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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Kayako

    Score6.8 out of 10
    N/AKayako is a help desk and customer support platform that helps businesses automate workflows, improve agent productivity, and deliver personalized customer experiences across email, chat, and social media.

    $79

    per month

    Salesforce Starter

    Score9 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    Salesforce Starter (formerly Salesforce Essentials) is a small business CRM that replaces the former SalesforceIQ product. It is priced at $35 per user, on a monthly basis, or at $25 per month for if billed annually ($300) and can be tried free for 14 days on a trial.

    $35

    per month per user

    Pricing
    KayakoSalesforce Starter
    Editions & Modules
    Kayako One
    $79
    per month
    Enterprise
    Contact Sales
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    KayakoSalesforce Starter
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    KayakoSalesforce Starter
    Considered Both Products
    Kayako
    No answer on this topic
    Salesforce
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    80%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    80%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    Features
    KayakoSalesforce Starter
    Incident and problem management
    Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    2.0
    11 Ratings
    122% below category average
    Salesforce Starter
    -
    Ratings
    Organize and prioritize service tickets1.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Expert directory1.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Subscription-based notifications1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    ITSM collaboration and documentation1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ticket creation and submission7.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ticket response1.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Self Help Community
    Comparison of Self Help Community features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    1.0
    9 Ratings
    156% below category average
    Salesforce Starter
    -
    Ratings
    External knowledge base1.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internal knowledge base1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-Channel Help
    Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    1.0
    10 Ratings
    156% below category average
    Salesforce Starter
    -
    Ratings
    Customer portal1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    IVR1.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social integration1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email support1.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Help Desk CRM integration1.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sales Force Automation
    Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    8.7
    7 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings7.27 Ratings
    Territory management00 Ratings7.57 Ratings
    Opportunity management00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings9.46 Ratings
    Quote & order management00 Ratings9.55 Ratings
    Interaction tracking00 Ratings8.56 Ratings
    Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings9.75 Ratings
    Marketing Automation
    Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    7.2
    6 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Lead management00 Ratings7.26 Ratings
    CRM Project Management
    Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    8.2
    5 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Task management00 Ratings9.65 Ratings
    Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings6.35 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings8.65 Ratings
    CRM Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    9.0
    5 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Forecasting00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Pipeline visualization00 Ratings8.85 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings9.25 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    6.7
    6 Ratings
    13% below category average
    Custom fields00 Ratings7.06 Ratings
    Custom objects00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
    Scripting environment00 Ratings5.75 Ratings
    API for custom integration00 Ratings7.35 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    8.6
    6 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.66 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.66 Ratings
    Social CRM
    Comparison of Social CRM features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    8.6
    5 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Social engagement00 Ratings8.65 Ratings
    Integrations with 3rd-party Software
    Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    8.2
    5 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Marketing automation00 Ratings8.35 Ratings
    Compensation management00 Ratings8.15 Ratings
    Platform
    Comparison of Platform features of Kayako and Salesforce Starter
    Feature
    Kayako
    -
    Ratings
    Salesforce Starter
    8.3
    6 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Mobile access00 Ratings8.36 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    KayakoSalesforce Starter
    Small Businesses
    Help Scout
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Salesflare
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    LiveAgent
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Kintone
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Front
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Oracle Sales
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    KayakoSalesforce Starter
    Likelihood to Recommend
    1.0
    (22 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.8
    (11 ratings)
    4.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    2.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    KayakoSalesforce Starter
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Kayako
    When it works, It's without a doubt a great help desk solution. It is perfect for our usage, and have rolled it out company-wide. It's great if you have multiple departments. We have it set up so most items come through a single desk that then hands out tickets to their proper department. There may be cheaper options for smaller organizations but for one that is as service-driven as ours, we really think Kayako is a great fit.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    If you own a business that has complex selling processes or requires integrations with 3rd party tools/systems, you should look at Professional, Enterprise, or Unlimited editions. Salesforce operates very well across pretty much every industry, but not all sales, marketing, and operational processes are created equal. If your marketing process requires a long list of sendable contacts then I would recommend adding on Pardot or Hubspot. Always start small and scale up, to avoid boxing yourself in down the road.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Kayako
    • Gives a very good report on an individual level of what is being done for a customer or corporate issue.
    • Easy to understand who has what, what the tickets are about, how long they have been opened and how many times the customer/employee have gone back and forth with each other.
    • Nice dashboard view.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    • Tracking phone calls is extremely easy when using the app on the iphone. After a phone call is complete it prompts the user to enter in call details.
    • SalesforceIQ also automatically logs emails for us. This has saved us time from entering in information manually.
    • SalesforceIQ was easy to set up and allowed us customization for fields that were relevant to our business.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Kayako
    • Departments need a bit of work. Even though you can have multiple departments, the only changes that can be made are globally. If you want independent queues within the departments, you have to do a lot of work that can be very confusing.
    • Survey system is not up to speed. Kayako really needs to add Net Promoter Score into their system. Also, if a staff user removes their name from an incident ticket, it removes them from the survey so you really can't even get a good estimate of how well your staff is in the eyes of the customer.
    • Very difficult to implement when you already have a customer base. Setting them up in organizations is difficult. Also, the sign-up for new customers is quirky. If you send an email to Kayako, it will say you are not an authorized user, however, it will store your email address. If you try to send an email a second time, it will go through. This is one of many reasons why we decided to move from Kayako to Oracle Service Cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    • Table views can be sorted by column. Filters can be applied, but only to one column. Multi-column filtering like Excel allows would be extremely useful and a big improvement.
    • The ability to quick copy data in a table view would also be helpful, like (ctrl ') in excel.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Kayako
    • We are grandfathered in on their old Software-assurance pricing and our continued use costs us only a few hundred dollars a year (excluding hosting expenses)
    • Our team's processes are now heavily ingrained in the system
    • We have not been shown a more compelling option that is more cost-effective while still offering all the features we've come to expect
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Kayako
    I did not come from an IT background and I picked this program up quickly
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    The system is very user-friendly on a desktop but lacks mobile friendliness. The Customer relationship manager disappears after the deal is signed. We struggled to get the system in a usable format, which was not cost-effective. The CRM system on desktop was great but way more complicated than it should be.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Kayako
    They are really good, but it takes a while to get back, because of the large time difference to the Eastern US. However, they are very helpful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Kayako
    • We didn't have to use support too much, but when we did, they were able to assist us and help us make everything work.
    • Mostly we used their Online KB and step by step instructions to get all of our issues resolved.
    Incentivized
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    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Kayako
    Three years in we are about as happy with Kayako as we could be. We've had several employee's leave and on-boarding new hires was easier than it has ever been as things are uniform and consistent across the entire application.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Kayako
    We were using Spiceworks for a few years before switching to Kayako but found that it wasn't as customizable or as user friendly for our customers. The SNMP scanning and inventory features with Spiceworks was nice but we needed more of a Help Desk that would allow us to scale our services to more companies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    more expensive but as an industry leader and go, the learning curve pays for itself in ROI in lost time in onboarding
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Kayako
    • Tickets were definitely responded to faster once we implemented the audible alarm that would go off when new tickets came into the queue. This was possible because of the API.
    • Since the system was email based we could set our monitoring software up to generate tickets automatically via email for customers when it found something out of the ordinary.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    • It made the job more efficient for staff so they can spend time doing other tasks rather than configuring and maintaining Salesforce Starter.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Salesforce Starter Screenshots

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