Kayako alternatives

16 help desks compared against Kayako on pricing, AI, channels and security. Kayako positions itself as: ai-first support platform.

Open makes one of the products on this list, so read the table rather than the ordering. Every figure carries its source and the date it was last checked, and anything a vendor says about itself that we could not verify independently is labelled a claim — including ours.

The alternatives

  1. 01

    Open.cx

    Ours

    Best for: High-volume teams (5,000+ tickets/mo) that want automation without switching helpdesks.

    Entry price: $0.90 per resolution

    Open.cx vs Kayako, side by side

  2. 02

    Freshdesk

    Best for: SMB to enterprise ticketing; strong for ecommerce.(claimed)source

    Entry price: $19/agent/mo (Growth); $29 Omni

    Freshdesk vs Kayako, side by side

  3. 03

    Crisp

    Best for: SMBs and growing teams wanting affordable all-in-one AI support; bootstrapped companies.

    Entry price: $45/mo (Mini, 4 seats, 5,000 profiles, ~$5 AI credits).

  4. 04

    Dixa

    Best for: Ecommerce and DTC brands at mid-market scale.(claimed)source

    Entry price: EUR 89/agent/mo (Growth, monthly). About EUR 71 annual.

  5. 05

    Front

    Best for: B2B with cross-team customer ops (tech, logistics, professional services, finance).(claimed)source

    Entry price: $25/seat/mo (Starter; up to 10 seats; single channel; annual).

  6. 06

    Gladly

    Best for: Mid-market to enterprise retail, ecommerce, and hospitality (Ulta, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, TUMI).(claimed)source

    Entry price: ~$180/agent/mo (Hero, annual).(3rd-party)source

  7. 07

    Gorgias

    Best for: Ecommerce brands, especially Shopify.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Starter $10/mo (50 tickets, 3 seats); Basic $60/mo (300 tickets).

  8. 08

    Help Scout

    Best for: SMB and mid-market across SaaS, ecommerce, education, and healthcare.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Standard $25/user/mo (monthly); about $21 annual.

  9. 09

    HubSpot Service Hub

    Best for: Growing SMB to mid-market teams wanting unified CRM and service without a separate helpdesk.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Starter $15/seat/mo (monthly); promo ~$9 noted.(3rd-party)source

  10. 10

    Intercom

    Best for: Mid-market and enterprise SaaS/tech teams wanting a unified AI agent plus human helpdesk.

    Entry price: Essential: $29/seat/mo (annual); $39 monthly.

  11. 11

    Kustomer

    Best for: Mid-market to enterprise retail, travel, and finance replacing legacy ticketing (e.g. Turo, Everlane, Sweetgreen).(claimed)source

    Entry price: Enterprise ~$89/seat/mo (annual).(3rd-party)source

  12. 12

    Re:amaze

    Best for: Ecommerce merchants (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce) and SMB online businesses.(claimed)source

    Entry price: $29/agent/mo (Basic, monthly); $26.10 annual.

  13. 13

    Salesforce Service Cloud

    Best for: Large enterprises on Salesforce needing CRM-unified service at scale with AI.(3rd-party)source

    Entry price: Starter Suite $25/user/mo (annual; max 10 users).

  14. 14

    Twilio Flex

    Best for: Companies needing a customizable, developer-first contact center embeddable into apps and CRMs.(claimed)source

    Entry price: $1.00/active user hour or $35/monthly active user.

  15. 15

    Zendesk

    Best for: Mid-market to enterprise support teams wanting an all-in-one omnichannel helpdesk with built-in AI agents. Also SMBs via self-serve.

    Entry price: $19/agent/mo (Support Team, annual, email only). $55 (Suite Team, omnichannel).

  16. 16

    Zoho Desk

    Best for: SMB and mid-market in the Zoho ecosystem. 125,000+ businesses.(claimed)source

    Entry price: Express $7/agent/mo (annual).(3rd-party)source

Kayako and the alternatives, side by side

 KayakoOpen.cxFreshdeskCrispDixa
Pricing modelHybrid: flat platform fee (Kayako One) plus $1 per AI-resolved ticket.Per resolution. No seat, setup, or per-message fees.Per agent/month. AI billed separately.Flat rate per workspace/mo, not per-seat (extra seats $10/mo each).Per-agent/mo plus usage add-ons (Mim per conversation, voice per minute).
Entry price$79/mo flat (Kayako One).(3rd-party)source$0.90 per resolution$19/agent/mo (Growth); $29 Omni$45/mo (Mini, 4 seats, 5,000 profiles, ~$5 AI credits).EUR 89/agent/mo (Growth, monthly). About EUR 71 annual.
Free planNot offeredNoFree tier for up to 2 agentsYes. Forever free; 2 seats, 100 profiles, no AI credits.No
Autonomous AI agentYes. Kay triages, drafts, processes refunds, updates shipping, creates users, and closes cases.(claimed)sourceYes. Autopilot resolves tickets end to end on its own, across every channel.Yes. Freddy AI Agent resolves tickets end to end.(claimed)sourceYes. Hugo AI agent resolves tickets 24/7.Yes. Mim (built in-house 2023, OpenAI GPT) resolves end-to-end across chat, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS.
Runs on your existing helpdeskBoth. Kay can layer onto Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, or Kayako's own helpdesk.(claimed)sourceBoth. Add it on top of the helpdesk you already run, or use it as your own inbox. Works with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Twilio Flex, and Creatio.Native to Freshdesk onlyNative only.Native only.
VoiceListed as a channel (native voice is contested).Native (hosted numbers in 100+ countries), inbound and outbound, or bring your own carrier via SIPAdd-on (Freshcaller, a separate product)Via integration (Aircall, Ringover, KrispCall; no native phone)Native (VoIP, browser-based).

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The full seventy-plus row comparison for any pairing lives on its own page.

Questions

Why do teams look for a Kayako alternative?
Most often the pricing shape rather than the product. Kayako bills hybrid: flat platform fee (Kayako One) plus $1 per AI-resolved ticket. Entry pricing: $79/mo flat (Kayako One). A team whose ticket volume is growing faster than its headcount tends to start pricing the alternatives at that point.
What are the closest alternatives to Kayako?
Open.cx, Freshdesk and Crisp are the three most often compared against Kayako. Which fits depends on whether you are replacing the help desk itself or adding AI on top of the one you have — those are different projects.
Do I have to migrate off Kayako to use AI?
No. Both. Add it on top of the helpdesk you already run, or use it as your own inbox. Works with Zendesk, Intercom, Front, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Twilio Flex, and Creatio. That matters because a migration and an AI rollout are usually two separate decisions, and doing both at once is how each one gets blamed for the other's problems.
Where do the figures on this page come from?
Public vendor pricing and documentation pages, each with the date it was last checked. Anything a vendor says about itself that cannot be independently verified is marked as a claim rather than presented as fact, including our own.