Acquire vs Kayako (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Acquire and Kayako share a 1.8 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about the free plan, where Acquire grades higher, or platforms, where Kayako does.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Acquire
Customer support platform with live chat, SMS, email and video
Free trial
Which one is for you
Pick Acquire if
- Fits if your support team wants chat, SMS and email in one workspace
- Works for teams that sometimes need a video session with a customer
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price on the page, as none is shown
- Watch out: the bot, cross-channel conversations, video recording and task management are listed as coming soon
- Not for you if you need to know the trial terms, because they aren't stated
- Watch out: tailored professional services are sold separately
Pick Kayako if
- Fits if refunds and exchanges are most of your tickets and you want to pay per resolution
- Works for a team that wants the vendor to do the setup
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to see a price for the help desk, as Kayako One's is not published
- Not for you if you want to sign up and start alone, since the vendor sets it up
- Watch out: only fully resolved tickets cost $1, and a resolution means Kay solved it with no human agent
- Watch out: no free plan or trial is on record
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAAcquireWeak | 1.8GPAKayakoWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published; the page points to sales or a demo. | CKay is $1 per resolved ticket with no seat fees, but no price is published for Kayako One, so it can't be set against the category's $29 middle. |
| Free plan and trial | DA free trial is offered but its length and terms aren't stated. No free plan. | FNo free plan and no trial are on record, and the pages we read show nothing to try before paying. |
| Features | CLive messaging, workflows, queues, SLAs, video and reporting. A bot, cross-channel conversations and task management are marked coming soon. | CA help desk with ticketing, shared inbox and knowledge base, plus Kay, which acts through connected systems. The listing says little about the help desk's own limits, and a resolution counts only if no human was needed. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Workflows and routing queues to set up. | CNo store rating on record, and the page says Kayako's team sets up the platform for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, and the listing names no integrations. | BWeb only, with 7 listed integrations. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | chat, SMS and email in one agent workspace | an AI agent paid per resolved ticket |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Acquire and Kayako. How we grade
Where they differ
- Acquire also covers workflow automation and video calls.
- Kayako also covers help desk, help center and AI support agent.
In commonWebShared inboxLive chat
At a glance
| Acquire | Kayako | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | The site offers a free trial; its length is not stated | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Acquire | ESW Operations, LLC |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Acquire
- No prices are published; the pricing page lists features under a self-service and an integrated solution and points to contacting sales or booking a demo.
- The pricing page marks a bot, cross-channel conversations, video recording and task management as coming soon.
- The free trial is offered on the site, but its length and terms are not stated on the pages read.
- Tailored professional services are sold separately.
Kayako
- Kay costs $1 per resolved ticket; escalations to humans and partial resolutions are not charged, and the page says there are no seat or setup fees.
- No price for Kayako One is published, so this listing records its pricing as unverified.
- A resolution means Kay solved the issue without a human agent, by acting or giving an answer the customer confirms.
- Kayako says its team sets up the platform for you, so it is less of a self-serve sign-up.
Key features
Acquire
- Live messaging
- A chat widget for websites, with SMS and email channels in the same conversation view.
- Unified agent view
- Shows the whole conversation history and customer information in one place and lets an agent switch between chat, SMS and email.
- Workflows and API
- API-based workflows bring customer information from other systems into the conversation and drive prioritization and self-service.
- Queues, SLAs and routing
- Customers can be prioritized by type, wait time or custom attributes, with SLA alerts and several routing setups.
- Video support
- A live video session can be launched from a chat on either the agent's or the customer's side.
- Reporting
- The pricing page lists reporting and customer-data import and export among its features.
Kayako
- Kay AI agent
- Resolves tickets end to end by acting through connected tools, for example processing a refund, sending a return label or resetting a password.
- Phased AI rollout
- Kayako's team introduces AI in three phases: ticket triage, drafted answers, then continuous learning with escalation to agents.
- Kayako One platform
- A full help desk with a unified inbox, ticketing system, knowledge base, live chat widget, automation rules and reporting.
- Works with your stack
- Kay connects to systems such as Slack, Stripe, Shopify, Zendesk, Salesforce, Twilio and HubSpot, or to any system with an API.
- Add Kay to an existing help desk
- Kayako says Kay can also run on top of a help desk you already use, instead of replacing it.
Plans
Acquire
Pricing could not be confirmed. See acquire.io.
Kayako
Pricing could not be confirmed. See kayako.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Acquire or Kayako?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Acquire has no price we could confirm, and Kayako has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Acquire or Kayako?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Acquire nor Kayako has a free plan. Acquire has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.