Outsource chat or keep it in-house? An honest comparison

Factor 1: availability

If you only need coverage on weekdays between 9 and 5, an in-house team is easy enough to organise. Want to be open in the evenings, at weekends or on public holidays? You'll quickly need four to six people for full coverage — including cover for sickness and holidays.

That's usually where the maths tips over.

Factor 2: volume and predictability

Stable volume plans well internally. Volume that swings hard — seasonal peaks, campaigns, product launches — means being permanently over- or under-staffed in-house.

In that case, outsourcing mainly buys flexibility: capacity that flexes with demand without paying for the peak all year round.

Factor 3: complexity and product knowledge

The deeper the product knowledge required, the heavier the onboarding. That doesn't automatically favour in-house — it favours a partner who invests properly in onboarding and works with a fixed team on your account rather than a rotating pool.

• Always ask what the onboarding process looks like and how long it takes.
• Ask whether you get dedicated agents, and who covers when they're away.
• Ask how knowledge is documented and kept up to date.

Factor 4: cost

For in-house, don't just count gross salary: employer costs, software, training, management and turnover all add up. A full-time chat agent typically costs €3,000 to €4,500 a month in practice — multiply that for generous opening hours.

With outsourcing, you pay a fixed monthly fee plus a price per conversation, including software and management. Compare on total cost per resolved conversation, not on hourly rate.

Which choice, and when

In short: in-house works well with stable volume, office hours and highly specialist knowledge. Outsourcing works well with wide availability, fluctuating volume, and wanting to get started quickly without recruiting.

Many businesses eventually settle on a combination: in-house during the day, outsourced in the evenings, weekends and peaks.