Groove HQ vs Kayako
Converge Team
Side-by-side comparison for 2026
| Feature | Groove HQ | Kayako |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $20/seat/mo | From $79/seat/mo |
| Best For | Small businesses needing simple email-based customer support | Traditional businesses focused on email and phone support |
| Standout Feature | Collision detection to prevent duplicate responses | Comprehensive knowledge base with customer portal |
| Free Plan | ✗ | ✗ |
| G2 Rating | 4.5 | 4.2 |
Groove HQ and Kayako both target small to medium businesses but with different approaches to customer support. Groove HQ emphasizes simplicity and ease of use, while Kayako focuses on unified customer conversations and journey tracking.
The choice often comes down to whether you prefer Groove's straightforward ticketing or Kayako's conversation-centric approach to customer interactions.
Feature Comparison
Groove HQ excels in email-based support with excellent Gmail integration, clean interface, and simple ticket management. Its collision detection prevents agents from working on the same ticket simultaneously.
Kayako provides unified customer conversations across all channels, customer journey tracking, and better real-time collaboration. Its timeline view shows complete customer interaction history in one place.
Groove HQ offers superior email workflows and knowledge base integration, while Kayako provides better multi-channel support and customer context management.
Pricing Comparison
Groove HQ costs $16-$56 per agent monthly, while Kayako ranges from $15-$35 per agent. For smaller teams, Kayako offers better value, but Groove's mid-tier plans include more advanced features.
Kayako's pricing advantage becomes significant for larger teams - a 15-agent team pays $225-$525 with Kayako versus $240-$840 with Groove HQ. Both platforms offer annual billing discounts.
Groove HQ
Pros
- ✓ Simple, clean interface
- ✓ Good for small teams
- ✓ Affordable entry-level pricing
Cons
- ✗ Limited advanced features
- ✗ No modern messaging integrations
- ✗ Basic automation capabilities
Kayako
Pros
- ✓ Comprehensive multi-channel support
- ✓ Strong knowledge base functionality
- ✓ Good reporting capabilities
Cons
- ✗ Per-agent pricing gets expensive
- ✗ Limited social media integrations
- ✗ Complex setup for advanced features
Verdict
Choose Groove HQ if you want simple, intuitive support software with excellent email integration and don't need advanced features. Choose Kayako if you prefer unified customer conversations and better value for money.
Choose Groove HQ if: You prioritize email-based support, want simple ticket management, and value clean user interface over advanced features.
Choose Kayako if: You need unified customer conversations, better pricing for larger teams, and comprehensive multi-channel support capabilities.
Consider Converge at $49/month flat rate as an alternative that combines Groove's simplicity with Kayako's unified conversations - no per-agent fees regardless of team size.
Looking for more options? Browse all 750+ platform comparisons, or see all Groove HQ comparisons and all Kayako comparisons.