Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce native plugins
  • Custom integrations – Webhooks with JSON payloads, 10s response timeout
  • ⚠️ No First-Party Channels – Build Slack bots, widgets, integrations yourself or use third-party
  • ✅ API Flexibility – Run GPT anywhere; channel-agnostic engine for custom implementations
  • Community Tools – Zapier, community Slack bots exist but aren't official OpenAI
  • Manual Wiring – Everything is code-based; no out-of-the-box UI or connectors
  • Website embedding – Lightweight JS widget or iframe with customizable positioning
  • CMS plugins – WordPress, WIX, Webflow, Framer, SquareSpace native support
  • 5,000+ app ecosystem – Zapier connects CRMs, marketing, e-commerce tools
  • MCP Server – Integrate with Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT, Windsurf
  • OpenAI SDK compatible – Drop-in replacement for OpenAI API endpoints
  • LiveChat + Slack – Native chat widgets with human handoff capabilities
200+ Integration Ecosystem ( Core Differentiator)
  • Mature marketplace – 200+ pre-built integrations after 20+ years development
  • Enterprise CRM depth – Deep Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, Intercom integrations
  • E-commerce validated – Official Shopify/WooCommerce/BigCommerce plugins
  • Webhook flexibility – JSON payloads, 10s timeouts for custom workflows (8/10 differentiator)
N/A
N/A
Agent Chat A P I v3.5 ( Differentiator)
  • Dual transport – REST API and WebSocket (RTM) for real-time communication
  • Official SDKs – JavaScript/Node.js, iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), Customer SDK
  • OAuth 2.1 PKCE – Modern auth plus Personal Access Tokens
  • ⚠️ Rate limits – 180 requests/min may constrain high-volume apps
  • ⚠️ Chat ops focus – No RAG APIs for semantic search or embedding management
N/A
N/A
Core Agent Features
  • AI Reply Suggestions – Context-based response recommendations from knowledge sources
  • Text Enhancement – Grammar correction and tone polishing before sending
  • AI Insights – Analyzes 1,000+ queries in 30s for trends
  • ⚠️ NO anti-hallucination – No citation attribution or source tracing
  • ✅ Assistants API (v2) – Built-in conversation history, persistent threads, tool access management
  • ✅ Function Calling – Models invoke external functions/tools; describe structure, receive calls with arguments
  • ✅ Parallel Tool Execution – Access Code Interpreter, File Search, custom functions simultaneously
  • Responses API (2024) – New primitive with web search, file search, computer use
  • ✅ Structured Outputs – strict: true guarantees arguments match JSON Schema for reliable parsing
  • ⚠️ Agent Limitations – Less control vs LangChain for complex workflows; simpler assistant paradigm
  • Custom AI Agents – Autonomous GPT-4/Claude agents for business tasks
  • Multi-Agent Systems – Specialized agents for support, sales, knowledge
  • Memory & Context – Persistent conversation history across sessions
  • Tool Integration – Webhooks + 5,000 Zapier apps for automation
  • Continuous Learning – Auto re-indexing without manual retraining
Chat Bot Automation ( Separate Product)
  • Visual builder – Drag-and-drop no-code chatbot with NLP
  • Proprietary engine – Internal NLP, doesn't use OpenAI/Bard/Bing
  • ⚠️ Additional cost – $52/month on top of LiveChat subscription
  • ⚠️ NO LLM selection – Proprietary only, no GPT-4/Claude/Gemini access
N/A
N/A
Widget Customization & White- Labeling
  • Live editor – Theme presets, custom hex colors, logo uploads, positioning
  • WCAG 2.1 AA – Accessibility with screen readers, keyboard navigation
  • Mobile responsive – Device-specific settings and hiding options
  • ⚠️ White-label Enterprise only – Requires custom pricing, minimum 5 seats
N/A
N/A
L L M Model Options
  • ⚠️ NO model selection – Proprietary AI engine only
  • ⚠️ NO GPT-4, Claude, Gemini – Cannot choose LLM providers
  • ⚠️ NO BYOLLM – No custom models or fine-tuning
  • ⚠️ Opaque processing – Architecture and training data not documented (3/10 flexibility)
  • ✅ GPT-4 Family – GPT-4 (8k/32k), GPT-4 Turbo (128k), GPT-4o top-tier performance
  • ✅ GPT-3.5 Family – GPT-3.5 Turbo (4k/16k) cost-effective for high-volume use
  • ⚠️ OpenAI-Only – Cannot swap to Claude, Gemini; locked to OpenAI ecosystem
  • Manual Routing – Developer chooses model per request; no automatic selection
  • ✅ Frequent Upgrades – Regular releases with larger context windows and better benchmarks
  • GPT-5.1 models – Latest thinking models (Optimal & Smart variants)
  • GPT-4 series – GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-4o available
  • Claude 4.5 – Anthropic's Opus available for Enterprise
  • Auto model routing – Balances cost/performance automatically
  • Zero API key management – All models managed behind the scenes
Developer Experience ( A P I & S D Ks)
  • Agent Chat API v3.5 – REST and WebSocket with OAuth 2.1 PKCE
  • Mobile SDKs – iOS (Swift, iOS 15.6+), Android (Kotlin via Gradle)
  • Strong documentation – Postman collections, tutorials, Discord community
  • ⚠️ NO Python SDK – JavaScript/mobile only, limits backend integration
  • ✅ Excellent Docs – Official Python/Node.js SDKs; comprehensive API reference and guides
  • Function Calling – Simplifies prompting; you build RAG pipeline (indexing, retrieval, assembly)
  • Framework Support – Works with LangChain/LlamaIndex (third-party tools, not OpenAI products)
  • ⚠️ No Reference Architecture – Vast community examples but no official RAG blueprint
  • REST API – Full-featured for agents, projects, data ingestion, chat queries
  • Python SDK – Open-source customgpt-client with full API coverage
  • Postman collections – Pre-built requests for rapid prototyping
  • Webhooks – Real-time event notifications for conversations and leads
  • OpenAI compatible – Use existing OpenAI SDK code with minimal changes
R A G Implementation & Accuracy
  • ⚠️ NOT RAG-as-a-Service – No vector database, embeddings, retrieval pipeline
  • ⚠️ NO chunking/embedding controls – Size, overlap, model selection not exposed
  • ⚠️ NO hybrid search – No keyword + semantic combination
  • ⚠️ NO anti-hallucination – No citations, source verification (2/10 RAG platform)
N/A
N/A
Performance & Accuracy
  • Real-time delivery – Sub-second message delivery, praised for reliability
  • Scalability – 37,000+ businesses, enterprise customers (Adobe, PayPal, IKEA)
  • ⚠️ NO accuracy benchmarks – No published AI retrieval metrics
  • ⚠️ Operational focus – Metrics for queue times, agent response, not AI accuracy
  • ✅ GPT-4 Top-Tier – Leading performance for language tasks; requires RAG for domain accuracy
  • ⚠️ Hallucination Risk – Can hallucinate on private/recent data without retrieval implementation
  • Well-Built RAG Delivers – High accuracy achievable with proper indexing, chunking, prompt design
  • Latency Considerations – Larger models (128k context) add latency; scales well under load
  • Sub-second responses – Optimized RAG with vector search and multi-layer caching
  • Benchmark-proven – 13% higher accuracy, 34% faster than OpenAI Assistants API
  • Anti-hallucination tech – Responses grounded only in your provided content
  • OpenGraph citations – Rich visual cards with titles, descriptions, images
  • 99.9% uptime – Auto-scaling infrastructure handles traffic spikes
Security & Privacy
  • Seven certifications – SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, CSA Star
  • Encryption – TLS transit, AES-256 at rest
  • Data residency – EU (Poland) compliance with account isolation
  • ⚠️ SSO/SAML Enterprise only – Significant gap for mid-market identity management
  • ✅ API Data Privacy – Not used for training; 30-day retention for abuse checks
  • ✅ Encryption Standard – TLS in transit, at rest encryption; ChatGPT Enterprise adds SOC 2/SSO
  • ⚠️ Developer Responsibility – You secure user inputs, logs, auth, HIPAA/GDPR compliance
  • No User Portal – Build auth/access control in your own front-end
  • SOC 2 Type II + GDPR – Third-party audited compliance
  • Encryption – 256-bit AES at rest, SSL/TLS in transit
  • Access controls – RBAC, 2FA, SSO, domain allowlisting
  • Data isolation – Never trains on your data
Full Compliance Portfolio ( Core Differentiator)
  • Seven certifications – SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, CSA Star
  • FedRAMP unique – Rare federal authorization enables government contracts
  • PCI DSS masking – Built-in payment card protection for financial services
  • HIPAA BAA – Business Associate Agreement for healthcare compliance (9/10 differentiator)
N/A
N/A
Observability & Monitoring
  • Real-time monitoring – Agent status, queue depth, visitor activity dashboards
  • Chat metrics – Volume, missed chats, response times, agent performance, CSAT
  • Staffing predictions – AI scheduling optimization (Business+ plans)
  • ⚠️ NO AI metrics – No retrieval accuracy, semantic search, hallucination monitoring
  • ⚠️ Basic Dashboard – Tracks monthly token spend, rate limits; no conversation analytics
  • DIY Logging – Log Q&A traffic yourself; no specialized RAG metrics
  • Status Page – Uptime monitoring, error codes, rate-limit headers available
  • Community Solutions – Datadog/Splunk setups shared; you build monitoring pipeline
  • Real-time dashboard – Query volumes, token usage, response times
  • Customer Intelligence – User behavior patterns, popular queries, knowledge gaps
  • Conversation analytics – Full transcripts, resolution rates, common questions
  • Export capabilities – API export to BI tools and data warehouses
Pricing & Scalability
  • Starter – $20/agent/month, 60-day history, 1 user
  • Team – $41/agent/month, unlimited history, 10 files/3 sites
  • Business – $59/agent/month, staffing predictions, 30 files/10 sites
  • Enterprise – Custom pricing, min 5 seats, SSO/SAML, white-label, HIPAA
  • ⚠️ Cost escalation – 10 agents + ChatBot = $642/month ($7,704/year)
  • ✅ Pay-As-You-Go – $0.0015/1K tokens GPT-3.5; ~$0.03-0.06/1K GPT-4 token pricing
  • ⚠️ Scale Costs – Great low usage; bills spike at scale with rate limits
  • No Flat Rate – Consumption-based only; cover external hosting (vector DB) separately
  • Enterprise Contracts – Higher concurrency, compliance features, dedicated capacity via sales
  • Standard: $99/mo – 60M words, 10 bots
  • Premium: $449/mo – 300M words, 100 bots
  • Auto-scaling – Managed cloud scales with demand
  • Flat rates – No per-query charges
Support & Ecosystem
  • 24/7 support – Live chat and email, consistently praised (4.5/5 G2, 4.6/5 Capterra)
  • Developer docs – Extensive at developers.livechat.com with Postman, tutorials
  • Enterprise SLA – Guaranteed response times on custom contracts
  • Common criticisms – Rising prices, per-agent scaling costs, fragmented ChatBot product
  • ✅ Massive Community – Thorough docs, code samples; direct support requires Enterprise
  • Third-Party Frameworks – Slack bots, LangChain, LlamaIndex building blocks abound
  • Broad AI Focus – Text, speech, images; RAG is one of many use cases
  • Enterprise Premium Support – Success managers, SLAs, compliance environment for Enterprise customers
  • Comprehensive docs – Tutorials, cookbooks, API references
  • Email + in-app support – Under 24hr response time
  • Premium support – Dedicated account managers for Premium/Enterprise
  • Open-source SDK – Python SDK, Postman, GitHub examples
  • 5,000+ Zapier apps – CRMs, e-commerce, marketing integrations
Additional Considerations
  • ⚠️ Platform classification – Human-agent live chat with AI, NOT RAG-as-a-Service
  • Primary strength – Customer support workflows with 200+ integrations, seven certifications
  • ⚠️ Knowledge gap – PDFs/websites only, NO DOCX/CSV/Excel/audio/video/code files
  • ⚠️ NO RAG infrastructure – No vector DB, embeddings, chunking, similarity thresholds
  • ✅ Maximum Freedom – Best for bespoke AI solutions beyond RAG (code gen, creative writing)
  • ✅ Regular Upgrades – Frequent model releases with bigger context windows keep tech current
  • ⚠️ Coding Required – Near-infinite customization comes with setup complexity; developer-friendly only
  • Cost Management – Token pricing cost-effective at small scale; maintaining RAG adds ongoing effort
  • Time-to-value – 2-minute deployment vs weeks with DIY
  • Always current – Auto-updates to latest GPT models
  • Proven scale – 6,000+ organizations, millions of queries
  • Multi-LLM – OpenAI + Claude reduces vendor lock-in
A I Models
  • Proprietary engine – Internal NLP, doesn't rely on OpenAI/Bard/Bing
  • ⚠️ NO LLM selection – Cannot choose GPT-4, Claude, Gemini
  • ⚠️ Opaque architecture – Model training data, capabilities not documented
  • ⚠️ NO BYOLLM – No model routing, fine-tuning, custom models (3/10 flexibility)
  • ✅ GPT-4 Family – GPT-4 (8k/32k), GPT-4 Turbo (128k), GPT-4o - top language understanding/generation
  • ✅ GPT-3.5 Family – GPT-3.5 Turbo (4k/16k) cost-effective with good performance
  • ✅ Frequent Upgrades – Regular releases with improved capabilities, larger context windows
  • ⚠️ OpenAI-Only – Cannot swap to Claude, Gemini; locked to OpenAI models
  • ✅ Fine-Tuning – GPT-3.5 fine-tuning for domain-specific customization with training data
  • OpenAI – GPT-5.1 (Optimal/Smart), GPT-4 series
  • Anthropic – Claude 4.5 Opus/Sonnet (Enterprise)
  • Auto-routing – Intelligent model selection for cost/performance
  • Managed – No API keys or fine-tuning required
R A G Capabilities
  • ⚠️ NOT RAG platform – No vector DB, embedding controls, retrieval pipeline
  • ⚠️ Limited sources – PDFs and websites only (max 2,000 pages, 10-30 files)
  • ⚠️ Human-agent focus – Agent workflows, not autonomous retrieval (2/10 RAG rating)
  • ⚠️ NO Built-In RAG – LLM models only; build entire RAG pipeline yourself
  • ✅ Embeddings API – text-embedding-ada-002 and newer for vector embeddings/semantic search
  • DIY Architecture – Embed docs → external vector DB → retrieve → inject into prompt
  • Azure Assistants Preview – Beta File Search tool; minimal, preview-stage only
  • Framework Integration – Works with LangChain/LlamaIndex (third-party, not OpenAI products)
  • ⚠️ Developer Responsibility – Chunking, indexing, retrieval optimization all require custom code
  • GPT-4 + RAG – Outperforms OpenAI in independent benchmarks
  • Anti-hallucination – Responses grounded in your content only
  • Automatic citations – Clickable source links in every response
  • Sub-second latency – Optimized vector search and caching
  • Scale to 300M words – No performance degradation at scale
Use Cases
  • Customer support – Live chat for 37,000+ businesses with AI agent augmentation
  • E-commerce – Shopify/WooCommerce/BigCommerce native integrations
  • Multi-channel – Website, Facebook, WhatsApp, Apple Messages, Telegram, SMS
  • ⚠️ NOT suitable for – Autonomous knowledge retrieval, programmatic document search
  • ✅ Custom AI Applications – Bespoke solutions requiring maximum flexibility beyond pre-packaged platforms
  • ✅ Code Generation – GitHub Copilot-style tools, IDE integrations, automated review
  • ✅ Creative Writing – Content generation, marketing copy, storytelling at scale
  • ✅ Data Analysis – Natural language queries over structured data, report generation
  • Customer Service – Custom chatbots integrated with business systems and knowledge bases
  • ⚠️ NOT IDEAL FOR – Non-technical teams wanting turnkey RAG chatbot without coding
  • Customer support – 24/7 AI handling common queries with citations
  • Internal knowledge – HR policies, onboarding, technical docs
  • Sales enablement – Product info, lead qualification, education
  • Documentation – Help centers, FAQs with auto-crawling
  • E-commerce – Product recommendations, order assistance
Security & Compliance
  • Seven certifications – SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, CSA Star
  • Data privacy – Customer data never used for training, zero-retention policies
  • Encryption – TLS transit, AES-256 at rest, regional data residency
  • ⚠️ HIPAA/SSO Enterprise only – Min 5 seats ($6,000/year minimum)
  • ✅ API Data Privacy – Not used for training; 30-day retention for abuse checks only
  • ✅ ChatGPT Enterprise – SOC 2 Type II, SSO, stronger privacy, enterprise-grade security
  • ✅ Encryption – TLS in transit, at rest encryption with enterprise standards
  • ✅ GDPR/HIPAA – DPA for GDPR; BAA for HIPAA; regional data residency available
  • ✅ Zero-Retention Option – Enterprise/API customers can opt for no data retention
  • ⚠️ Developer Responsibility – User auth, input validation, logging entirely on you
  • SOC 2 Type II + GDPR – Regular third-party audits, full EU compliance
  • 256-bit AES encryption – Data at rest; SSL/TLS in transit
  • SSO + 2FA + RBAC – Enterprise access controls with role-based permissions
  • Data isolation – Never trains on customer data
  • Domain allowlisting – Restrict chatbot to approved domains
Pricing & Plans
  • Starter – $20/agent/month, 60-day history, 1 user
  • Team – $41/agent/month, unlimited history, 400 users, AI features
  • Business – $59/agent/month, staffing predictions, full AI features
  • Enterprise – Custom pricing (min 5 seats), SSO/SAML, white-label, HIPAA
  • ⚠️ Cost escalation – Per-agent model criticized for scaling vs project pricing
  • ✅ Pay-As-You-Go – $0.0015/1K tokens GPT-3.5; ~$0.03-0.06/1K GPT-4 token pricing
  • ✅ No Platform Fees – Pure consumption pricing; no subscriptions, monthly minimums
  • Rate Limits by Tier – Usage tiers auto-increase limits as spending grows
  • ⚠️ Cost at Scale – Bills spike without optimization; high-volume needs token management
  • External Costs – RAG incurs vector DB (Pinecone, Weaviate) and hosting costs
  • ✅ Best Value For – Low-volume use or teams with existing infrastructure
  • Standard: $99/mo – 10 chatbots, 60M words, 5K items/bot
  • Premium: $449/mo – 100 chatbots, 300M words, 20K items/bot
  • Enterprise: Custom – SSO, dedicated support, custom SLAs
  • 7-day free trial – Full Standard access, no charges
  • Flat-rate pricing – No per-query charges, no hidden costs
Support & Documentation
  • 24/7 support – Live chat/email, consistently praised (4.5/5 G2, 4.6/5 Capterra)
  • Developer docs – Extensive at developers.livechat.com with Postman, tutorials
  • Enterprise SLA – Guaranteed response times, uptime commitments
  • SDK support – JavaScript, iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), Customer SDK
  • ✅ Excellent Documentation – Comprehensive guides, API reference, code samples at platform.openai.com
  • ✅ Official SDKs – Well-maintained Python, Node.js libraries with examples
  • ✅ Massive Community – Extensive tutorials, LangChain/LlamaIndex integrations, ecosystem resources
  • ⚠️ Limited Direct Support – Community forums for standard users; Enterprise gets premium support
  • OpenAI Cookbook – Practical examples and recipes for common use cases including RAG
  • Documentation hub – Docs, tutorials, API references
  • Support channels – Email, in-app chat, dedicated managers (Premium+)
  • Open-source – Python SDK, Postman, GitHub examples
  • Community – User community + 5,000 Zapier integrations
Limitations & Considerations
  • ⚠️ NOT RAG platform – Human-agent live chat, not autonomous retrieval (2/10 RAG)
  • ⚠️ Limited formats – PDFs/websites only, NO DOCX/CSV/Excel/audio/video/code
  • ⚠️ NO LLM flexibility – Proprietary engine only, no GPT-4/Claude/Gemini
  • ⚠️ Fragmented product – ChatBot requires separate $52/month purchase
  • ⚠️ Cost scaling – Per-agent pricing criticized, 10 agents = $642/month
  • ⚠️ NO Built-In RAG – Entire retrieval infrastructure must be built by developers
  • ⚠️ Developer-Only – Requires coding expertise; no no-code interface for non-technical teams
  • ⚠️ Rate Limits – Usage tiers start restrictive (Tier 1: 500 RPM GPT-4)
  • ⚠️ Model Lock-In – Cannot use Claude, Gemini; tied to OpenAI ecosystem
  • ⚠️ NO Chat UI – ChatGPT web interface not embeddable or customizable for business
  • ⚠️ Cost at Scale – Token pricing can spike without optimization; needs cost management
  • Managed service – Less control over RAG pipeline vs build-your-own
  • Model selection – OpenAI + Anthropic only; no Cohere, AI21, open-source
  • Real-time data – Requires re-indexing; not ideal for live inventory/prices
  • Enterprise features – Custom SSO only on Enterprise plan
Core Chatbot Features
N/A
  • ✅ Multi-Turn Chat – GPT-4/3.5 handle conversations; you resend history for context
  • ⚠️ No Agent Memory – OpenAI doesn't store conversational state; you manage it
  • Function Calling – Model triggers your functions (search endpoints); you wire retrieval
  • ChatGPT Web UI – Separate from API; not brand-customizable for private data
  • ✅ #1 accuracy – Median 5/5 in independent benchmarks, 10% lower hallucination than OpenAI
  • ✅ Source citations – Every response includes clickable links to original documents
  • ✅ 93% resolution rate – Handles queries autonomously, reducing human workload
  • ✅ 92 languages – Native multilingual support without per-language config
  • ✅ Lead capture – Built-in email collection, custom forms, real-time notifications
  • ✅ Human handoff – Escalation with full conversation context preserved
Customization & Branding
N/A
  • ⚠️ No Turnkey UI – Build branded front-end yourself; no theming layer provided
  • System Messages – Set tone/style via prompts; white-label chat requires development
  • ChatGPT Custom Instructions – Apply only inside ChatGPT app, not embedded widgets
  • Developer Project – All branding, UI customization is your responsibility
  • Full white-labeling included – Colors, logos, CSS, custom domains at no extra cost
  • 2-minute setup – No-code wizard with drag-and-drop interface
  • Persona customization – Control AI personality, tone, response style via pre-prompts
  • Visual theme editor – Real-time preview of branding changes
  • Domain allowlisting – Restrict embedding to approved sites only
Customization & Flexibility ( Behavior & Knowledge)
N/A
  • ✅ Fine-Tuning Available – GPT-3.5 fine-tuning for style; knowledge injection via RAG code
  • ⚠️ Content Freshness – Re-embed, re-fine-tune, or pass context each call; developer overhead
  • Tool Calling Power – Powerful moderation/tools but requires thoughtful design; no unified UI
  • Maximum Flexibility – Extremely flexible for general AI; lacks built-in document management
  • Live content updates – Add/remove content with automatic re-indexing
  • System prompts – Shape agent behavior and voice through instructions
  • Multi-agent support – Different bots for different teams
  • Smart defaults – No ML expertise required for custom behavior
No- Code Interface & Usability
N/A
  • ⚠️ Not No-Code – Requires coding embeddings, retrieval, chat UI; no-code OpenAI options minimal
  • ChatGPT Web App – User-friendly but not embeddable with your data/branding by default
  • Third-Party Tools – Zapier/Bubble offer partial integrations; not official OpenAI solutions
  • Developer-Focused – Extremely capable for coders; less for non-technical teams wanting self-serve
  • 2-minute deployment – Fastest time-to-value in the industry
  • Wizard interface – Step-by-step with visual previews
  • Drag-and-drop – Upload files, paste URLs, connect cloud storage
  • In-browser testing – Test before deploying to production
  • Zero learning curve – Productive on day one
Competitive Positioning
N/A
  • Market Position – Leading AI model provider; top GPT models as custom AI building blocks
  • Target Customers – Dev teams building bespoke solutions; enterprises needing flexibility beyond RAG
  • Key Competitors – Anthropic Claude API, Google Gemini, Azure AI, AWS Bedrock, RAG platforms
  • ✅ Competitive Advantages – Top GPT-4 performance, frequent upgrades, excellent docs, massive ecosystem, Enterprise SOC 2/SSO
  • ✅ Pricing Advantage – Pay-as-you-go highly cost-effective at small scale; best value low-volume use
  • Use Case Fit – Ideal for custom AI requiring flexibility; less suitable for turnkey RAG without dev resources
  • Market position – Leading RAG platform balancing enterprise accuracy with no-code usability. Trusted by 6,000+ orgs including Adobe, MIT, Dropbox.
  • Key differentiators – #1 benchmarked accuracy • 1,400+ formats • Full white-labeling included • Flat-rate pricing
  • vs OpenAI – 10% lower hallucination, 13% higher accuracy, 34% faster
  • vs Botsonic/Chatbase – More file formats, source citations, no hidden costs
  • vs LangChain – Production-ready in 2 min vs weeks of development
R A G-as-a- Service Assessment
N/A
  • ⚠️ NOT RAG-AS-A-SERVICE – Provides LLM models/APIs, not managed RAG infrastructure
  • DIY RAG Architecture – Embed docs → external vector DB → retrieve → inject into prompt
  • File Search (Beta) – Azure preview includes minimal semantic search; not production RAG
  • ⚠️ No Managed Infrastructure – Unlike CustomGPT/Vectara, leaves chunking, indexing, retrieval to developers
  • Framework vs Service – Compare to LLM APIs (Claude, Gemini), not managed RAG platforms
  • External Costs – RAG needs vector DBs (Pinecone $70+/month), hosting, embeddings API
  • Platform type – TRUE RAG-AS-A-SERVICE with managed infrastructure
  • API-first – REST API, Python SDK, OpenAI compatibility, MCP Server
  • No-code option – 2-minute wizard deployment for non-developers
  • Hybrid positioning – Serves both dev teams (APIs) and business users (no-code)
  • Enterprise ready – SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, WCAG 2.0, flat-rate pricing

Ready to experience the CustomGPT difference?

Start Free Trial →

Final Thoughts

Final Verdict: LiveChat vs OpenAI

After analyzing features, pricing, performance, and user feedback, both LiveChat and OpenAI are capable platforms that serve different market segments and use cases effectively.

When to Choose LiveChat

  • You value mature 20+ year platform with proven enterprise reliability (adobe, paypal, ikea, samsung, best buy)
  • 200+ integrations with robust Zapier support (5,000+ app connections) and comprehensive webhooks
  • Exceptional compliance portfolio: SOC 2 + GDPR + HIPAA + ISO 27001 + PCI DSS + FedRAMP + CSA Star Level 1

Best For: Mature 20+ year platform with proven enterprise reliability (Adobe, PayPal, IKEA, Samsung, Best Buy)

When to Choose OpenAI

  • You value industry-leading model performance
  • Comprehensive API features
  • Regular model updates

Best For: Industry-leading model performance

Migration & Switching Considerations

Switching between LiveChat and OpenAI requires careful planning. Consider data export capabilities, API compatibility, and integration complexity. Both platforms offer migration support, but expect 2-4 weeks for complete transition including testing and team training.

Pricing Comparison Summary

LiveChat starts at $20/month, while OpenAI begins at custom pricing. Total cost of ownership should factor in implementation time, training requirements, API usage fees, and ongoing support. Enterprise deployments typically see annual costs ranging from $10,000 to $500,000+ depending on scale and requirements.

Our Recommendation Process

  1. Start with a free trial - Both platforms offer trial periods to test with your actual data
  2. Define success metrics - Response accuracy, latency, user satisfaction, cost per query
  3. Test with real use cases - Don't rely on generic demos; use your production data
  4. Evaluate total cost - Factor in implementation time, training, and ongoing maintenance
  5. Check vendor stability - Review roadmap transparency, update frequency, and support quality

For most organizations, the decision between LiveChat and OpenAI comes down to specific requirements rather than overall superiority. Evaluate both platforms with your actual data during trial periods, focusing on accuracy, latency, ease of integration, and total cost of ownership.

📚 Next Steps

Ready to make your decision? We recommend starting with a hands-on evaluation of both platforms using your specific use case and data.

  • Review: Check the detailed feature comparison table above
  • Test: Sign up for free trials and test with real queries
  • Calculate: Estimate your monthly costs based on expected usage
  • Decide: Choose the platform that best aligns with your requirements

Last updated: February 2, 2026 | This comparison is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the latest platform capabilities, pricing, and user feedback.

Ready to Get Started with CustomGPT?

Join thousands of businesses that trust CustomGPT for their AI needs. Choose the path that works best for you.

Why Choose CustomGPT?

97% Accuracy

Industry-leading benchmarks

5-Min Setup

Get started instantly

24/7 Support

Expert help when you need it

Enterprise Ready

Scale with confidence

Trusted by leading companies worldwide

Fortune 500Fortune 500Fortune 500Fortune 500Fortune 500Fortune 500

CustomGPT

The most accurate RAG-as-a-Service API. Deliver production-ready reliable RAG applications faster. Benchmarked #1 in accuracy and hallucinations for fully managed RAG-as-a-Service API.

Get in touch
Contact Us

Join the Discussion

Loading comments...

Priyansh Khodiyar's avatar

Priyansh Khodiyar

DevRel at CustomGPT.ai. Passionate about AI and its applications. Here to help you navigate the world of AI tools and make informed decisions for your business.

Watch: Understanding AI Tool Comparisons