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Comparison · Support

Kayako vs LiveAgent

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Kayako and LiveAgent — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:customer-support

Kayako vs LiveAgent: at a glance

FeatureKayakoLiveAgent
SectorSupportSupport
Velocity score0.06.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themescustomer-support, legacy-product, stalled-changelog, communication-silencecustomer-support, ai-providers, translation, voice
Last editorial update5mo ago1d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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.

Read the full Kayako trajectory →

What is LiveAgent?

LiveAgent's 5.70 branch adds Mistral and Gemini, live call transcription and message translation.

LiveAgent's 5.70 branch arrived with a large feature batch: Mistral AI as an EU-hosted provider, Gemini and OpenAI for ticket summaries and translation, live call transcription with speaker attribution, and on-demand translation of inbound messages. It also adds a Deskpro migration plugin and plan limits on event, time and SLA rules. The releases since are fix-only, mostly around chat widget errors and API gaps.

Read the full LiveAgent trajectory →

Kayako vs LiveAgent: editorial side-by-side

K
Kayako
SUPPORT
0.0

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.

LiveAgent logo
LiveAgent
SUPPORT
6.3

LiveAgent's 5.70 branch adds Mistral and Gemini, live call transcription and message translation.

◆ Current state

LiveAgent's 5.70 branch arrived with a large feature batch: Mistral AI as an EU-hosted provider, Gemini and OpenAI for ticket summaries and translation, live call transcription with speaker attribution, and on-demand translation of inbound messages. It also adds a Deskpro migration plugin and plan limits on event, time and SLA rules. The releases since are fix-only, mostly around chat widget errors and API gaps.

◆ Where it's heading

The AI layer is turning multi-provider: OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and Mistral now sit side by side, with retired OpenAI models migrated automatically. Voice and translation are where that layer is being applied first. The paired 5.69 and 5.70 releases on the same day show two branches being maintained in parallel.

◆ Prediction

Expect message translation to move past its 'Stage 1' on-demand scope, likely toward outbound or automatic translation. Further 5.69/5.70 fix pairs are likely in the meantime.

Alternatives to Kayako and LiveAgent

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 Kayako or LiveAgent.

See all Kayako alternatives → · See all LiveAgent alternatives →

Recent activity from Kayako and LiveAgent

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2d agoLiveAgent5.69.6: chat widget errors and stale Claude model picker fixed
  2. 2d agoLiveAgent5.70.2: chat widget start failures and refusal reasons fixed
  3. 3d agoLiveAgent5.70.2: security fix, call recordings back in APIv3 messages
  4. 9d agoLiveAgent5.70.2: Mistral and Gemini, live call transcripts, translation
  5. 10d agoLiveAgent5.69.6 fixes chats showing another chat's messages
  6. 10d agoLiveAgent5.68.9 backports chat-mixup and transcription fixes
  7. 4y agoKayakoKayako Engineering Update
  8. 4y agoKayakoKayako Release Notes - April 2022
  9. 4y agoKayakoKayako Release Notes - February 2022
  10. 4y agoKayakoRecent performance issues
  11. 4y agoKayakoKayako Release Notes - January 2022
  12. 4y agoKayakoPlanned Maintenance Outage

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Kayako and LiveAgent?

Both compete on the same themes — customer-support — within Support. LiveAgent 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 Kayako better than LiveAgent?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. LiveAgent 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 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.

What are the best alternatives to LiveAgent?

Top LiveAgent alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "LiveAgent alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/liveagent for the full list with editorial commentary on each.