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Kayako Review

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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. - kayako.com

· 1 month ago

Buy if you're a mid-size team with real ticket volume that wants AI deflection and seatless pricing. Skip it if you're a small team, price-sensitive, or need full cost transparency upfront.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources reviewed; exact plan prices were not disclosed in any source.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo direct evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

Three published plans

Not disclosed in sources reviewed

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed

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

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Pricing complaints are reviewers' most common theme; confirm true costs before committing

high

Self-hosted Kayako Classic carries old, unpatched-era CVEs — migrate or leave

medium

Owned by ESW Capital since 2018; roadmap is less visible than VC-backed rivals

medium

The 'automate 60%' and '$500K saved' numbers are vendor marketing — demand a pilot

Pros and cons

Pros

  • G2 users consistently praise ease of use
  • Claims AI automates 60% of tickets
  • Case study: Aurea avoided $18M in support costs
  • Charges per conversation, not per seat
  • TechRadar tested it: solid, well-built help desk

Cons

  • Pricing marketed as simple, but real-world costs draw complaints
  • Legacy Kayako Classic has public XSS and SQL injection CVEs
  • Competitors call it basic; features don't scale like rivals
  • Some users still unsure after six months
  • Fewer reviews than Zendesk; smaller community

Sources & method

- 14 sources - No issues found with the current cloud product; legacy self-hosted Kayako Classic carries multiple CVEs.

official x4review x5security x3news x2
  • Kayako Fusion v4.51.1891 — multiple web vulnerabilities, Acunetix lists multiple web vulnerabilities in the legacy self-hosted Fusion product.
  • SQL injection in Kayako eSupport (CVE-2010-2912), SQL injection recorded in NVD for the legacy eSupport product.
  • June 2016 high-severity advisory, Kayako Classic 4.73.3 and earlier, Kayako's own advisory urged urgent patching of Classic installs.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 3/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 3/5. Seatless pricing praised, but overall cost complaints common
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Users consistently praise ease of use
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Solid multi-channel desk plus AI automation
  • Support quality. No direct evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 2/5. Multiple legacy CVEs; cloud adds SSO
  • 4.1/5 G2 rating 219 reviews; Capterra 4.0/5 (176 reviews)
  • 4/5 Trustpilot customer service reviews
  • 10,000+ companies Claimed scale 131,000 support agents cited by Kayako
  • $162M ARR Revenue 2021, per GetLatka

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 !”
Kayako reviews page
“Six months in and I'm still a bit sur…”
Trustpilot reviewer

Companies that use it

  • Aurea11
  • Trilogy12
  • University of Memphis
Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources reviewed; exact plan prices were not disclosed in any source.

Mid-market AI help desk, 4.1/5 on G2 — fits ticket-heavy teams, overkill and cost-risky for small ones.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources reviewed; exact plan prices were not disclosed in any source.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Kayako — official sitekayako.com
    official
  2. Kayako Pricingkayako.com
    official
  3. Kayako Reviews 2026 — G2g2.com
    review
  4. Kayako Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features — G2 pricingg2.com
    review
  5. Kayako Reviews — Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  6. I tested Kayako — TechRadartechradar.com
    review
  7. Kayako Pricing 2026: Is It Worth It? — Featurebasefeaturebase.app
    review
  8. Kayako Fusion v4.51.1891 — multiple web vulnerabilities — Acunetixacunetix.com
    security
  9. CVE-2010-2912 — NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  10. June 2016 Security Advisory for Kayako Classicclassichelp.kayako.com
    security
  11. Aurea case study — Kayakokayako.com
    official
  12. Trilogy case study — Kayakogo.kayako.com
    official
  13. DC Advisory: Kayako sale to ESW Capitaldcadvisory.com
    news
  14. Kayako Revenue 2021: $162M ARR — GetLatkagetlatka.com
    news

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