Genesys Cloud CXKayakoGenesys Cloud CX vs Kayako

Genesys Cloud CX vs Kayako: contact center or help desk

A contact center platform against a help desk: one prints a price and one quotes. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Genesys Cloud CX if you run a contact center where voice, routing and workforce management come first. Pick Kayako if you want an AI agent billed only per resolved ticket, with no seat fee. For five people it is $575 a month on Genesys Cloud CX, and a quote on Kayako, before AI; Sellio Mini is $45 for the workspace. Genesys Cloud CX and Kayako both include website chat and email in the price; only Genesys Cloud CX has WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Genesys Cloud CX nor Kayako includes Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Genesys Cloud CX and Kayako sell here at one price.

At a glanceGenesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CXKayakoKayako
Built aroundThe contact center · voice first, digital addedTickets and a customer journey · AI billed per resolution
Entry plan$75/user/mo · CX 1: voice onlyQuote · Kayako One
Chat in the price$115/user/mo · CX 2: adds digital channelsQuote · widget included
AI agentAI tokens · 250 a month included per org$1 per resolution · Kay AI Agent
Copilot for agentsIn tokensIn Kay
Free planNone · no printed trialNone · talk to a pricing expert

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX

    As an interaction routed by skills and queues, whether it is a call, a web message or an email. Kayako raises a ticket where Genesys Cloud CX keeps a conversation.

    KayakoKayako

    As a ticket that shows the customer's journey across the site and past conversations. Genesys Cloud CX has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX

    $75 buys voice on CX 1; web messaging, email and social start on CX 2 at $115 per user. $575 for five people; Kayako prints no figure to set beside it.

    KayakoKayako

    No seat price is printed for Kayako One; older plans were $15 to $60 per agent. No figure for five people here; Genesys Cloud CX prints $575.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX

    AI Experience tokens: a monthly allowance per org, then bought by usage, covering bots and agent assist. Kayako meters AI ($1 per resolution) above the seats instead.

    KayakoKayako

    Kay, the AI agent, is $1 per resolved ticket, with no seat fee; escalations are not charged. Genesys Cloud CX folds AI (AI tokens) into the plan instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX

    Voice, web messaging, email, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram on the digital plans; no Telegram. WhatsApp and Instagram are here and not on Kayako.

    KayakoKayako

    Email, live chat, Messenger and X; no WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. Genesys Cloud CX adds WhatsApp and Instagram, which Kayako lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX

    Workforce management, quality, speech analytics and outbound dialing for a contact center. Kayako is a help desk instead.

    KayakoKayako

    A help center, SLAs, automation rules and reporting. Genesys Cloud CX is a contact center platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX

    Weeks: a contact center rollout with routing, IVR and workforce setup. Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

    KayakoKayako

    A sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding. Genesys Cloud CX is weeks.

Sources: Genesys Cloud CX pricing · Kayako pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Genesys Cloud agent workspace: the interaction queue with a web message and the customer record
Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX. The Genesys Cloud agent workspace: the interaction queue with a web message and the customer record
The Kayako conversation view: the ticket with the customer journey timeline beside it
KayakoKayako. The Kayako conversation view: the ticket with the customer journey timeline beside it

Pricing references: Genesys Cloud CX pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); Kayako pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Genesys Cloud CX, Kayako and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureGenesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CXKayakoKayakoSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per user; AI by tokens
Quote; AI per resolution
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None
None
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Web messaging on CX 2 and up
Widget included
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
CX 2 and up
Included
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
CX 2 and up, plus fees
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
CX 2 and up
Messenger and X only
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not offered
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Teams and Slack integrations
Slack integration
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Bots on tokens
Kay
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Tokens, then usage
$1 per resolution
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Routes to a queue
Escalates free of charge
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Cases via work automation
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Architect flows
Automation rules
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Deep contact center reporting
Reporting
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Desktop app
Browser only
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Genesys Cloud CX if

  • You run a contact center where voice, routing and workforce management come first.
  • Named, concurrent or hourly licensing matters for shift work.
  • You need WhatsApp and Instagram in the price, which Kayako does not include outright.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Kayako does not ship.

Pick Kayako if

  • You want an AI agent billed only per resolved ticket, with no seat fee.
  • A ticket view that shows the customer's journey matters to you.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Genesys Cloud CX does not have.
  • Time to the first reply is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding here and weeks on Genesys Cloud CX.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Genesys Cloud CX or Kayako who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $575 a month on Genesys Cloud CX, and a quote on Kayako for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Genesys Cloud CX folds AI (AI tokens) into the plan, Kayako meters AI ($1 per resolution) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither Genesys Cloud CX nor Kayako includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Genesys Cloud CX on CX 2: $230, $575 and $1,150 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Kayako quotes per team, so two, five and ten people are three conversations with sales. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $530 less than Genesys Cloud CX and against a quote on Kayako for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $1,055 under Genesys Cloud CX.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Genesys Cloud CX is a contact center platform built around the contact center; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. Neither has a free plan: Genesys Cloud CX offers no trial, Kayako no trial. Genesys Cloud CX and Kayako both include website chat and email in the price; only Genesys Cloud CX has WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Genesys Cloud CX nor Kayako includes Telegram outright. Genesys Cloud CX folds AI (AI tokens) into the plan; Kayako meters AI ($1 per resolution) above the seats. Kayako has tickets and Genesys Cloud CX does not, and only Genesys Cloud CX ships desktop apps. Genesys Cloud CX is weeks; Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

What each price leaves out

Genesys Cloud CX: AI Experience tokens: 250 named or 350 concurrent a month per org included, then bought by usage. Kayako: Kay AI Agent $1 per resolved ticket; escalations and deflections are free. Beside Genesys Cloud CX's AI tokens and Kayako's $1 per resolution, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How these figures were read

Kayako does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (Seat prices are not printed; the AI agent is $1 per resolution. Older plans ran $15 to $60 per agent.), so they are marked unverified here beside Genesys Cloud CX's, and Kayako's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CXAssumed $0$0
    KayakoKayakoSee vendorNot quoted
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    Genesys Cloud CXGenesys Cloud CX · None printed; contact sales
    KayakoKayako · None printed; book a session
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Genesys Cloud CX vs Kayako: the questions people ask

Genesys Cloud CX is a contact center platform built around the contact center; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. Kayako has tickets and Genesys Cloud CX does not, and only Genesys Cloud CX ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Genesys Cloud CX $75/user/mo (CX 1: voice only); Kayako Quote (Kayako One).
  • Chat in the price: Genesys Cloud CX $115/user/mo (CX 2: adds digital channels); Kayako Quote (widget included).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: Telegram, which neither Genesys Cloud CX nor Kayako has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Genesys Cloud CX and Kayako rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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