Cleaner data
When the same platform carries the conversation and scores it, the score is based on what actually happened on the call or in the text, not on a copy passed through an integration.
Why Palera
Every big platform now sells its own AI agent. Palera runs anyone's.
Palera is the AI management layer and the communication layer in one platform. It runs AI agents from any vendor beside your live agents, ranks them all on your QA form, and bills per conversation instead of per seat.
More layers, more seams, more breaks
Why the layer you buy matters more than the features
A typical AI program stacks an AI agent vendor and a QA or AI management tool on top of a CCaaS. Each layer is its own contract, its own copy of the conversation and its own integration to keep alive. When one layer changes, the seams between them are where things break.
The typical stack
AI agent vendor
seam: integration, data copy
AI layer for QA and management
seam: integration, data copy
CCaaS: calls, texts, chat
seam
Carriers
Three or more vendors, the conversation copied between systems, and scores computed on data that may not match what the customer heard.
With Palera
AI agents from any vendor, or your own
Palera: AI management layer and communication layer in oneOne conversation record. Scoring, policy checks and the kill switch run on the same data that carried the call.
seam
Carriers
Fewer systems, cleaner data, and fewer seams to break.
Fewer things to break
An AI layer depends on its connection to the CCaaS underneath. A change on either side can break routing, transcripts or scoring. With one platform, there is no connection between them to break.
Control where it counts
Because Palera can sit in the call path, as your CCaaS or through your SIP connection, a supervisor can pause an AI agent and hand its conversations to people mid-shift. A layer on top can report the problem; the communication layer can stop it.
How Palera compares
Two kinds of platform, and what each leaves out
AI management and QA tools sit on top of a contact center someone else runs. The big suites are the contact center, but they run their own AI first. Palera is both, for any vendor's AI.
| What matters | AI layersAmplifAI, Cresta, Observe.AI and others | Big suitesNiCE, Genesys, Five9 | PaleraOne layer for AI and communication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs any vendor's AI agents | A few | Limited, via connectors | Yes, side by side |
| One QA form for AI and live agents | Most | Partial | Yes |
| Is the contact center itself | No, a layer on top | Yes | Yes, full CCaaS |
| Priced per conversation, seats free | No | No, per seat | Yes |
YesPartial or limitedNo
Palera and AmplifAI
AmplifAI is the platform in this table most like Palera. Both manage AI agents across vendors and rank AI and people on one rubric. The difference is the layer. AmplifAI sits on top of the CCaaS you already run, so the conversation lives in one system and the scoring in another. Palera is the AI management layer and the communication layer together, so the conversation, the score and the controls share one record, with fewer seams between them.
The detail
The full comparison
Every row comes from each vendor's own pages, release notes and filings. Open any panel for the detail.
AI management and QA platforms10 platforms compared on four questions
| Platform | Manages other vendors' AI agents | One rubric for AI and people | Is the communication layer | Priced per conversation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palera | Yes | Yes | Yes, full CCaaS | Yes |
| AmplifAI | Yes | Yes | No, a layer on a CCaaS | No |
| Cresta | No | Yes | No, a layer on a CCaaS | No |
| Level AI | Its own AI agents | Yes | No, a layer on a CCaaS | No |
| Observe.AI | Its own AI agents | Partial | No, a layer on a CCaaS | No |
| CallMiner | Its own AI agents | PartialScores and compares AI and live agents in one platform; same scorecard for both not confirmed | No, a layer on a CCaaS | No |
| evaluagent | PartialScores other vendors' AI agents; doesn't run them | YesSays AI-agent conversations are scored on the same scorecard as people | No, a layer on a CCaaS | PartialPer seat for people, per conversation for AI agents |
| Kore.ai | Limited | No | No | No |
| Salesforce Agentforce | No | Native only | No | No |
| Sierra, Decagon, Ada, Parloa | No | No | No | Per resolution |
NiCE, Genesys and Five9Whose AI you can run, and how it is billed
| Platform | How people are billed | Runs AI agents from other vendors | AI and people scored on one QA form | AI guardrails or kill switch | MCP server to run the platform | Human-initiated dialing (TCPA) | Branded caller ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palera | Per conversation, seats free | ||||||
| NiCE CXoneincl. LiveVox and Cognigy | Per seat, $110 to $249 listplus usage for AI | Bot hub | June 2026 | Experimental | HCI | ||
| Genesys Cloud CX | Per seatplus AI tokens | Up to 5 bots | MCP client only | Via third party | |||
| Five9 | Per concurrent seatplus AI minutes | Connect API | Manual Touch |
DocumentedPartial or limitedNot listed
Published list pricesFrom each vendor's own pricing page
List prices from each vendor's own pricing page, October 2026. The suites add AI, outbound and other usage on top, often at rates they don't publish. An AI or QA layer is a second bill on top of the contact center platform. Check the vendor's page for current pricing.
| Platform | Public list price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Palera | Free up to 5,000 conversations a month, then 4.9¢ per conversation, and 3.2¢ above 100,000. Seats free. | Carrier and AI usage at cost, paid to your vendors directly or through Palera. |
| NiCE CXone | $110, $135, $169, $209 or $249 per agent a month; Ultimate adds $0.25 a session | AI and outbound billed as consumption. nice.com/pricing |
| Genesys Cloud CX | $75, $115, $155 or $240 per user a month, billed annually | AI Experience tokens required for certain AI features. genesys.com/pricing |
| Five9 | Not published on Five9's own pricing page | Per concurrent seat, with AI agents billed by the minute. |
| evaluagentQA layer | From $35 or $65 per user a month for people; AI agents priced per conversation by quote | Billed on top of the contact center platform underneath. evaluagent.com/pricing |
Palera analysis of public vendor pages, blogs, release notes and filings, September to October 2026, including CallMiner's AI Agent Analytics article (August 2026) and evaluagent's comparison and pricing pages. "Not listed" means the vendor doesn't publicly list the feature; check with the vendor. Some rows draw on comparisons vendors publish about their competitors. Vendor names are trademarks of their owners.
Where Palera is different
It is the combination, not any single column
Several platforms do one of these well. Palera does all of them from one layer.
Any vendor's AI, on equal terms
When a suite sells its own AI agent, every other AI vendor is its competitor. Palera runs several AI vendors at once, including one you built yourself, and lets you swap them without losing the conversation history.
Your QA form scores both
Your form and your weights. Your AI QA agent or your managers score AI and live agents the same way, supervisors approve or overrule, and Palera ranks everyone side by side. No separate QA product and no vendor marking its own homework.
One price, seats free
Palera charges per conversation: every channel with one contact counts once, until an agreed final disposition, or 72 hours if none is reached. Most platforms bill seats for people and meter AI on top, so there are two bills to forecast. See pricing.
Run it from the AI you already use
Most contact center MCP work is the vendor's own AI calling out to tools, or is labeled experimental. Palera's MCP server lets Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok set up and run your contact center, with permissions per assistant and every action logged. MCP server.
Prove it on one campaign
Start with one campaign beside what you run today and compare contact rate, handle time and cost per conversation on your own traffic. You don't have to replace your CCaaS to find out. Platform overview.
Contact rate, with a result attached
TCPA-safe manual dialing is common among outbound vendors. What matters is the outcome: EccoGroup USA raised contact rate 72% with the same list and the same agents, with calls and texts on one cadence. Voice.
Where Palera fits
When another platform may suit you better
We would rather tell you now than in month three.
Email-heavy service desks
Palera's live channels are voice, SMS, live chat, WhatsApp and social media. Email is coming soon. If most of your volume is email today, the major suites route it now.
Deep multi-skill forecasting
Palera includes scheduling, adherence and timesheets. If you run multi-skill forecasting in a dedicated tool such as NiCE or Aspect, keep it, and we'll scope how the two work together.
All-in on AWS
If your team builds on AWS and Bedrock and wants to engineer the contact center itself, Amazon Connect may fit. Palera is for operations teams that want to run it without engineers, with any AI vendor.
Very small teams
Below about 50 seats, the contact center bundled with your phone system (Zoom, Dialpad or RingCentral) is often enough. Palera is built for multi-client, multi-channel operations above that.
Global RFPs across many regions
For thousands of seats in many countries, start Palera on one channel or campaign beside your incumbent and let the numbers make the case.
A fair word about training
Palera ranks the scores, records the corrections and governs AI agents. It does not fine-tune models. Palera sends each conversation and the rubric you set in Palera to your AI agents as a real-time feed, so every agent grades on the same company-wide standard. In most vendor consoles "training" means editing prompts, knowledge and guardrails, and we won't claim more than that.
Before you choose
Five questions for any AI or contact center vendor
These questions show quickly whose AI you are buying, how many layers it runs on, how you will be billed, and how fast your team can change things.
Ask us the same five. Our answers: yes, and the history stays with you; one, because Palera is the AI layer and the communication layer; one per-conversation price, with carrier and AI usage at cost; yes, on the same conversation record; and your operations team, in minutes, from the Palera console or from Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok.
Ask every vendor
- Whose AI agent is it, and could I swap it for another vendor's next quarter without losing the history?
- How many systems does a conversation pass through before it is scored, and who fixes the connection when one of them changes?
- How many bills will I get: seats, AI usage, dialer, QA, number reputation?
- When a customer texts after a call, does the next agent see the text before they speak?
- How long does a change to a campaign or flow take, and who has to make it?
Questions
What is the difference between an AI layer and the communication layer?
The communication layer is the platform that actually carries your calls, texts and chats: the CCaaS. An AI layer sits on top of it and works from a copy of the conversation. Palera is both, so scoring, policy checks and controls run on the same record that carried the conversation, with no integration between them to break.
How is Palera different from AmplifAI?
AmplifAI and Palera both manage AI agents across vendors and rank AI and people on one rubric. AmplifAI is a layer on top of your existing CCaaS. Palera is the AI management layer and the communication layer in one, so the conversation, the score and the controls share one record, with fewer systems and fewer seams to maintain.
Why do more layers mean more breaks?
Each layer is a separate system joined to the next by an integration. Every integration copies data and depends on both sides staying the same. When a vendor updates its platform, changes an API or drops a field, the seam is where routing, transcripts or scores go missing. Fewer layers means fewer seams to watch.
How is Palera different from NiCE CXone?
NiCE CXone sells its own AI agents through Cognigy and bills seats from $110 to $249 a month list, with AI as consumption on top. Palera runs AI agents from any vendor, scores them on your QA form beside your live agents, and charges per conversation with seats free.
How is Palera different from Genesys Cloud?
Genesys bills seats plus AI Experience tokens and connects third-party bots through a connector capped at five. Palera runs several AI vendors at once on one conversation record and prices every channel per conversation.
How is Palera different from Five9?
Five9 has strong outbound tools and admits third-party voice AI through its AI Agent Connect API, billed per concurrent seat plus AI minutes. Palera ranks AI and live agents side by side on your QA form and puts calls and texts on one cadence and one record.
Do I have to replace my current contact center platform?
No. Palera runs as your full CCaaS or as a layer on the CCaaS your client requires. Most teams start with one campaign beside what they run today and compare the results.
Can I keep the AI agent vendor I already use?
Yes. Palera runs AI agents from any vendor, including one you built, alongside your live agents, and you can switch vendors later without losing the conversation history.
Test it on your own conversations
Run your current AI vendor inside Palera on one campaign and compare it on your traffic rather than on anyone's benchmark.
