What is the difference between Help Scout and Kayako?

Help Scout is best for Teams that want email-like support conversations, while Kayako is best for Support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking. Help Scout starts at $20/user/mo and Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo.

Help Scout vs Kayako

Help Scout is help desk that feels like email — shared inboxes, knowledge base, and live chat without the ticket numbers, while Kayako is help desk platform with journey-based customer support and multichannel inbox. Kayako comes in cheaper, but price alone does not tell the full story. Help Scout is built for teams that want email-like support conversations, whereas Kayako targets support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking.

At a glance

	Help Scout	Kayako
Best for	Teams that want email-like support conversations	Support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking
Starting price	$20/user/mo	$15/agent/mo
Free tier	—	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	—	—
Open source	—	—
Beacon	✓	—
Collaborators	—	✓
Journey Tracking	—	✓
Knowledge Base	✓	—
Live Chat	—	✓
Reports	✓	—
Shared Inbox	✓	✓

Help Scout

Strengths

Includes Shared Inbox as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Includes Knowledge Base as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Pricing starts at $20/user/mo, which includes the full customer support feature set
Established product with 15+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $20/user/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
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Help Scout → 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: Help Scout starts at $20/user/mo. Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo. Kayako is the more affordable option.

Feature gaps: Help Scout offers Beacon, Knowledge Base and Reports that Kayako lacks. Kayako brings Collaborators, Journey Tracking and Live Chat that Help Scout does not have. Both share Shared Inbox.

Team fit: Help Scout is geared toward small teams teams, while Kayako is aimed at mid-size teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Help Scout's biggest strengths are: includes shared inbox as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. includes knowledge base as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. 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 Help Scout, users commonly note that starts at $20/user/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With Kayako, the main complaint is that starts at $15/agent/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

Choose Help Scout if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams that want email-like support conversations
You specifically need Beacon and Knowledge Base
You care about includes knowledge base as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Help Scout is designed for

Choose Kayako if...

You need a tool built for support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking
You want to save on per-user costs — Kayako is $5.00/user/mo cheaper
You specifically need Collaborators and Journey Tracking
You care about includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Kayako is designed for