JIRA Service Management vs Kayako comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Atlassian and Kayako are both solutions in the Help Desk Software category. Atlassian is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.1, while Kayako is ranked #48. Additionally, 93% of Atlassian users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Kayako users who would recommend it.

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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: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Help Desk Software

September 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

Automation Anywhere

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

Management Consultant at Accenture

Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions

Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.

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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

"The features that help us satisfy the needs of the customer to overcome mundane activities using task bots and meta bots are the most valuable along with the rich controls in the control room. The developer team is able to capture all the necessary steps without much hassle with the visual designer and the ability to test each step of automation has helped in delivering error-free automation to our customer."

"Automation Anywhere's document automation, powered by IQ Bots and now enhanced with AI, stands out as a particularly valuable feature."

"When I compare it with other RPA tools, Automation Anywhere seems pretty good. It's a user-friendly tool. Anyone can easily understand it. If there is an error, you can easily debug it from the developer level. In Automation Anywhere, the error handling happens in the easiest way. In case of an error, we send an email. It's not too difficult code to understand. There's only beginning and ending error handling, which is easy to understand."

"By using this, we are saving time and we no need to do routine work, as it is now automated and the result is shared with all of the end-users."

"We have benefitted a lot now, but expect that we will benefit even more in the future as we get better at using intelligence."

"It is a great solution."

"So far, the organization has 20+ bots, which has generated more than $50K of ROI."

"My impression of the impact on visibility in the automation lifecycle is that we help to standardize the process and become more productive in those activities and visibility."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"From where I sit, the cloud version is superior, mainly due to not having to manage the upkeep of Jira, which was quite frankly a pain, but that's just the nature of Jira."

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

"Everyone knows how to use it, so there's no need to teach new members."

"The links between the help desk and Jira issues and between Confluence and Jira issues are most valuable. I can write requirements in Confluence and link them to user stories in Jira and test cases. I can see my test coverage and all that kind of stuff. The integration between these three is very useful. It is pretty customizable, and it integrates well. There are a lot of add-ins and a lot of connectors to third-party products. In my last company, we used Test Royal for managing all the tests, and it integrated perfectly with that. For any issue or bug, we could see what tests have been run and the complete history of the tests."

"Reporting and easy export to Excel spreadsheets."

"What I really like about this solution, is how it manages the queues, the tickets and the routing."

"I like that it's easy to set up Sprint and put tasks and stories into Sprint; it is really easy to lay out the work that needs to be done."

"With Jira Service Desk, the simplicity of setting up a quick form and getting the service desk running quickly is very helpful."

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."

Cons

"The data migration could be better."

"There is still a way to go for Automation Anywhere where we can see improvement."

"The human training area is still something that needs to be improved. It's not so much the actual technology learning, but rather how you bring this to life with all the peripheral competencies that are needed for it."

"Business processes are more complex and require experts to be brought in to automate."

"We have a few issues which have persisted. These end up restarting the machine. We are hoping in version 11.3 of Automation Anywhere, our compatibility and infrastructure issues will be resolved."

"Automation Anywhere's current requirement for upfront annual payments limits flexibility for customers."

"Automation Anywhere can be improved by offering more integration with many more applications."

"Their OCR is a bit expensive, meaning the IQ Bot."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"There should be some AI integrations now as AI is in the picture."

"Service Management currently lacks an asset management module that can make deployment more difficult."

"It is difficult to navigate if you don't have any prior knowledge."

"From the customer side, it's not friendly used compared to other competitors, like ServiceNow or BMC."

"It has change management and incident management, but CMDB is not there. It's also not as user-friendly as ServiceNow."

"The queries are weak and lack advanced functionality. You can do rudimentary queries, but you can't aggregate. You can't filter for a lot of things that would be useful, so you need to use plugins to write writing advanced queries. I run into problems when working with different organizations because they always have restrictions on what kind of plugins they allow."

"The pricing could be better."

"I'd like to update the dashboard so that more features are available."

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

"Price is where I'm least satisfied. Other vendors are more willing to offer discounts."

"The pricing model can be a bit more flexible."

"It saves me around $100,000 a year."

"We have seen about a 10 percent monetary savings."

"We have a few licenses. They cost roughly $10,000 each."

"We have established a CoE and we take our bot opportunities based on their ROIs. The best ROI opportunity goes to development first. Our ROI opportunities are compliance, profitable growth, productivity enhancements, productivity gains, number of hours the productivity saved, and resources not available that the work can be done by the bot. However, the single most important criteria that we use to measure ROI is how much time does the bot cut down from an analyst's work, as this has the best ROI. E.g., if an analyst is spending a 100 hours of work that a bot can do in one hour, we calculate the 99 hours saved as ROI."

"The price of this product is good."

"It's an ideal pricing model to customize the components based on everyone's needs."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

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

"We need a license because we have a higher number than the free part."

"The license we use is on a yearly basis. As a Solution Partner, we were using the free one and were using the free plugins. We were also giving our own plugins to the Atlassian Solution Partners for free. We don't pay anything to Atlassian."

"Costs are about $50 per user per year. JIRA is sold in user tiers of 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 2000, 10,000, and unlimited users. It is bad when you have 51 users then the price is based on that 100 user tier. Users at 100 will be the most cost effective."

"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."

"The pricing is very competitive and I think that it is okay."

More JIRA Service Management pricing and cost advice

"Kayako is a highly affordable solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	161
Midsize Enterprise	85
Large Enterprise	561

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

No data available

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

See all answers

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 als...

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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 flexibi...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

September 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

JIRA Service Management

September 2026

Download JIRA Service Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Help Desk Software

September 2026

Download Kayako product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

JIRA Service Desk, Atlassian Jira Service Management

No data available

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

Atlassian

Demo not available

Kayako

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

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

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

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: September 2026.

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