ZendeskKayakoZendesk vs Kayako

Zendesk vs Kayako: the price of five seats and the AI

A help desk suite against a help desk: one prints a price and one quotes. Where Zendesk 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

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The short answer

Pick Zendesk if your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage. Pick Kayako if you want an AI agent billed only per resolved ticket, with no seat fee. For five people it is $275 a month on Zendesk, and a quote on Kayako, before AI; Sellio Mini is $45 for the workspace. Zendesk and Kayako both include website chat and email in the price; only Zendesk has Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor Kayako includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Zendesk against Kayako, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceZendeskZendeskKayakoKayako
Built aroundTickets and a queue · messaging came laterTickets and a customer journey · AI billed per resolution
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and ticketsQuote · Kayako One
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Suite TeamQuote · widget included
AI agentPer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printed$1 per resolution · Kay AI Agent
Copilot for agents$50/agent/moIn Kay
Free planNone · 14-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

    ZendeskZendesk

    As a ticket. Every channel, chat included, becomes a ticket with a status, a priority and an SLA clock. 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. Zendesk raises tickets too, from tickets and a queue.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    ZendeskZendesk

    $19 buys email and tickets. Live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and AI agents start at Suite Team, $55. $275 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; Zendesk prints $275.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    ZendeskZendesk

    AI agents are priced per automated resolution on top of seats, and the rate comes from your quote. 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. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    ZendeskZendesk

    Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice on Suite plans; WhatsApp conversation fees still apply. Instagram is here and not on Kayako.

    KayakoKayako

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

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. Kayako is a help desk instead.

    KayakoKayako

    A help center, SLAs, automation rules and reporting. Zendesk is a help desk suite instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    ZendeskZendesk

    A project. Queue, SLAs, routing and macros are set up before the first ticket is answered. Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

    KayakoKayako

    A sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding. Zendesk is a project.

Sources: Zendesk 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 Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields
ZendeskZendesk. The Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields
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: Zendesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Kayako pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Zendesk, 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.

FeatureZendeskZendeskKayakoKayakoSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
Quote; AI per resolution
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 14-day trial
None
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Suite 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
Suite plans, plus conversation fees
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Suite plans
Messenger and X only
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Third-party apps only
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications and side conversations
Slack integration
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

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

Support operations

Tickets
Ticket-first
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Triggers and automations, form-based
Automation rules
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Explore; advanced on higher plans
Reporting
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick Zendesk if

  • Your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage.
  • You need phone support and a contact center in the same tool.
  • You need Instagram in the price, which Kayako does not include outright.
  • It prints its price ($275 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 project on Zendesk.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Zendesk'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

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $275 a month on Zendesk, and a quote on Kayako for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) 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 Zendesk nor Kayako includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Zendesk on Suite Team: $110, $275 and $550 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, $230 less than Zendesk 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 $455 under Zendesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. Neither has a free plan: Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional, Kayako no trial. Zendesk and Kayako both include website chat and email in the price; only Zendesk has Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor Kayako includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Zendesk (per automated resolution) and Kayako ($1 per resolution) both meter AI above the seats. Zendesk and Kayako both raise tickets, and neither Zendesk nor Kayako ships a desktop app. Zendesk is a project; Kayako is a sales conversation, then a white-glove onboarding.

What each price leaves out

Zendesk: AI agents are billed per automated resolution on top of the seat price; the Copilot add-on is $50 per agent per month. Kayako: Kay AI Agent $1 per resolved ticket; escalations and deflections are free. Beside Zendesk's per automated resolution 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 Zendesk'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
    ZendeskZendeskAssumed $1.5$720
    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.

    ZendeskZendesk · 14-day trial of Suite Professional
    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

Zendesk vs Kayako: the questions people ask

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; Kayako is a help desk built around tickets and a customer journey. Zendesk and Kayako both raise tickets, and neither Zendesk nor Kayako ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets); Kayako Quote (Kayako One).
  • Chat in the price: Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team); Kayako Quote (widget included).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Zendesk nor Kayako has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Zendesk 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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