4.1/5
G2 rating
219 reviews; Capterra 4.0/5 (176 reviews)
Report
Should I Use Kayako?
Automate 60% of support tickets with Kayako's AI-first customer support platform. Discover how companies save $500K yearly. Get your personalized demo today.
Depends
DependsBuy if you're a mid-size team with real ticket volume that wants AI deflection and seatless pricing.
Mid-market AI help desk, 4.1/5 on G2 — fits ticket-heavy teams, overkill and cost-risky for small ones.
Confidence: Medium
4/5
Trustpilot
customer service reviews
10,000+ companies
Claimed scale
131,000 support agents cited by Kayako
$162M ARR
Revenue
2021, per GetLatka
Value for money
3
Seatless pricing praised, but overall cost complaints common
Ease of use
4
Users consistently praise ease of use
Feature depth
4
Solid multi-channel desk plus AI automation
Security posture
2
Multiple legacy CVEs; cloud adds SSO
Pros
Cons
Gotchas
- highPricing complaints are reviewers' most common theme; confirm true costs before committing
- highSelf-hosted Kayako Classic carries old, unpatched-era CVEs — migrate or leave⁸
- mediumOwned by ESW Capital since 2018; roadmap is less visible than VC-backed rivals13
- mediumThe 'automate 60%' and '$500K saved' numbers are vendor marketing — demand a pilot¹
Best for
- Mid-size support teams (10+ agents)
- Ticket-heavy B2B SaaS
- Teams migrating off Groove or shared inboxes
- Buyers piloting AI ticket deflection
Not for
- Tiny teams — a shared inbox or Freshdesk free plan is enough
- Anyone needing transparent, predictable pricing before signing
- Orgs still on self-hosted Kayako Classic without a patch plan
- Very low ticket volumes where AI automation never pays back
Pricing
Three published plans
Not disclosed
- Billed per conversation, not per seat
- Plan names and exact prices unverified
Security
No issues found with the current cloud product; legacy self-hosted Kayako Classic carries multiple CVEs.
- Kayako Fusion v4.51.1891 — multiple web vulnerabilitiesAcunetix lists multiple web vulnerabilities in the legacy self-hosted Fusion product.⁸
- SQL injection in Kayako eSupport (CVE-2010-2912)SQL injection recorded in NVD for the legacy eSupport product.⁹
- June 2016 high-severity advisory, Kayako Classic 4.73.3 and earlierKayako's own advisory urged urgent patching of Classic installs.10
What users say
Ratings hover around 4.0–4.1/5: users praise ease of use, while others stay unsure and gripe about pricing.
“I wish everybody used Kayako !”
“Six months in and I'm still a bit sur…”
Alternatives
Compare Kayako with each alternative.
Zendesk
Deeper ecosystem and far more reviews; pricier at scale.
Kayako vs ZendeskFreshdesk
Cheaper, simpler start for smaller teams.
Kayako vs FreshdeskHappyFox
Mid-market help desk alternative worth comparing.
Kayako vs HappyFoxPylon
B2B-first support platform alternative.
Kayako vs PylonFull analysis
Based on 30+ public sources reviewed; exact plan prices were not disclosed in any source.
Sources
- Kayako — official sitekayako.comofficial
- Kayako Pricingkayako.comofficial
- Kayako Reviews 2026 — G2g2.comreview
review
- Kayako Reviews — Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- I tested Kayako — TechRadartechradar.comreview
- Kayako Pricing 2026: Is It Worth It? — Featurebasefeaturebase.appreview
security
- CVE-2010-2912 — NVDnvd.nist.govsecurity
- June 2016 Security Advisory for Kayako Classicclassichelp.kayako.comsecurity
- Aurea case study — Kayakokayako.comofficial
- Trilogy case study — Kayakogo.kayako.comofficial
- DC Advisory: Kayako sale to ESW Capitaldcadvisory.comnews
- Kayako Revenue 2021: $162M ARR — GetLatkagetlatka.comnews
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