Comparison

Kayako vs Zendesk

Kayako and Zendesk both land 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.

Depends

Confidence: High

Buy it if you run a large, multi-channel support operation with budget for admin overhead.

Kayako versus Zendesk
Compare	Kayako	Zendesk
Verdict	Depends	Depends
Best for	Mid-size support teams (10+ agents)	Mid-market and enterprise support teams
Who it's not for	Tiny teams . a shared inbox or Freshdesk free plan is enough	Small teams wanting a simple shared inbox
Privacy	No issues found with the current cloud product; legacy self-hosted Kayako Classic carries multiple public CVEs.^⁸	Active findings: 2024 spoofing CVE, 2025 breaches via support-portal access, and email-bomb abuse . mitigations documented in the Trust Center.
Support quality	No direct evidence in sources	Insufficient direct evidence in sources
Public sentiment	Ratings hover around 4.0-4.1/5: users praise ease of use, while others stay unsure and gripe about pricing.^³	Reviews praise ticketing depth and ease of use, but increasingly slam price hikes, hidden fees, and complexity.
Biggest gotcha	Pricing complaints are reviewers' most common theme; confirm true costs before committing	Hidden add-on fees push real per-agent cost well above the sticker price

Small teams wanting a simple shared inbox
Startups without budget for admins and add-ons
Anyone allergic to annual contracts and hidden fees
Teams handling only a handful of tickets daily . a spreadsheet or lightweight inbox wins