Freshservice
Kayako
| Feature | Freshservice | Kayako |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $19/mo | From $30/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 3.9 / 5 |
| Best For | it-teams, enterprise, msp-providers, help-desks | ecommerce, saas-companies, support-teams, mid-size-companies |
| Founded | 2014 | 2001 |
| Incident Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Asset Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Change Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Service Catalog | ✓ | ✗ |
| Knowledge Base | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Agent | ✓ | ✗ |
| Live Chat | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ticketing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Customer Journey | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Service | ✗ | ✓ |
| Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sla Management | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Freshservice Pros
- Intuitive interface
- ITIL-ready
- Good automation
- AI capabilities
✗ Freshservice Cons
- Expensive at higher tiers
- Limited customization
- Reporting limitations
✓ Kayako Pros
- Unified customer view
- Good live chat
- Journey tracking
- Multichannel
✗ Kayako Cons
- Dated interface
- Limited integrations
- Slow development pace
The Verdict
Freshservice is built for it teams and enterprise, with a focus on incident-management and asset-management. Kayako targets ecommerce and saas companies and leads with live-chat and ticketing.
On pricing, Freshservice is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $19/mo compared to $30/mo for Kayako. That $11/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
Freshservice edges out on user ratings (4.4 vs 3.9). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Bottom line: Freshservice has a slight overall edge — but if unified customer view matters most to you, Kayako may still be the right call.