What is the difference between Freshdesk and Kayako?

Freshdesk is best for Small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support, while Kayako is best for Support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking. Freshdesk starts at Free and Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo.

Is Freshdesk or Kayako cheaper?

Freshdesk starts at Free with a free tier. Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo.

Is there a free alternative to Kayako?

Yes, Freshdesk offers a free tier (Free for up to 10 agents).

Freshdesk vs Kayako

Freshdesk is cloud-based help desk with ticketing, automation, and multichannel support at accessible pricing, while Kayako is help desk platform with journey-based customer support and multichannel inbox. The biggest difference up front: Freshdesk is free, while Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo. Freshdesk is built for small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support, whereas Kayako targets support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking.

At a glance

	Freshdesk	Kayako
Best for	Small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support	Support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking
Starting price	Free	$15/agent/mo
Free tier	✓	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	—
Open source	—	—
Automations	✓	—
Collaborators	—	✓
Journey Tracking	—	✓
Live Chat	—	✓
Multichannel	✓	—
SLA Management	✓	—
Shared Inbox	—	✓
Ticketing	✓	—

Freshdesk

Strengths

Includes Ticketing as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments
Free for up to 10 agents — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Established product with 16+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ticket volume can quickly overwhelm small teams without triage automation
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Freshdesk → Full review

Kayako

Strengths

Includes Journey Tracking as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Includes Live Chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Pricing starts at $15/agent/mo, which includes the full customer support feature set
Established product with 25+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $15/agent/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ticket volume can quickly overwhelm small teams without triage automation
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Kayako → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Freshdesk is completely free (Free for up to 10 agents), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Freshdesk offers Automations, Multichannel and SLA Management that Kayako lacks. Kayako brings Collaborators, Journey Tracking and Live Chat that Freshdesk does not have.

Team fit: Both tools target mid-size teams teams, so the decision hinges on features and workflow fit rather than scale.

Where each tool shines: Freshdesk's biggest strengths are: includes ticketing as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments. Kayako's biggest strengths are: includes journey tracking as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows.

Watch out for: With Freshdesk, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With Kayako, the main complaint is that starts at $15/agent/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

Choose Freshdesk if...

You need a tool built for small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support
Budget is a hard constraint — Freshdesk is free, Kayako is not
You specifically need Automations and Multichannel
You care about built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments
The free tier works for you: free for up to 10 agents

Choose Kayako if...

You need a tool built for support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking
You specifically need Collaborators and Journey Tracking
You care about includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows