LiveAgentKayakoLiveAgent vs Kayako

LiveAgent vs Kayako: free plan, trial and time to first reply

A help desk with live chat and calls against a help desk: one prints a price and one quotes. What decides between LiveAgent and Kayako, and a third option for small teams.

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

Try the third optionSellio pricing

No credit card. Live in minutes.

The short answer

Pick LiveAgent if you want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price. Pick Kayako if you want an AI agent billed only per resolved ticket, with no seat fee. For five people it is $145 a month on LiveAgent, and a quote on Kayako, before AI; Sellio Mini is $45 for the workspace. LiveAgent and Kayako both include website chat and email in the price. Neither LiveAgent nor Kayako includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. A team of two to ten choosing between LiveAgent and Kayako for chat and tickets at one price has a third option below.

At a glanceLiveAgentLiveAgentKayakoKayako
Built aroundA universal inbox · email, chat and callsTickets and a customer journey · AI billed per resolution
Entry plan$15/agent/mo · Small Business, yearlyQuote · Kayako One
Chat in the price$15/agent/mo · chat on every planQuote · widget included
AI agentIncluded · chatbot and answer assistant$1 per resolution · Kay AI Agent
Copilot for agentsIncludedIn Kay
Free planNone · 30-day 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

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    As a ticket in the universal inbox, whether it came by email, chat or a call. Kayako raises tickets too, from tickets and a customer journey.

    KayakoKayako

    As a ticket that shows the customer's journey across the site and past conversations. LiveAgent raises tickets too, from a universal inbox.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    $15 buys email and two chat buttons on Small Business; the call center starts on Medium at $29. $145 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; LiveAgent prints $145.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    The chatbot, answer assistant and triage are included in the paid plans; no per-conversation meter. 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. LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    Email and chat on every plan; calls from Medium; WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram and Facebook on Large and up. The same set as Kayako.

    KayakoKayako

    Email, live chat, Messenger and X; no WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. The same set as LiveAgent.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A call center with IVR, a knowledge base and a customer portal. Kayako is a help desk instead.

    KayakoKayako

    A help center, SLAs, automation rules and reporting. LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A day: connect the mailbox, add the chat button, set the departments. Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

    KayakoKayako

    A sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding. LiveAgent is a day.

Sources: LiveAgent 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 LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together
LiveAgentLiveAgent. The LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together
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: LiveAgent pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); Kayako pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

LiveAgent, 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.

FeatureLiveAgentLiveAgentKayakoKayakoSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI included
Quote; AI per resolution
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 30-day trial
None
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

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

Support operations

Tickets
Universal inbox
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Rules and time rules
Automation rules
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Reporting
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick LiveAgent if

  • You want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price.
  • AI included in the seat matters more than a tunable AI meter.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Kayako does not ship.
  • It prints its price ($145 a month for five) where Kayako quotes.

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.
  • Time to the first reply is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding here and a day on LiveAgent.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than LiveAgent's: seat prices are not printed; the AI agent is $1 per resolution. Older plans ran $15 to $60 per agent.

The third option: Sellio

  • Two to ten of you answer chat, messaging and email. Compare Sellio's workspace plans with $145 a month on LiveAgent, and a quote on Kayako for five people, including each product's limits.
  • The AI invoice should be known in advance: LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan and Kayako meters AI ($1 per resolution) above the seats, where Sellio's credit is included and capped by you.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither LiveAgent nor Kayako includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

LiveAgent on Medium Business: $58, $145 and $290 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, $100 less than LiveAgent 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 $195 under LiveAgent.

Where the two agree, and where they split

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. Neither has a free plan: LiveAgent offers a 30-day trial, no card, Kayako no trial. LiveAgent and Kayako both include website chat and email in the price. Neither LiveAgent nor Kayako includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan; Kayako meters AI ($1 per resolution) above the seats. LiveAgent and Kayako both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps. LiveAgent is a day; Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

What each price leaves out

LiveAgent: Chatbot, answer assistant, autoresponder and triage included in the paid plans. Kayako: Kay AI Agent $1 per resolved ticket; escalations and deflections are free. Beside LiveAgent's included 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 LiveAgent'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
    LiveAgentLiveAgentAssumed $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.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent · 30-day trial, no card
    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

LiveAgent vs Kayako: the questions people ask

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. LiveAgent and Kayako both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (Small Business, yearly); Kayako Quote (Kayako One).
  • Chat in the price: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (chat on every plan); Kayako Quote (widget included).
  • Sellio's inbox: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither LiveAgent nor Kayako has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside LiveAgent and Kayako on the same rows.

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

No credit card required