AI Agents & Assistants · head-to-head
Parloa vs PolyAI
As of 28 Oct 2026, the panel rates Parloa 2.5/5 and PolyAI 2/5 in AI Agents & Assistants. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 6 of the 6 judges pick Parloa and 0 pick PolyAI. Parloa scores higher on 4 of 6 criteria (European sovereignty, Admin, identity & access controls, Models & processing location, plus 1 more). PolyAI scores higher on 2 of 6 criteria (Integrations, connectors & knowledge and Data use, training & retention). Provenance — Parloa: EU-Made; PolyAI: UK / wider Europe. Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made.
The short answer
The bench splits along clean lines. Parloa leads four criteria with 6–0 leans: agent capabilities (8.0 vs 6.3), sovereignty (5.8 vs 3.2), processing and models (5.7 vs 3.8), and admin and access (4.0 vs 2.0). PolyAI leads integrations and knowledge (7.2 vs 5.3) and pricing transparency (1.8 vs 0.3), both 6–0, though both verdicts describe pricing pages with no published figures. Data use and training is the genuine split: PolyAI's mean is higher, 2.3 to 1.3, with 4 judges leaning PolyAI and 2 tying. Parloa leads the weighted totals in the five judge rows with figures — IT lead 4.6 to 4.1, data protection officer 4.5 to 3.3, automation lead 5.9 to 4.4, works council 4.8 to 3.2, skeptic 5.9 to 3.5. Both products list EU-optional data residency; PolyAI's legal jurisdiction is GB with subprocessor exposure recorded as US CLOUD Act, while Parloa's jurisdiction and subprocessor exposure are unknown.
Choose Parloa if
- You need no-code agents built from SOPs with simulation and A/B testing before live traffic — agent capabilities leans 6–0 to Parloa (8.0 vs 6.3), and the verdict credits caller authentication before account actions, drift detection and warm handoffs.
- Your team needs documented administration — admin and access leans 6–0 to Parloa (4.0 vs 2.0) on central agent management, column-level access policies and audited queries.
- Your compliance review requires transcripts, PII and analytics to stay inside a chosen region — sovereignty leans 6–0 to Parloa (5.8 vs 3.2); the verdict records Azure with a Germany-hosted stamp, and the data residency attribute is EU-optional.
- Your buying committee includes a data protection officer or a works council — their weighted totals favor Parloa, 4.5 to 3.3 and 4.8 to 3.2.
- Your architecture review scores processing and models — that criterion leans 6–0 to Parloa, 5.7 to 3.8.
Choose PolyAI if
- Your stack runs on connectors — integrations and knowledge leans 6–0 to PolyAI (7.2 vs 5.3), with 130+ integrations, named partners Salesforce, Zendesk and Twilio, OAuth 2.0, a self-serve Connect Portal and an Agent Developer Kit.
- You want test calls, simulated conversations and A/B tests on live traffic at no extra charge — PolyAI's verdict documents these.
- Your rubric scores data use and training — the lean there is 4–0 with 2 ties toward PolyAI, 2.3 to 1.3.
- Your scorecard includes pricing transparency — PolyAI leads 6–0, 1.8 to 0.3, though its captured pricing page publishes no figures and routes buyers to "Talk to our team".
- You want a vendor-owned model — PolyAI is powered by the vendor's proprietary Raven model.
Read this comparison as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The bench's picks
Same scores, different priorities: each judge's weighting applied to both products. The split is the finding.
- The Head of IT Parloa PolyAI picks Parloa
- The Data Protection Officer Parloa PolyAI picks Parloa
- The Automation Lead Parloa PolyAI picks Parloa
- The Customer-Service Director Parloa PolyAI picks Parloa
- The Works Council Member Parloa PolyAI picks Parloa
- The Skeptic Parloa PolyAI picks Parloa
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Parloa | PolyAI |
|---|---|---|
| Data use, training & retention | 1 of 5 | 1 of 5 |
| Models & processing location | 3 of 5 | 2 of 5 |
| Admin, identity & access controls | 2 of 5 | 1 of 5 |
| Integrations, connectors & knowledge | 2.5 of 5 | 3.5 of 5 |
| Agent capabilities & guardrails | 4 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| European sovereignty | 3 of 5 | 1.5 of 5 |
| Criterion | Parloa | PolyAI | The bench leans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data use, training & retention | PolyAI, 3 of 6 judges | ||
| Models & processing location | Parloa, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Admin, identity & access controls | Parloa, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Integrations, connectors & knowledge | PolyAI, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Agent capabilities & guardrails | Parloa, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| European sovereignty | Parloa, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Pricing transparency | no published price | not comparable |
Stars show the bench average per criterion; the lean counts which product each judge scored higher. Open a judge's tab for their reasoning on both sides.
Sovereignty, side by side
| Dimension | Parloa | PolyAI |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | Not determined |
| Ownership | Not determined | Not determined |
| Data residency | Not determined | Not determined |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | US CLOUD Act reach |
Facts, side by side
Only facts both products carry under the same definition — anything else would not be a fair row.
Questions about Parloa and PolyAI
Which is better, Parloa or PolyAI?
As of 28 Oct 2026, the panel rates Parloa higher: 2.5/5 against 2/5. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 6 of the 6 judges pick Parloa and 0 pick PolyAI. Which one fits depends on the criteria that matter to you; the table on this page shows both side by side, and each judge’s reading has its own page. Both were scored by the same AI bench under the same rubric, from public evidence only, as the methodology describes.
Is Parloa or PolyAI European?
Parloa is European (EU-Made). PolyAI is European (UK / wider Europe). Provenance is read from each company’s own legal pages: who builds it and who owns it.