Salesforce Service CloudKayakoSalesforce Service Cloud vs Kayako

Salesforce Service Cloud vs Kayako: enterprise service CRM or help desk for a small team

An enterprise service CRM against a help desk: one prints a price and one quotes. Where Salesforce Service Cloud and Kayako split, 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 Salesforce Service Cloud if the rest of the company runs on Salesforce and support must share the record. Pick Kayako if you want an AI agent billed only per resolved ticket, with no seat fee. For five people it is $975 a month on Salesforce Service Cloud, and a quote on Kayako, before AI; Sellio Mini is $45 for the workspace. Salesforce Service Cloud and Kayako both include email in the price; only Kayako has website chat. Neither Salesforce Service Cloud nor Kayako includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Salesforce Service Cloud against Kayako, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceSalesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service CloudKayakoKayako
Built aroundCases on the CRM · channels bought separatelyTickets and a customer journey · AI billed per resolution
Entry plan$25/user/mo · Starter SuiteQuote · Kayako One
Chat in the price$195/user/mo · Core, plus messaging add-onsQuote · widget included
AI agentFlex Credits · Agentforce; Max includes 2.75M a year$1 per resolution · Kay AI Agent
Copilot for agentsIn AgentforceIn Kay
Free planNone · trials on Starter to AdvancedNone · 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

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    As a case on the Salesforce record, routed by Omni-Channel to a queue or an agent. 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. Salesforce Service Cloud raises tickets too, from cases on the CRM.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    $25 buys the Starter Suite; the service editions run $195 on Core to $550 on Max, with channels as add-ons. $975 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; Salesforce Service Cloud prints $975.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Agentforce is sold in Flex Credits by usage; only Max includes an allowance. Kayako meters AI ($1 per resolution) above the seats as well.

    KayakoKayako

    Kay, the AI agent, is $1 per resolved ticket, with no seat fee; escalations are not charged. Salesforce Service Cloud meters AI (Flex Credits) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Email and web on the editions; chat, messaging, WhatsApp and voice are bought as add-ons. Kayako adds website chat, which Salesforce Service Cloud lacks.

    KayakoKayako

    Email, live chat, Messenger and X; no WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. website chat is here and not on Salesforce Service Cloud.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    The whole CRM: sales, marketing, commerce, analytics and thousands of AppExchange apps. Kayako is a help desk instead.

    KayakoKayako

    A help center, SLAs, automation rules and reporting. Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Weeks to months: an implementation, often with a partner. Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

    KayakoKayako

    A sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding. Salesforce Service Cloud is weeks to months.

Sources: Salesforce Service Cloud 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 Service Cloud console: the case with the contact, the knowledge panel and Omni-Channel
Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud. The Service Cloud console: the case with the contact, the knowledge panel and Omni-Channel
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: Salesforce Service Cloud pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); Kayako pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Salesforce Service Cloud, 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.

FeatureSalesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service CloudKayakoKayakoSellio

Pricing

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

Channels

Website live chat
Messaging add-on
Widget included
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Email-to-case
Included
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Messaging add-on
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Messenger via add-on
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)
Slack is a Salesforce product
Slack integration
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Agentforce
Kay
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Flex Credits by 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
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Flow
Automation rules
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and Tableau
Reporting
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick Salesforce Service Cloud if

  • The rest of the company runs on Salesforce and support must share the record.
  • You have an implementation partner and a budget for add-ons.
  • It prints its price ($975 a month for five) where Kayako quotes.
  • Time to the first reply is weeks to months here and a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding on Kayako.

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 website chat in the price, which Salesforce Service Cloud does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding here and weeks to months on Salesforce Service Cloud.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $975 a month on Salesforce Service Cloud, and a quote on Kayako for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Salesforce Service Cloud meters AI (Flex Credits) above the seats, Kayako meters AI ($1 per resolution) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Salesforce Service Cloud nor Kayako includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Salesforce Service Cloud on Core: $390, $975 and $1,950 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, $930 less than Salesforce Service Cloud 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 $1,855 under Salesforce Service Cloud.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM built around cases on the CRM; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. Neither has a free plan: Salesforce Service Cloud offers a free trial, Kayako no trial. Salesforce Service Cloud and Kayako both include email in the price; only Kayako has website chat. Neither Salesforce Service Cloud nor Kayako includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Salesforce Service Cloud (Flex Credits) and Kayako ($1 per resolution) both meter AI above the seats. Salesforce Service Cloud and Kayako both raise tickets, and neither Salesforce Service Cloud nor Kayako ships a desktop app. Salesforce Service Cloud is weeks to months; Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

What each price leaves out

Salesforce Service Cloud: Agentforce by Flex Credits; Max includes 2.75M a year, others buy by usage. Kayako: Kay AI Agent $1 per resolved ticket; escalations and deflections are free. Beside Salesforce Service Cloud's Flex Credits 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 Salesforce Service Cloud'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
    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service CloudAssumed $2$960
    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.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud · Free trials on Starter, Pro, Core and Advanced
    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

Salesforce Service Cloud vs Kayako: the questions people ask

Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM built around cases on the CRM; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. Salesforce Service Cloud and Kayako both raise tickets, and neither Salesforce Service Cloud nor Kayako ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Salesforce Service Cloud $25/user/mo (Starter Suite); Kayako Quote (Kayako One).
  • Chat in the price: Salesforce Service Cloud $195/user/mo (Core, plus messaging add-ons); Kayako Quote (widget included).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Salesforce Service Cloud nor Kayako has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Salesforce Service Cloud 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