Sleekplan is shipping enterprise-grade B2B features at speed: SCIM, account-level feedback groups, and internal product documentation in a single sprint.
Kayako alternatives
The best Kayako alternatives in customer support software, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Sep 25, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to Kayako? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in customer support software by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, Kayako shipped 0 meaningful updates in the last 30 days and carries a velocity score of 0.0 out of 10 in 2026. The alternatives below are ranked the same way, so you're comparing real release momentum, not marketing claims.
About Kayako
Kayako's public changelog has been silent since mid-2022 — the radar is showing a stalled product.
Kayako has not posted a public changelog entry since June 2022. The most recent communication was a CEO apology over a performance incident and a series of link-only release-notes posts pointing to a Help Center article. The visible operational picture is an established customer-support product no longer broadcasting product motion.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 4mo ago
Top 12 alternatives to Kayako
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
Respond.io upgraded its AI Agents to GPT-5.6 and added TikTok Business Messaging for US accounts.
Xurrent deploys six Sera AI Agents in September alongside Jamf CMDB and ClickUp integration
DoneDone ships custom fields and workflow automations, closing the gap on mid-market ticketing platforms
Twilio expands Salesforce integration to WhatsApp and SMS while adding transcription failover
Live Helper Chat opens its permission and routing layer to external AI agents via an MCP endpoint.
LiveAgent is stabilizing infrastructure after a dense AI feature push in late August
Formbricks 6.0 RC cycle reveals commercial hardening: lower self-hosted cap, MCP OAuth, and Act as Beta
HelpCenter.io integrates with Intercom Fin so articles automatically train the AI agent on every publish.
Hatz AI launched Activate for MSP AI deployments and made phone agents self-service in back-to-back releases
Chatway's bot learned to read the store; now the store can listen back
Thread takes the service-level clock off the PSA and runs it itself
Kayako vs alternatives — shipping velocity at a glance
Velocity score (0–10) and meaningful releases shipped in the last 30 days, from official changelogs. Higher = shipping faster.
| Product | Velocity | Sparks · 30d | Focus areas | Latest release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kayako (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | customer-supportlegacy-productstalled-changelog | — |
| Sleekplan | 8.8 | 2 | b2b-saasscimaccount-groups | Groups: see your feedback by account |
| Respond.io | 7.5 | 0 | customer-messagingai-agentsomnichannel | — |
| Xurrent | 6.3 | 1 | itsmai-agentsitsm-integration | Xurrent ships six Sera AI Agents, Jamf CMDB, and ClickUp connector |
| DoneDone | 6.3 | 1 | customer-supportticketingcustom-fields | Custom Fields are live! 🎉 |
| Twilio | 6.3 | 1 | enterprise-commsomnichannelsalesforce-integration | Twilio integration with Salesforce Service Cloud Voice is now Omnichannel |
| Live Helper Chat | 6.3 | 1 | mcpai-integrationlive-chat | MCP Support |
| LiveAgent | 6.3 | 0 | customer-supportai-integrationperformance-tuning | — |
| Formbricks | 6.3 | 1 | open-sourcesurveyscommercial-pivot | 6.0.0 RC1: commercial hardening, Act Beta, self-hosted cap |
| HelpCenter.io | 6.3 | 1 | knowledge-baseai-customer-supportintercom-integration | Meet Intercom + Fin: Your help center is now ready to power your AI conversations |
| Hatz AI | 6.3 | 1 | mspai-platformphone-agents | Hatz AI: Phone agents become self-service for tenants; Hatz Learn moves in-house |
| Chatway | 6.3 | 0 | live-chatai-agentsecommerce | Your AI agent can now access WordPress & WooCommerce data |
| Thread | 6.3 | 1 | msp-helpdeskservice-levelsxla | XLAs (Experience Level Agreements) |
The 12 best Kayako alternatives, in depth
1. Sleekplan · velocity 8.8
Sleekplan is shipping enterprise-grade B2B features at speed: SCIM, account-level feedback groups, and internal product documentation in a single sprint.
Over the last 30 days Sleekplan shipped 2 meaningful updates vs Kayako's 0, most recently “Groups: see your feedback by account”. Its velocity score of 8.8/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Sleekplan focuses on b2b saas, scim and account groups.
Over the last 30 days Sleekplan has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
2. Respond.io · velocity 7.5
Respond.io upgraded its AI Agents to GPT-5.6 and added TikTok Business Messaging for US accounts.
Its velocity score of 7.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Respond.io focuses on customer messaging, ai agents and omnichannel.
Respond.io and Kayako have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full Respond.io trajectory → · Compare Kayako vs Respond.io →
3. Xurrent · velocity 6.3
Xurrent deploys six Sera AI Agents in September alongside Jamf CMDB and ClickUp integration.
Over the last 30 days Xurrent shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “Xurrent ships six Sera AI Agents, Jamf CMDB, and ClickUp connector”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Xurrent focuses on itsm, ai agents and itsm integration.
Over the last 30 days Xurrent has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
4. DoneDone · velocity 6.3
DoneDone ships custom fields and workflow automations, closing the gap on mid-market ticketing platforms.
Over the last 30 days DoneDone shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “Custom Fields are live! 🎉”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, DoneDone focuses on customer support, ticketing and custom fields.
Over the last 30 days DoneDone has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
5. Twilio · velocity 6.3
Twilio expands Salesforce integration to WhatsApp and SMS while adding transcription failover.
Over the last 30 days Twilio shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “Twilio integration with Salesforce Service Cloud Voice is now Omnichannel”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Twilio focuses on enterprise comms, omnichannel and salesforce integration.
Over the last 30 days Twilio has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
6. Live Helper Chat · velocity 6.3
Live Helper Chat opens its permission and routing layer to external AI agents via an MCP endpoint.
Over the last 30 days Live Helper Chat shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “MCP Support”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Live Helper Chat focuses on mcp, ai integration and live chat.
Over the last 30 days Live Helper Chat has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full Live Helper Chat trajectory → · Compare Kayako vs Live Helper Chat →
7. LiveAgent · velocity 6.3
LiveAgent is stabilizing infrastructure after a dense AI feature push in late August.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, LiveAgent focuses on customer support, ai integration and performance tuning.
LiveAgent and Kayako have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
8. Formbricks · velocity 6.3
Formbricks 6.0 RC cycle reveals commercial hardening: lower self-hosted cap, MCP OAuth, and Act as Beta.
Over the last 30 days Formbricks shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “6.0.0 RC1: commercial hardening, Act Beta, self-hosted cap”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Formbricks focuses on open source, surveys and commercial pivot.
Over the last 30 days Formbricks has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full Formbricks trajectory → · Compare Kayako vs Formbricks →
9. HelpCenter.io · velocity 6.3
HelpCenter.io integrates with Intercom Fin so articles automatically train the AI agent on every publish.
Over the last 30 days HelpCenter.io shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “Meet Intercom + Fin: Your help center is now ready to power your AI conversations”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, HelpCenter.io focuses on knowledge base, ai customer support and intercom integration.
Over the last 30 days HelpCenter.io has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full HelpCenter.io trajectory → · Compare Kayako vs HelpCenter.io →
10. Hatz AI · velocity 6.3
Hatz AI launched Activate for MSP AI deployments and made phone agents self-service in back-to-back releases.
Over the last 30 days Hatz AI shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “Hatz AI: Phone agents become self-service for tenants; Hatz Learn moves in-house”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Hatz AI focuses on msp, ai platform and phone agents.
Over the last 30 days Hatz AI has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
11. Chatway · velocity 6.3
Chatway's bot learned to read the store; now the store can listen back.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Your AI agent can now access WordPress & WooCommerce data”.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Chatway focuses on live chat, ai agents and ecommerce.
Chatway and Kayako have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
12. Thread · velocity 6.3
Thread takes the service-level clock off the PSA and runs it itself.
Over the last 30 days Thread shipped 1 meaningful update vs Kayako's 0, most recently “XLAs (Experience Level Agreements)”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Kayako leans on customer support, legacy product and stalled changelog, Thread focuses on msp helpdesk, service levels and xla.
Over the last 30 days Thread has been shipping faster than Kayako — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to Kayako?
The top Kayako alternatives we currently track in customer support software are Sleekplan, Respond.io, Xurrent, DoneDone, Twilio, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of Kayako alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare Kayako directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with Kayako" link to a side-by-side /compare page.