Hiver vs Kayako

Converge
Converge Team ·

Hiver is gmail-based customer service platform. Best suited for organizations heavily invested in Gmail who primarily handle email support. Known for its native Gmail integration and shared mailbox management.

Kayako
kayako.com

Kayako is customer service software that scales with your business. Best suited for traditional businesses focused on email and phone support. Known for its comprehensive knowledge base with customer portal.

Side-by-Side Comparison
Hiver Price
From $55/seat/mo
Kayako Price
From $79/seat/mo
Converge
$49/mo flat
Feature
Hiver Hiver
Kayako Kayako
Starting Price
From $55/seat/mo
From $79/seat/mo
Pricing Model
Per seat
Per seat
Best For
Organizations heavily invested in Gmail who primarily handle email support
Traditional businesses focused on email and phone support
Standout Feature
Native Gmail integration and shared mailbox management
Comprehensive knowledge base with customer portal
Free Plan
Yes
No

Hiver and Kayako represent different approaches to customer support - Hiver transforms Gmail into a collaborative helpdesk, while Kayako provides a dedicated platform for unified customer conversations.

The choice depends on whether your team prefers working within Gmail's familiar interface or wants a purpose-built support platform with advanced conversation management.

Hiver Key Features

Gmail integration
Shared mailboxes
Email templates
Live chat
Knowledge base
Analytics

Kayako Key Features

Multi-channel support (email, chat, phone)
Ticket management system
Knowledge base builder
Customer portal
Reporting and analytics
Team collaboration tools

Feature Comparison

Hiver excels by turning Gmail into a collaborative workspace with shared inboxes, email assignments, and collision detection. Teams can manage support without leaving their familiar Gmail environment.

Kayako provides unified customer conversations across email, chat, phone, and social media in a single timeline. Its customer journey tracking offers complete interaction history and context.

Hiver offers superior Gmail integration and email collaboration, while Kayako provides better multi-channel support and customer context management beyond email.

Pricing Comparison

Hiver costs $15-$59 per user monthly, while Kayako ranges from $15-$35 per agent. Hiver's pricing can become expensive at higher tiers - a 10-person team costs $150-$590 with Hiver versus $150-$350 with Kayako.

Kayako offers better value for larger teams and multi-channel support needs, while Hiver's Gmail-centric approach justifies higher costs for email-heavy workflows.

Hiver Hiver Pricing

Free
$0/user/month
Growth
$25/user/month
Pro
$55/user/month

Kayako Kayako Pricing

Kayako One
$79/agent/month

Hiver Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

  • Seamless Gmail integration
  • Easy setup for Gmail users
  • Good email management features
  • Familiar interface

Limitations

  • Limited to Gmail ecosystem
  • No modern messaging channels
  • Expensive per-user pricing
  • Lacks WhatsApp and social messaging

Kayako Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

  • Comprehensive multi-channel support
  • Strong knowledge base functionality
  • Good reporting capabilities
  • Scalable for growing teams

Limitations

  • Per-agent pricing gets expensive
  • Limited social media integrations
  • Complex setup for advanced features
  • No WhatsApp or Telegram support

Verdict

Choose Hiver if your team lives in Gmail, wants seamless email collaboration, and values the highest G2 rating (4.6). Choose Kayako if you need unified multi-channel conversations and don't mind learning a new platform.

Choose Hiver if: Your team primarily uses Gmail, wants to avoid learning new software, and values the highest user satisfaction ratings (4.6 G2 score).

Choose Kayako if: You need true multi-channel support beyond email, want unified customer conversations, and prefer better pricing for larger teams.

Converge at $49/month flat rate bridges both worlds - offering Gmail integration like Hiver with unified conversations like Kayako, without per-user fees.

Looking for more options? Browse all platform comparisons, or see all Hiver comparisons and all Kayako comparisons.

Frequently Asked Questions

Hiver is best for Organizations heavily invested in Gmail who primarily handle email support. Kayako is best for Traditional businesses focused on email and phone support. Hiver's standout feature is Native Gmail integration and shared mailbox management, while Kayako offers Comprehensive knowledge base with customer portal.

Hiver starts at From $55/seat/mo. Kayako starts at From $79/seat/mo. Hiver offers a free plan. For flat-rate pricing, consider Converge at $49/month for up to 15 agents.

Hiver offers a free plan. Kayako does not offer a free plan. Both are established platforms in the customer support space.

Hiver pros: Seamless Gmail integration; Easy setup for Gmail users. Kayako pros: Comprehensive multi-channel support; Strong knowledge base functionality. Each platform has distinct strengths depending on your use case.

Choose Hiver for Organizations heavily invested in Gmail who primarily handle email support. Choose Kayako for Traditional businesses focused on email and phone support. If you need messaging-first support with flat pricing, consider Converge as an alternative at $49/month for up to 15 agents.

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