JivoChat
Kayako
| Feature | JivoChat | Kayako |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $19/mo | From $30/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 3.9 / 5 |
| Best For | small-businesses, ecommerce, multilingual-teams, sales-teams | ecommerce, saas-companies, support-teams, mid-size-companies |
| Founded | 2012 | 2001 |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone Calls | ✓ | ✗ |
| ✓ | ✗ | |
| Social Media | ✓ | ✗ |
| Crm | ✓ | ✗ |
| Visitor Monitoring | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ticketing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Customer Journey | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Service | ✗ | ✓ |
| Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sla Management | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ JivoChat Pros
- Good free plan
- Omnichannel support
- CRM built-in
- Easy setup
✗ JivoChat Cons
- Interface dated
- Limited automation
- Paid features add up
✓ Kayako Pros
- Unified customer view
- Good live chat
- Journey tracking
- Multichannel
✗ Kayako Cons
- Dated interface
- Limited integrations
- Slow development pace
The Verdict
JivoChat is built for small businesses and ecommerce, with a focus on live-chat and phone-calls. Kayako targets ecommerce and saas companies and leads with live-chat and ticketing.
On pricing, JivoChat 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.
JivoChat has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Kayako requires a paid subscription from day one.
Both tools are a solid fit for ecommerce — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.