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Comparison · Support
Formbricks vs Kayako
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Formbricks and Kayako — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Formbricks vs Kayako: at a glance
What is Formbricks?
Three release branches running in lockstep to backport one tenancy-isolation sweep
Formbricks maintains 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 simultaneously, publishing release candidates almost daily, and most entries are single-fix backports rather than feature drops. The dominant thread across all three branches is workspace and organization scoping: API keys, surveys, quotas, integrations, historical response imports, send_email recipients and the contact detail page have each been re-tied to the authorizing workspace. Feature work is concentrated in the 5.3 line.
What is 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.
Formbricks vs Kayako: editorial side-by-side
Formbricks
6.3SUPPORT
Three release branches running in lockstep to backport one tenancy-isolation sweep
◆ Current state
Formbricks maintains 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 simultaneously, publishing release candidates almost daily, and most entries are single-fix backports rather than feature drops. The dominant thread across all three branches is workspace and organization scoping: API keys, surveys, quotas, integrations, historical response imports, send_email recipients and the contact detail page have each been re-tied to the authorizing workspace. Feature work is concentrated in the 5.3 line.
◆ Where it's heading
Two things are being built at once. The security thread reads as a systematic multi-tenancy audit — the same class of bug found repeatedly and patched everywhere, with fixes backported to every supported branch rather than only forward. The product thread is an agent- and automation-facing surface: an MCP server gaining OAuth challenge parity, per-scope permissions like surveys:write, dry-run scopes and audit logging, alongside workflows becoming a metered billing dimension.
◆ Prediction
Expect 5.3.0 to reach a stable tag with the MCP scope model and metered workflow_runs pricing as its headline, while 5.1 and 5.2 continue receiving only security and billing backports.
Kayako
0.0SUPPORT
Kayako's public changelog has been silent since mid-2022 — the radar is showing a stalled product.
◆ Current state
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.
◆ Where it's heading
Direction is hard to read from public changelog activity alone, but the trajectory implied by the silence is unmistakable: either the product moved its release communication elsewhere, or development pace slowed enough to stop justifying a regular changelog. Either way, prospects watching only the public surface see no momentum.
◆ Prediction
Without renewed public activity, Kayako will continue to be perceived as legacy in a category where Zendesk, Intercom, and HelpScout are publishing prominently. A customer-facing changelog refresh would be the lowest-effort signal to send, and is the most likely next move if the product is in fact still under active development.
Alternatives to Formbricks and Kayako
Other Support products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Formbricks or Kayako.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
A near-daily fix stream, with Slack and Teams becoming where help desk work happens.
Canny
Canny is quietly turning customer conversations into a feedback pipeline nobody has to maintain.
LiveAgent
A mature help desk in pure maintenance, shipping the same fixes twice across two support branches.
Knowmax
A content-marketing feed arguing that AI in the contact center fails on knowledge, not models
Respond.io
respond.io is monetizing AI usage directly while putting an assistant that builds agents in every workspace.
See all Formbricks alternatives → · See all Kayako alternatives →
Recent activity from Formbricks and Kayako
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoFormbricksContact detail pages re-scoped to the workspace in the URL
- 6d agoFormbricks5.3.0-rc.3 bumps Hub to 0.8.3
- 6d agoFormbricksMCP OAuth parity and metered workflow_runs pricing land in 5.3
- 11d agoFormbricks5.3.0-rc.1 adds MCP write scopes and breached-password rejection
- 13d agoFormbricks5.2.2-rc.1 scopes response imports and closes a trial-upgrade hole
- 20d agoFormbricks5.2.1-rc.2 patches a tar decompression DoS
- 4y agoKayakoKayako Engineering Update
- 4y agoKayakoKayako Release Notes - April 2022
- 4y agoKayakoKayako Release Notes - February 2022
- 4y agoKayakoRecent performance issues
- 4y agoKayakoKayako Release Notes - January 2022
- 4y agoKayakoPlanned Maintenance Outage
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Formbricks and Kayako?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Formbricks is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Formbricks better than Kayako?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Formbricks is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Support products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Formbricks?
Top Formbricks alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Formbricks alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/formbricks for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Kayako?
Top Kayako alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Kayako alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/kayako for the full list with editorial commentary on each.