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 8.1, while Kayako is ranked #62. Atlassian holds a 6.3% mindshare in HDS, compared to Kayako’s 0.4% 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 88 JIRA Service Management reviews

6,041 Views
4,410 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Kayako

Read 1 Kayako review

261 Views
251 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

JIRA Service Management

Kayako

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 29, 2025

JIRA Service Management and Kayako compete in customer service and IT support solutions. Kayako holds an advantage due to its comprehensive feature set, although JIRA is favored for pricing and integration compatibility.

Features: JIRA Service Management offers workflow automation, extensive integration, and robust ITSM capabilities. Kayako provides multichannel support, an intuitive ticketing system, and a complete feature suite suited for businesses requiring diverse support services.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: JIRA Service Management uses cloud-based deployment suitable for teams familiar with Atlassian, with reliable customer support. Kayako allows for straightforward deployment, also cloud-supported, and emphasizes personal customer interaction, offering a more personalized onboarding experience.

Pricing and ROI: JIRA Service Management is cost-effective for Atlassian clients, enhancing ROI through integration. Kayako entails a higher initial cost but provides long-term value with its extensive features and flexible support, offering a comprehensive service package.

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

Buyer's Guide

Help Desk Software

March 2026

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Helped 884,976 peers since 2012

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

62nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Shared Inbox (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of JIRA Service Management is 6.3%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kayako is 0.4%, 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	6.3%
Kayako	0.4%
Other	93.3%

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

"We previously used ITAM, BMC Remedy and some other tools, and JIRA Service Management is comparatively better."

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

"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."

"The dashboards in Jira have been the most useful feature."

"Service Management is great if you're an Atlassian shop already using JIRA for the development team and you want another tool for help desk ticketing. When it's all under the same umbrella, I can easily take a ticket from the help desk and move it to the development team. You can't beat that integration between two products."

"A good organizational tool."

"Automation capabilities allow for automatic ticket creation using monitoring tools."

"My advice to users is that JIRA Service Management is a good project management tool to handle projects respectively and efficiently."

More JIRA Service Management pros

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

Cons

"The interface could always be updated and improved."

"Cost has prohibited us from switching entirely to this solution."

"SaaS version for large organizations (more than 2000 users) is not available."

"If JIRA were more of a substantial stand-alone product that covered more needs for project management, we wouldn't be using a suite of products."

"Lacks an interface where the customer can report issues."

"JSM's ability to handle large volumes of emails isn't great."

"With Jira, we were unable to implement time-based automation in its ticketing system."

"In the Turkish market, the biggest problem is that they are looking for a server type of solution, but when it comes to Jira Service Management, Atlassian is a remote type of license. There are just two different options, data center and cloud."

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

"The pricing is free for us because we are an associate partner for the product."

"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price. It's competitively priced."

"It is a cheaply priced product."

"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."

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

"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."

"Jira Service Management has affordable license fees. It's $12 a month per person."

"I would suggest to always buy licenses through an Atlassian partner, so you can also rely on their expertise."

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

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

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	24
Large Enterprise	33

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your favorite Help Desk Software and why?

JIRA Due to its agility.

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

The price is actually reasonable.

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What needs improvement with JIRA Service Management?

See all answers

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Comparisons

ServiceNow vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 14% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 8% of the time

Zendesk vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 7% of the time

PagerDuty Operations Cloud vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 6% of the time

Freshservice vs JIRA Service Management

Compared 5% of the time

More JIRA Service Management Competitors

ServiceNow vs Kayako

Compared 47% of the time

More Kayako Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

JIRA Service Management

March 2026

Download JIRA Service Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Help Desk Software

March 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 is a powerful customer service and support platform that gives your team the tools they need to communicate with customers across live chat, email, facebook and twitter.

Our approach brings every interaction your customer has with your business into Kayako and presents your agents with a comprehensive customer journey. This gives your team the context they need to immediately respond and support customers in a way that’s quick, accurate and personal.

Kayako is used by over 130,000 customer support pros in businesses of all sizes around the world, including Peugeot, NASA, Fedex, and GE.

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, ManageEngine and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: March 2026.

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