Crisp
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a small-to-mid ecommerce or SaaS team that wants live chat, chatbot, and AI in one affordable tool.
Comparison
Crisp vs Kayako
Crisp lands on Worth it, and Kayako lands on Depends.
Kayako
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a mid-size team with real ticket volume that wants AI deflection and seatless pricing.
| Compare | Crisp | Kayako |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Worth it | Depends |
| Best for | Ecommerce stores (Shopify sellers) | Mid-size support teams (10+ agents) |
| Who it's not for | Growing teams that will hit the 4/10/20 seat caps | Tiny teams . a shared inbox or Freshdesk free plan is enough |
| Privacy | No Crisp platform breach found; official SOC2 article exists, but its WordPress plugin shipped CVEs (2021, 2024) and stealer logs flag.app credentials.13 | No issues found with the current cloud product; legacy self-hosted Kayako Classic carries multiple public CVEs. |
| Support quality | No direct user evidence found | No direct evidence in sources |
| Public sentiment | Users praise Crisp's everyday performance and affordability but flag seat caps, tiered pricing, and occasional missed notifications.³ | Ratings hover around 4.0-4.1/5: users praise ease of use, while others stay unsure and gripe about pricing.² |
| Biggest gotcha | Seat caps (4/10/20) mean hiring more agents forces a plan upgrade⁸ | Pricing complaints are reviewers' most common theme; confirm true costs before committing |
Pick Crisp when
- Ecommerce stores (Shopify sellers)
- Small-to-mid support teams
- Teams automating FAQs with cheap AI
- Startups wanting one shared inbox
When Crisp is not a fit
- Growing teams that will hit the 4/10/20 seat caps
- Buyers needing white-label without paying Plus tier
- Highly regulated enterprises requiring deep compliance assurance
- Anyone expecting simple flat pricing . plans are per-workspace with tier gates
Pick Kayako when
- Mid-size support teams (10+ agents)
- Ticket-heavy B2B SaaS
- Teams migrating off Groove or shared inboxes
- Buyers piloting AI ticket deflection
When Kayako is not a fit
- 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
Sources
review
- Crisp Reviews . G2g2.comreview
- Crisp Reviews . Capterracapterra.comreview
- Crisp Review . Tidiotidio.comreview
- Crisp Reviews . Trustpilot (crisp.chat)trustpilot.comreview
- Crisp . Helpdesk & AI Chatbot, Shopify App Store reviewsapps.shopify.comreview
- Crisp Pricing 2026: What's The Catch? . Featurebasefeaturebase.appnews
news
news
- Crisp . official sitecrisp.chatofficial
- Crisp SOC2 compliance status . official help centerhelp.crisp.chatofficial
security
security
- im.crisp.app infostealer credentials . Hudson Rockhudsonrock.comsecurity
news
- Kayako . official sitekayako.comofficial
