Zendesk vs Kayako

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Our analysts compared Zendesk vs Kayako based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Help Desk Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Kayako Software Tool

Product Basics

Zendesk For Service is a scalable platform offering streamlined customer and sales support. Agents can resolve problems efficiently, and track and prioritize support tickets. Omnichannel support allows users to centralize customer interactions across phone, chat, email and more. Its built-in intelligent routing reduces resolution time by automating ticketing queues and ensuring an appropriate customer-to-agent fit.

Customizable, shareable and pre-built dashboards help users gain actionable insights through real-time data. Teams can leverage the integrated knowledge base management tools to empower customers to resolve issues by themselves. AI-powered bots optimize engagement by providing 24/7 support, answering FAQs, collecting information, delivering chat transcripts and auto-filling ticket fields. Its other offerings include a self-service portal, reporting and analytics, an IT service desk and more.

To explore other popular solutions offered by Zendesk, visit our Zendesk company page.

Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Scalable
  • Multi-channel
  • Integrations
  • Customization
Cons
  • Costly
  • Limited reporting
  • Learning curve
  • Collaboration limitations
  • Integrations limitations
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Kayako is a comprehensive Help Desk Software designed to streamline customer support operations. It's ideal for businesses of all sizes seeking to improve customer satisfaction and streamline communication. Key benefits include centralized ticketing, automated workflows, and robust reporting for improved efficiency and visibility.

Popular features include a customizable knowledge base, self-service portal, and omnichannel support. Its user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation make it accessible to teams of all technical backgrounds. Compared to similar products, Kayako is highly rated for its ease of use, customization options, and excellent customer support.

Pricing varies depending on the number of agents and features required. It offers flexible payment options, including monthly and annual subscriptions, to suit different business needs.

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$55/User, Monthly
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$15 Monthly
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Unified Workspace: Get a coherent workspace experience with a digital contextual interface. Get benefits when agents work in shifts. Pass around tickets and work orders get passed around within the team. 
  • Omnichannel Support: Bridge support and service teams with customers across multiple modules. Get omnichannel support embedded in the product’s context-preserving workspace. Continue conversations with customers regardless of the channel and resolve issues without losing context. 
  • Better Support From Anywhere: Offer 24/7 support with AI-powered chatbots that help customers answer common queries without agent intervention. 
  • Enhanced Agent Productivity: Route tickets according to agent availability, capacity, priority and skill to ensure better resolution times. Rank agents based on performance and gamify work to further encourage productivity 
  • Better Reporting: Custom dashboards enable better data visualization and performance tracking. Track a range of different KPIs through custom and pre-built reports. Schedule automated reports at regular intervals to keep track of KPIs.
  • Improved Security and Compliance: Encrypt communication data between customers and support agents using industry best practices. GDPR compliance, HTTPS security and Transport Layer Security (TLS) keep private data secure.
  • Streamlined Workflows: Leverage AI to automate and enhance operations through tools like AI-based ticket routing, ticket sentiment analysis and automated response suggestions. 
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  • Increase Support Effectiveness: Enforce workforce SLAs and standardize performance quality across staff. Automate common tasks such as sending reminders and notifications, escalating queries, assigning conversations, and optimizing response and resolution times. 
  • Offer Stellar Self-Service: Help customers find solutions without the need for a live agent through step-by-step troubleshooters and a comprehensive knowledge base. Answer queries at all hours with an AI-powered Instant Response System. 
  • Ensure Quality: Use knowledge base ratings and customer satisfaction surveys to measure agent performance. Gain insight into marketing segmentation, projected customer behavior and areas of improvement through reports. 
  • Engage Leads: Turn website visitors into potential customers with geographical visitor monitoring, proactive live chat and click-to-call (VoIP). 
  • Integrate Easily: Extend your customer support platform by integrating with APIs for products such as Zapier, Slack and Salesforce. 
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  • Ticketing System: Offer high-quality customer support across various channels with pre-built dashboards, automation, customer ticket fields and dynamic forms. Avoid misplacing tickets, produce faster resolution and boost the bandwidth via robust tools such as CSAT ratings, routing, service-level agreements and time tracking. 
  • Omnichannel Support: Offer quick and seamless customer support through multiple channels including email, phone, chat, customized chatbots, a website, WhatsApp, messaging, Facebook and Twitter to ensure faster resolutions 
  • Messaging and Live Chat: Engage in long-term, personalized conversations with customers to deliver instant support without any repetitions. Help customers get instant answers via bots and integrated programs with the ability to turn to a live agent whenever needed. 
  • Help Center: Give customers access to knowledge base articles and automated suggestion pop-ups to enable a streamlined and efficient self-service. Convert essential issues in the community into resolvable tickets and update reusable content from help centers and articles through content blocks. 
  • Voice Support: Deliver instant support to customers with a cloud-based voice solution, plug into 90+ telephone providers. Extend voice capabilities with services including redaction, quality assurance and advanced call transcriptions. 
  • Community Forums: Create a platform for customers to collaborate, provide feedback, review the product, and answer other user’s questions. Help them reach out for the most relevant services. 
  • Reporting and Analytics: Analyze how customers use websites, products, services and various support channels. Determine ways to improve the experience by getting instant access to insights and identifying problem areas via customizable, pre-built dashboards. 
  • Knowledge Base: Help customers get to know the services and products better by creating easy-to-read articles with rich formatting and translations to 40+ languages for a localized customer experience. 
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  • Self-Service: Give customers access to resources such as self-help articles, FAQs, videos and 24/7 virtual support help with automated replies to common questions. Monitor search terms to identify gaps and optimize content according to customer needs. 
  • SingleView: Capture entire customer journeys in a centralized, easy-to-use visualization. Easily enable collaboration among employees with unified resources. 
  • Live Chat: Provide convenient service to customers with instant chats on web and mobile platforms. Send proactive messages based on information from conversations and behavior. 
  • Integration: Build intelligent, multi-step workflows across various channels and apps in a few clicks. Automate systems to organize, customize and provide proactive support to customers. Generate reports to forecast customer behavior and strategically adapt business practices.  
  • Shared Inbox: Manage all conversations with customers in a central location. Categorize and route discussions to the most appropriate agents automatically. Access records of entire customer contact history. 
  • Ticketing Software: Assign and prioritize tickets through an AI-supported ticketing system. Sort communications by keyword and category in team inboxes. 
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Product Ranking

#3

among all
Help Desk Software

#21

among all
Help Desk Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

91
67
92
50
87
0
100
67
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Dashboards and Reporting
Platform Security
Integrations and Extensibility
Ticket Management
Platform Capabilities
Platform Security
Ticket Management

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Zendesk
Kayako
+ Add Product + Add Product
Agent Productivity Call Center Management Dashboards And Reporting Email Management Live Chat Management Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Team Collaboration Ticket Management 92 87 100 92 74 81 93 85 95 50 0 67 84 73 30 68 79 87 0 25 50 75 100
83%
0%
17%
50%
0%
50%
83%
0%
17%
0%
0%
100%
100%
0%
0%
67%
0%
33%
86%
0%
14%
86%
0%
14%
73%
0%
27%
64%
0%
36%
80%
0%
20%
40%
0%
60%
83%
8%
9%
63%
0%
37%
67%
0%
33%
67%
0%
33%
88%
6%
6%
88%
0%
12%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

95%
0%
5%
58%
0%
42%
100%
0%
0%
89%
0%
11%

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 5221 reviews
Great User Sentiment 551 reviews
86%
of users recommend this product

Zendesk has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 5221 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

81%
of users recommend this product

Kayako has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 81% when considering 551 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (32)
4.9 (16)
4.2 (2286)
4.1 (197)
n/a
3.99 (162)
4.4 (2528)
n/a
n/a
4.0 (156)
4.3 (51)
n/a
3.9 (324)
3.2 (20)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Zendesk and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall Help Desk Software available today and earns best-in-class honors for Dashboards and Reporting and Platform Security.

Analysts' Pick Award
Dashboards and Reporting Award
Platform Security Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Ticket Management: 83% of users who talked about Zendesk’s ticket management features had a positive experience and praised the platform.
Ease of Use: 64% of users who talked about their onboarding and general experience using the platform said Zendesk was easy to use and learn.
Integrations: 57% of reviewers who mentioned integrations were happy with the range and variety of integrations available.
Knowledge Management: 83% of users who mentioned using the knowledge management and help center tools said they had a positive experience.
Collaboration: 92% of users who talked about Zendesk’s collaboration tools said that the platform made external and internal collaboration and communication easier.
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User-Friendly Interface: Kayako's intuitive design makes it easy for users to navigate and find the information they need quickly.
Comprehensive Features: Kayako offers a wide range of features, including ticketing, knowledge base, live chat, and reporting, all in one platform.
Automation Capabilities: Kayako's automation tools, such as auto-responders and ticket routing, streamline workflows and save time.
Mobile Accessibility: Kayako's mobile app allows users to access and manage their help desk from anywhere, at any time.
Excellent Customer Support: Kayako's support team is highly responsive and provides personalized assistance to users.
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Reporting: 55% of users who talked about the platform’s reporting and analytics tools complained about the lack of advanced reporting tools, especially on cheaper plans.
Customer Support: 70% of users who talked about contacting Zendesk customer service expressed dissatisfaction with their experience.
Cost: 100% of users who talked about pricing said that the cost of the platform was quite high for small businesses and businesses in developing countries.
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Limited Customization: Users complain about Kayako's limited customization options, making it difficult to tailor the software to their specific business needs.
Complex User Interface: Kayako's user interface is often criticized for being overly complex and difficult to navigate, leading to a steep learning curve for new users.
Frequent Bugs and Glitches: Users report experiencing frequent bugs and glitches within Kayako, which can disrupt their workflow and hinder productivity.
Slow Response Times: Kayako's response times for support queries have been reported as slow, leaving users waiting for extended periods to resolve issues.
Lack of Integration Options: Kayako's limited integration options make it challenging to connect with other business applications, hindering seamless data flow and automation.
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Zendesk For Service offers streamlined tools for businesses of all sizes. It excels in features like ticket management, collaboration and knowledge management. Its interface is easy to use and understand, and there are plenty of onboarding resources for new users. The platform also offers numerous integrations with programs like CRM systems, project management tools and collaboration tools like Slack.While users praised the comprehensive features and level of customization offered by the platform, they also said that this can make the learning curve steeper. Some customers were also disappointed by the lack of advanced reporting tools, the unresponsiveness of customer support and high cost for small businesses. All in all, Zendesk is a scalable and feature-rich solution for businesses looking for an efficient ticketing and support tool.

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Kayako is well-regarded by users for its comprehensive feature set, intuitive interface, and excellent customer support. Many users find it to be a superior alternative to Zendesk due to its more affordable pricing, customizable automation, and robust reporting capabilities. Additionally, Kayako's omnichannel support, which allows for seamless communication across multiple channels, sets it apart from other help desk software. However, some users have reported occasional glitches and limited customization options compared to more expensive competitors. Nevertheless, Kayako remains a highly recommended choice for businesses seeking a reliable and user-friendly help desk solution, particularly for those looking for an affordable and feature-rich option. Its strengths in automation, reporting, and omnichannel support make it an excellent fit for businesses looking to streamline their customer support operations and provide a seamless customer experience.

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Screenshots

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