// git diffApples to apples — at the same price
Ticaga vs the competition.
Self-hosted or cloud, per-seat or flat fee — the differences are in the details. What's included, how it feels to use, and how the licence holds up after year three.
Disclosure: Every product listed here is a legitimate choice. We made different trade-offs; this page is the honest version.
| Feature | Ticaga | SupportPal | Zendesk (cloud) | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per-seat licensing | No — unlimited employees | No — unlimited employees | Yes — from $55/agent/mo | Yes — from $25/user/mo |
| Self-host on your server | Yes | Yes | No — cloud only | No — cloud only |
| Live chat | Paid extension — full real-time | No — Help Widget only | Add-on | Included — Beacon |
| Public roadmap module | Paid extension — votes, statuses, RSS | No | No | No |
| Lifetime / Perpetual licence | Yes — £2,000 once | No — annual only | No | No |
| SLA engine (business hours) | Yes — dept + priority matching | Yes | Yes — higher tiers | Basic |
| Knowledge Base | Included — core | Included | Add-on / extra | Included — Docs |
| Email-to-ticket & routing | Strong — IMAP + departments | Very strong | Excellent | Excellent |
| Automation Rules | Yes — dedicated extension | Yes — macros + escalations | Excellent — advanced workflows | Good |
| Custom Fields | Yes — dedicated extension Text, dropdowns, dates, checkboxes, encrypted fields, visibility controls |
Yes — built-in | Excellent — very mature | Good |
| AI Features | Yes — AI extension | Yes — AI Assistant plugin | Excellent — AI Agents, Copilot | Strong — AI Answers, Drafts |
| Webhooks | Yes — extension / core events | Yes — macros & hooks | Excellent | Good |
| Appointments / Scheduling | Yes — Account Manager Appointments extension | Limited — integrations | Available via apps | Limited — integrations |
| GDPR / Privacy tools | Yes — signed bundles + toolkit | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting & Analytics | Good | Strong | Excellent | Good |
| Mobile / Responsive experience | Modern responsive UI | Good | Excellent | Excellent |
| Source code access | Open core — licensing and paid extensions encoded | Fully encoded | Closed | Closed |
| 3-year total cost (10 agents) | £295 once + £0 ongoing | ~£1,440+ annual | ~$19,800+ | ~$9,000+ |
¹ Pricing as of June 2026 from public sources. Three-year totals assume 10 agents and use public starting prices where vendors publish them. Always double-check current pricing on the source vendor's site.
// THE HONEST DIFFS
Where we differ.
Pricing pages don't capture everything. Here's where Ticaga stands out.
// CHOOSE TICAGA IF
- +You want a public roadmap that doesn't live on Trello
- +You want a one-time fee with lifetime updates
- +You're migrating from Zendesk and want it done in a weekend
- +You want self-hosted without per-seat pricing
// SWITCH?
Migrate in a weekend.
Ticaga imports from SupportPal, Zendesk, Kayako, Help Scout and Freshdesk. CSV fallback for everyone else. Premium support tier includes white-glove migration.