Kayako vs ServiceNow

LiveAgent

Zendesk Suite

Tidio

Award-winning live chat, help desk, ticketing and call center software with powerful AI features. Start for free with a 30-day trial.

Zendesk offers an AI-powered service platform that unifies conversations from multiple channels. It features AI agents for resolving inquiries, ticketing for support requests, and analytics for tracking service quality. Its Resolution Learning Loop technology enhances automation by integrating AI, human agents, and knowledge resources on one platform.

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Senior Director of Advertising and eCommerce

Kayako has streamlined our customer service operations by providing a scalable and customizable solution.

VP of Growth

Three weeks or so before the team stopped hovering.

Kayako - Customer Support Software made personal and simple with a unified customer service platform that helps you build closer relationships.

Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Tracking

AI Copilot

Alerts/Escalation

Alerts/Notifications

Application Management

Asset Tracking

Automated Routing

Autoresponders

Availability Management

Call Center Management

Capacity Management

Change Management

Chat/Messaging

Collaboration Tools

Communication Management

Configurable Workflow

Configuration Management

Contract/License Management

Customer Database

Customizable Branding

Customizable Fields

Customizable Forms

Customizable Reports

Dashboard

Data Visualization

Email Management

Email Templates

Event Triggered Actions

Feedback Management

Help Desk Management

Incident Management

Interaction Tracking

Issue Auditing

Issue Management

Knowledge Base Management

Live Chat

Mobile Access

Monitoring

Multi-Channel Communication

Multi-Language

Offline Form

Performance Metrics

Problem Management

Project Management

Queue Management

Real-Time Chat

Real-time Consumer-facing Chat

Real-Time Data

Real-Time Monitoring

Recurring Issues

Release Management

Reporting/Analytics

Reporting & Statistics

Role-Based Permissions

Rules-Based Workflow

Search/Filter

Self Service Portal

Service Catalog

Service Level Agreement (SLA) Management

Single Sign On

Social Media Integration

Support Ticket Management

Surveys & Feedback

Tagging

Third-Party Integrations

Ticket Management

Website Integration

Workflow Management

Some users report that Kayako offers reasonable pricing and value-friendly per-user costs, especially with discounts. However, many reviewers feel the pricing is high after recent increases, and users indicate frustration with unexpected charges and separate support fees.

Value for money

By industry, Kayako reviewers are most commonly professionals in computer software (23%). The most frequent use case for Kayako cited by reviewers is customer support (71% of reviewers).

Kayako

Web-based

Windows

iPad

Android

Linux

iPhone

Olark

Freshdesk

ESSENTIAL

ENTERPRISE

Admin

You approve or tweak the draft, publish it, and Kay handles that ticket type unassisted from then on.

What surprised me was how much of it happens quietly in the background: ticket routing, KB drafting, first-pass resolutions.

Staff Software Engineer

I was able to resolve a customer issue quickly by tracking their ticket and providing a solution, all in one platform.

This enables efficient organization and tracking, while facilitating multi-channel customer engagement.

That's when we started turning on autonomous handling, category by category.

Then you start noticing the drafts need less and less adjustment.

At some point your agents are just clicking send.

Senior Field Technician

The main interface is clunky, sometimes tickets are slow to load in and notifications were easy to miss.

Director of Operations

Setting up the automations can be a bit difficult when you are first learning the program.

Automation of messaging with the customers.

Software engineer

For example, navigating through all the features and setting up.

Engineer

I like how quickly my issues have been resolved using this platform.

Manager Operations

The thing I liked the most is its on going monitoring of tickets, once a ticket cross a specified time defined, that ticket has got highlighted which means an overdue ticket requires you immediate attention.

Adding notes to the users and on current tickets is one of the great features of this software which allows the other users to understand the user and help them accordingly.

It allows to make different sections and sub section which helps for better management of your tickets.

Systems administrator 

Renewals are fraught with misleading comments and empty promises.  

Sometime the keyboard stops responding and despite the typing nothing has been going to write on the answer section of the ticket which sometimes is very annoying.

It keep the track of all tickets, open, in progress and closed ones.

I can managed unassigned tickets easily by assigning it to relevant persons.

Software Trainee

The Database management and queue management is the thing I lile best about this software.

Partner Relations Manager

I found Kayako to be an easy-to-use product.

Freelance Web Developer

The support for a JWT-based sign in for customers into the help centre means that people have a single account to sign in to everything, rather than creating separate accounts like you'd have to do with Zendesk or similar, and it just makes life a whole lot easier overall.

Naturopathic Doctor

Very helpful to start-up business as it provides total help desk and customer support in a more efficient manner.

I also find the notifications it provides are very iffy, sometimes not being delivered - and for some infuriating reason, there's no option to deliver emails for replies only when you're not already online!

Owner

A few days ago I received an email from kayako requesting that I contact them about my renewal. When I did, they informed me they would be increasing their pricing by 600% for this year, and an additional 25% each year thereafter.

IT Dept. Manager

I'm trying out the software, the documentations does not cover all possible scenarios.

many features do not work as in the documentation.

running and maintain requires a software development background.

I have used kayako as a knowledge base for my software.

Really easy and streamlined customer experience.

Customer Support

Communication

Knowledge Base

Features

Customer Tracking

Agent Support

Bugs and Issues

Pricing

Options

Freelancers

Small Business

Large Enterprises

Mid-size Business

Some users report that Kayako offers reasonable pricing compared to alternatives and appreciate the features included at its price point. Reviewers indicate that discounts for long-term or perpetual license holders can make the cost more attractive. Some reviewers find the per-user pricing value-friendly and say the app’s functionality justifies the expense. However, users think recent price increases and the shift from perpetual to subscription-based fees significantly reduce value for money. Some reviewers feel the cost is high for the features offered, dislike additional support charges, and express frustration with unexpected billing and auto-renewal practices.

Aurea

Freshdesk is a cloud-based, omnichannel customer service software for businesses of all sizes, with solutions that increase agent productivity and improve customer satisfaction.

Milvus

Milvus is an IT management platform which is available only in Portuguese. The system includes capabilities for managing IT assets, help desks, support/issue tickets, service catalogs, remote access, file transfer, device discovery, IT inventory, asset monitoring, customer documentation, and more.

ServiceNow is an IT service application platform-as-a-service provider that offers a range of ITSM products to  automate & manage numerous IT enterprise services. ServiceNow can be used for cloud & virtualization lifecycle management, change orchestration, infrastructure discovery & IT governance.

Activity Dashboard

Approval Process Control

Asset Lifecycle Management

Chatbot

Client Portal

Compliance Management

Cost Management

Cost Tracking

Data Import/Export

Data Mapping

Data Storage Management

Drag & Drop

Employee Management

Financial Management

Graphical User Interface

HR Management

Impact Management

Integrated Business Operations

Integrated Development Environment

Inventory Management

IT Asset Management

IT Asset Tracking

IT Cost Management

IT Reporting

Knowledge Management

License Management

Lifecycle Management

Macros/Templated Responses

Multi-Cloud Management

Performance Monitoring

Prioritization

Real-Time Analytics

Real-Time Reporting

Real-Time Updates

Relationship Mapping

Remote Access/Control

Request Assignment

Status Tracking

Support Ticket Tracking

Task Management

Version Control

By industry, ServiceNow reviewers are most commonly professionals in information technology and services (28%). The most frequent use case for ServiceNow cited by reviewers is help desk (63% of reviewers).

Users and use cases

ServiceNow is a help desk tool offering key features such as ticket management, incident management, service level agreement (SLA) management, a self-service portal, and alerts/notifications, among others.

Kayako vs ServiceNow Comparison (2026)

Kayako

ServiceNow

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives