JIRA Service Management vs Kayako comparison

Atlassian and Kayako are both solutions in the Help Desk Software category. Atlassian is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while Kayako is ranked #56. Atlassian holds a 6.0% mindshare in HDS, compared to Kayako’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Atlassian users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Kayako users who would recommend it.

JIRA Service Management

Read 90 JIRA Service Management reviews

8,557 Views
6,418 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Kayako

Read 1 Kayako review

430 Views
413 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

JIRA Service Management

Kayako

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 5, 2026

JIRA Service Management and Kayako are competing products in IT service management. JIRA Service Management appears to have an edge with its integration capabilities and alignment with agile methodologies, while Kayako stands out for its customer engagement features.

Features: JIRA Service Management integrates with other Atlassian products, supports agile project management, and offers workflow automation and collaboration features. Kayako provides a unified inbox, customer engagement tools, and personalized customer service options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: JIRA Service Management often requires a more complex deployment, especially for those not using Atlassian tools, while Kayako offers a straightforward setup and both cloud and on-premise options. In terms of customer service, Kayako provides more immediate support options than JIRA, potentially resulting in faster issue resolution.

Pricing and ROI: JIRA Service Management provides flexible pricing that aligns with its extensive feature set, attracting businesses interested in Atlassian's ecosystem. Kayako offers a cost-effective alternative with a focus on customer service features, potentially leading to quicker ROI for businesses prioritizing customer engagement. Despite JIRA's higher setup costs, its broad feature set might justify the investment for organizations valuing agile integration, whereas Kayako's competitive pricing can appeal to those focused on customer service.

To learn more, read our detailed Help Desk Software Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Help Desk Software

April 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

JIRA Service Management

Ranking in Help Desk Software

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Service Management (ITSM) (2nd)

Kayako

Ranking in Help Desk Software

56th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Shared Inbox (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of JIRA Service Management is 6.0%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kayako is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Help Desk Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
JIRA Service Management	6.0%
Kayako	0.5%
Other	93.5%

Help Desk Software

Featured Reviews

Sohaib Ahmad

Vice President Service Delivery at quixel

Comprehensive workflows and data views have supported complex teams but still need cost improvements

JIRA Service Management is costly. The pricing structure needs improvement. When I add some plugins, I have to pay the cost for every user whether they are using it or not. For smaller companies, the detailed workflow editing and the kind of details that JIRA Service Management provides would be complex. For startups and smaller companies, JIRA Service Management would be complex. The cloud offering is easier because I don't have to manage the infrastructure. There are two templates of the project: company-managed and team-managed. Team-managed is a newer feature, which is good for startup-kind companies where they don't need control over data from multiple projects displaying in one dashboard. For startups, JIRA Service Management is somewhat complex with its schemes and everything. Capacity management should be improved in terms of additional features in the next release of JIRA Service Management.

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reviewer1712472

Operations and Support Manager at a consultancy with 501-1,000 employees

Flexible, straightforward implementation, and helpful support

We are in the process of switching from Kayako to ManageEngine Desktop Central. We went through a full review of our service desk processing and one of the solutions we purchased was a ManageEngine Desktop Central. When we were looking at the integrations into the Kayako system and how it works, we found that ManageEngine Desktop Central did very similar things. It had better layers of classification, other templating, and additional features that we did not have with Kayako. Our service manager made the decision to switch at that time. My advice to others wanting to implement Kayako would be for them to plan out their service processes first, prior to trying to implement them in the tool. We made the mistake of jumping in too soon back 10 years ago. I started using it in a way that we could have tooled it in a different way to make it better. We could have had more implementation process information to make sure we received what we wanted to out of the solution. I rate Kayako an eight out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Transparency of the system helps both internal and external persons involved."

"This is the most complete and versatile enterprise task management product and issue tracker."

"Jira gets the basics right in terms of the Product Backlog and a Scrum Board that Scrum Teams can use to manage Sprint Backlogs."

"I'm mainly working in the ITSM module of JIRA Service Management, and the integration between the system incident and how you can link all the records to the change makes it quite powerful."

"One of the main advantages of JIRA is that it can be customized for our solutions."

"The most valuable feature of JIRA Service Management is a plugin we are using for the front end for simple user forms."

"The initial setup is pretty easy."

"The dashboards are nicely laid out."

More JIRA Service Management pros

"The most valuable feature of Kayako is its flexibility, as we can do anything we want with it, which is nice."

"The most valuable feature of Kayako is its flexibility. We can do anything we want with it, which is nice."

Cons

"At times you will need add-ons or additional software, so built-in features would be helpful."

"Jira Service Management should be more user-friendly."

"There is room for improvement in support."

"JIRA Service Management should make reporting easier. I would like something integrated with DevOps tools."

"The performance in cloud service management could be improved. For example, sometimes queries get stuck, and when you search for a specific thing, it freezes until you refresh the page."

"While I really like Scriptrunner, there are behaviors we don't have in the cloud."

"The solution should be more formalized. It could be more user-friendly."

"JIRA Service Management is costly."

More JIRA Service Management cons

"Some of the reporting in Kayako could be improved. It only has two levels of classification and if there were additional levels added for reporting purposes it would be awesome for our environment."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"But about the plugins, I found one plug-in — its name is Actionable Metric I think — and it is $3000. That is very expensive for users in Iran."

"On a scale of one to five, with one being really high and five being good, I would rate the price of this solution as a four."

"The price for JIRA Service Management is reasonable and cheaper than other ITSM solutions, but the licensing model is different, so you cannot compare it with other solutions. Overall, the pricing for the solution is acceptable."

"Actually in Iran we don't have copyright or intellectual property, so we can use JIRA for free."

"JSM's pricing is one of the best, starting at around $10 per user, per month, with volume discounts available."

"Buying a software solution is only a half part of the solution (or even less). You need to optimize usage of the software by hiring professionals who will help you to make the most of the software, especially in the beginning."

"I am using the free version, but my clients are paying for it. When they start, they evaluate it for 30 days, and after seeing the value, they move to its paid version."

"Right now, there are only two of us who are both agents on the help desk and developers. We might be on the free version because we're less than three agents or users. I'm looking at Zephyr tests, which have a $10 a month flat rate, so right now, it is $10 a month. There are lots of add-ons. They do a free version, a standard version, and a premium version. In the last company, we started on $50 a month. By the time I left, we were paying $4,500 a month. That was mainly because we had 100 users on Confluence. I bought an add-on for Jira software for which we had 10 users, and that was $5 per user per month. It was costing me $500 a month, whereas it should only be $50 a month. I don't know if licensing fee has changed. I'd like our whole company to use it, but the big problem is the licensing because the Confluence side is what is really useful, but if I add 30 users to Confluence and then buy an extension for Jira software, I've got to pay for 30 licenses, even though I've only got two users in Jira software. It is the one big disadvantage of cloud software. You always have to pay for the number of seats regardless of which product you are on. This will probably severely limit how many people would use it because I'm not going to start paying $10 per user per month for a Jira software add-on when there are only two people using it."

More JIRA Service Management pricing and cost advice

"Kayako is a highly affordable solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	30
Midsize Enterprise	25
Large Enterprise	34

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your favorite Help Desk Software and why?

JIRA Due to its agility.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JIRA Service Management?

While licensing is costly, setting up JIRA Service Management is overall good because the vendor helped me, and I also received support from JIRA support, making it a positive experience.

See all answers

What needs improvement with JIRA Service Management?

I feel JIRA Service Management could be better if the APIs from the sponsoring team provided more support and flexibility in API endpoints. Regarding JIRA Service Management's API and support, the ...

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Comparisons

ServiceNow vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 13% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 7% of the time

Zendesk vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 7% of the time

Freshservice vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 5% of the time

PagerDuty Operations Cloud vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 5% of the time

More JIRA Service Management Competitors

ServiceNow vs Kayako

Compared 39% of the time

Hiver vs Kayako

Compared 15% of the time

More Kayako Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

JIRA Service Management

May 2026

Download JIRA Service Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Help Desk Software

April 2026

Download Kayako product report

Also Known As

JIRA Service Desk, Atlassian Jira Service Management

No data available

Overview

JIRA Service Management is recognized for customization, ease of use, and integration capabilities, offering flexible workflows and dashboards that enhance ticket management in organizations.

This platform contributes to streamlining business operations with features like automation and real-time updates. Businesses implement JIRA Service Management to manage ITIL processes, support tickets, and issue tracking both internally and externally. It is utilized for project management and lifecycle tracking, with Kanban boards and Confluence integration supporting change, incident, and problem management.

What are the key features of JIRA Service Management?

Customizable Workflows: Adapt workflows to meet business needs.
Integration: Seamlessly connects with other tools, including Jira and Confluence.
Real-Time Updates: Keeps teams informed and synchronized.
Automation: Reduces manual tasks with automated processes.
Scalability: Grows with organizations, accommodating increasing demands.

What benefits and ROI can be expected from JIRA Service Management?

Efficiency Gains: Improves operational efficiency through streamlined processes.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies adoption with intuitive navigation.
Comprehensive Reporting: Provides valuable insights to drive decisions.
Quick Setup: Fast deployment enhances time-to-value.
SLA Management: Ensures service level agreements are met effectively.

Service management platforms like JIRA Service Management are integral to industries focusing on managing IT services, such as tech firms and support-focused sectors. Organizations frequently utilize its capabilities to enhance their customer service operations, supporting optimal SLA adherence and efficient query management across departments. By tailoring its application to unique operational workflows, companies achieve improved service delivery and responsive issue resolution.

Atlassian

Kayako offers an integrated helpdesk solution that aids businesses in managing customer interactions efficiently. Its user-friendly design and robust features cater to various customer service needs.

Kayako transforms customer support by streamlining and organizing interactions across platforms, providing businesses with a cohesive view of customer queries and feedback. It bridges communication gaps by integrating chat, email, and social media responses into a single dashboard. This aligns support teams and enhances customer satisfaction through consistent and timely responses. Its adaptability makes it suitable for startups to large enterprises, allowing scalability and customization according to business demands.

What are Kayako's most valuable features?

Live Chat: Real-time interactions through customizable chat widgets.
Unified Dashboard: Centralized platform for email, chat, and social media.
Customer Insights: Detailed analytics and reporting tools for better decision-making.
Automated Workflows: Streamline repetitive tasks and improve efficiency.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Increased Efficiency: Reduce response time with automated and streamlined processes.
Enhanced Customer Experience: Improved satisfaction through personalized support.
Cost Reduction: Optimize support operations and minimize overhead costs.

Kayako is implemented in various industries such as e-commerce, ensuring seamless customer communication through live chat, enabling faster issue resolution. Technology firms use it to manage complex inquiries, while financial services ensure customer privacy and support through secure communication channels. It aligns with industry standards, ensuring compliance and efficient operations.

Kayako

Sample Customers

mgm technology partners, Telestream, Build.com, Zend Technologies, OfficeDrop, PGS Software, American Diabetes Association, NEPTUNE Canada

Toshiba Canada, Disney, Avast, Namecheap, Texas Tech University

Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, Zendesk and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: April 2026.

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