DOWNLOAD & SAVE THIS POST >> CLICK HERE <<Updated for 2027 by the PromoteLabs team. The 2027 summary below is current; our original review follows it.
Kayako has changed a lot since our original review. It now sells Kayako One, a full help desk set up for you, and the Kay AI agent, which costs $1 per resolved ticket and can also plug into Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom or Salesforce. Kayako One pricing is quoted by sales, so teams that want simple published pricing may prefer Help Scout or Zendesk.
Kayako in 2027 at a glance
| Kayako One | Full help desk; price on request |
| Kay AI agent | $1 per resolved ticket |
| Works with | Its own help desk, or Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom and Salesforce |
| Free plan | No |
| Change | Moved from per-agent pricing toward AI-based pricing in 2025–2026 |
| Best for | Teams that want a done-for-you help desk with AI built in |
What has changed since our original review
- Kayako moved from per-agent plans to an AI-first model.
- The Kay AI agent is priced per resolved ticket.
- Kayako One is sold through a sales conversation rather than a public price list.
As reported in late 2026. Check kayako.com for current pricing.
Our original Kayako review
Kayako started in 2001 as an answer to the boring, confusing and clunky support solutions that dominated the market. Today Kayako continues to focus on offering user-friendly solutions to over 131,000 customers.
Let’s look at their features to see if Kayako is a good fit for your business…
CREATE TICKETS
(Communication Channels)
Via email: Yes
Via web interface: Yes
Via social channels: Yes
Via phone: No
Via chat: Yes
CUSTOMER SELF-SERVICE/COMMUNITY
FAQ: Yes.
Multi brand helpdesk support (FAQ/Knowledgebase separate for each product): Yes, on some select plans.
Widget embedding for FAQ, Ticket, Chat: Yes, this is available for the live chat feature.
Here’s a look at the beacon-style widget:
You can set up the Messenger to automatically point to useful resources, which cuts down on your customer support requests. If your support staff is offline, users can leave a message. If this particular customer has talked to your support staff before, then this new message is posted alongside other conversations for quick and easy referencing.
DATA FILTER/ CUSTOMER POINT ON POINT TRACKING
External support: presales questions -potential buyers: Yes
Internal support (Ability to pass user data from inside app along with ticket to track which products customer has purchased or used to provide timely and correct support and advanced sales funnel): No.
NOTE: Although we didn’t test it, it may be possible to do this through a third-party integration with Zapier.
PLATFORM
Web: Yes
Mobile app: Yes
Voice (call center): No
STAFF
Multiple agents: Yes. There is a cost per agent. See the pricing section just a bit later for more information.
Private FAQ/knowledge base for internal use: Yes
Agent performance tracking: Yes
Private notes/ chat between agents: Yes
Agent rating/ Customer satisfaction survey: Yes
HELP DESK REPORTING AND ANALYTICS
Tag, tracking: Yes
Automation rules: Yes
Reporting: Yes. Kayako gives you a good overview of your help desk response times, what percent of cases were resolved during the first contact, when your help desk is busiest, and more.
OTHER FEATURES, USABILITY, PRICE
Remote control/access to customer’s computer: No.
Integrations: Yes, by integrating Kayako with Zapier, which gives you access to hundreds of popular apps and services such as Stripe, SalesForce and Slack.
Ease of use: Kayako presents a very clean interface, but it’s not entirely intuitive. Some items don’t carry common labels, so you may find yourself clicking around to find what you need. That means you will need to set aside time to familiarize yourself with the interface and train your staff.
Price: Kayako has three main plans, each of whose prices vary on two factors:
- Number of agents per month, as each plan is billed per agent, per month.
- Whether you get billed annually (which is less expensive) or choose a month-to-month billing options.
Who can use it: This help desk is suitable for any type of small business.
PROS:
The things we liked most about Kayako is:
- Live chat is built in for all plans.
- Integrating Kayako with Zapier allows for plenty of integration options
CONS:
We found two main downsides:
- The uncommon labeling in the dashboard, which makes it less intuitive. For example, Kayako uses the label “case” rather than the more commonly used label “ticket.” If you’re new to using a help desk, this likely won’t present a problem for you. If you’ve been using other solutions, then these uncommon labels may take some getting used to.
- The dashboard has a lot of gray text on a white background. This quickly fatigues the eyes, and it can be downright problematic for those who have problems reading low contrast text.
[su_note note_color=”#169016″ text_color=”#feffff”] If you’d like to learn more about Kayako’s unified customer service platform or try them out free, check them out by clicking the button below.
[su_button url=” http://promotelabs.link/Kayako ” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#ffffff” color=”#14750f” size=”7″ center=”yes”]Click to Learn More About Kayako [/su_button]
[/su_note]
[su_note note_color=”#169016″ text_color=”#feffff”]If you want to compare more help desk services up to Kayako then check out our post “Help Desk Software Reviews & Comparisons”[su_button url=”https://promotelabs.com/blog/help-desk-software-reviews-comparisons/” style=”flat” background=”#ffffff” color=”#14750f” size=”7″ center=”yes”]Click To Read [/su_button][/su_note]
Related reading
- Best help desk software for small business
- Zendesk review (2027)
- Help Scout review (2027)
- Intercom review (2027)
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Kayako cost?
The Kay AI agent costs $1 per resolved ticket. Kayako One help desk pricing is quoted by sales.
Is Kayako still available?
Yes. Kayako now focuses on Kayako One and its Kay AI agent.
What are good Kayako alternatives?
Help Scout for simple email support, Zendesk for multichannel teams and Intercom for AI-first support.
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