Pricing guide
A helpdesk without per-seat pricing
Pay for the tickets your team handles, not for every login. How the model works, when it is cheaper, and when it is not.
Why per-seat pricing hurts small support teams
Per-seat pricing charges for every person with a login, whether they answer ten tickets a day or one a week. The bill grows each time the team does, and people who only need visibility still count as seats. For a small team with uneven ticket volume, that means paying for capacity you are not using.
Four pricing models avoid or soften the problem: usage-based (pay per ticket), flat or tiered plans, per-resolution fees for AI, and self-hosting. Each has trade-offs, so compare them on your own numbers.
How Kora prices it
- $0.10 per ticket created. $1 buys 10 credits and a ticket costs 1 credit. Resolving or closing is never charged.
- Unlimited members, free. Agents, managers, viewers: no seat fees.
- Included free: comments and attachments, AI ticket structuring, SLA tracking, automation rules, categories, webhooks, embedded sessions and CSV export.
- 1,100 free credits to start, no card. Top up from $5 when you need more.
- AI Analyst: 1 credit per successful answer.
The break-even math
| Example (your numbers will differ) | Monthly cost |
|---|---|
| 10 agents at $50 per seat | $500 |
| Kora, 300 tickets at $0.10 | $30 |
| Kora, 1,000 tickets at $0.10 | $100 |
| Kora, 5,000 tickets at $0.10 | $500 (break-even with the $500 seat plan) |
The $50 seat price is an example, not a vendor quote. Above the break-even ticket volume, a per-seat plan costs less. Enter your own seat price and volume in the helpdesk cost calculator.
What to check before you choose any helpdesk
- Who counts as a seat: only agents, or also managers, viewers and part-time helpers?
- What AI costs: included, an add-on per agent, or a fee per resolution.
- Which features sit behind higher tiers: SLA tracking, automation, API access.
- Annual commitment versus pay as you go, and what happens if you shrink the team.
- Your real monthly ticket volume, not the volume you hope for.
When per-seat is the better fit
If a small team handles a very large ticket volume, a flat seat price can win. Kora is also not built for every channel yet: email-to-ticket, live chat and a Slack integration are on the roadmap, not available today. If you need them now, choose a tool that has them.
Frequently asked questions
What is a helpdesk without per-seat pricing?+
It is a helpdesk where the bill does not grow with the number of agents. The usual alternatives are usage-based pricing (you pay per ticket), a flat plan, or self-hosting. Kora is usage-based: $0.10 per ticket, with unlimited members and no monthly plan.
How does pay-per-ticket pricing work in Kora?+
$1 buys 10 credits and each ticket created costs 1 credit, which is $0.10. Comments, resolving, SLA tracking, automation rules and AI ticket structuring are free. An AI Analyst answer costs 1 credit. New workspaces start with 1,100 free credits and no card.
Is per-ticket pricing always cheaper than per-seat?+
No. At very high ticket volumes per-seat pricing can be cheaper. As a simple example, 10 agents at $50 a seat cost $500 a month, which equals 5,000 tickets at $0.10. Below that volume pay-per-ticket costs less; above it the seat price wins. The cost calculator finds the break-even for your own numbers.
Do I pay for teammates who only need to read tickets?+
No. Members are unlimited and free, including viewers, so the people who only need visibility cost nothing.
What is free besides seats?+
Comments and attachments, AI ticket structuring, SLA policies and breach alerts, automation rules with dry-run, categories, webhooks, embedded sessions, CSV export and the help center reading experience.
What happens if I run out of credits?+
The wallet can overdraw to −10 credits so a customer ticket is not lost. Beyond that, creating tickets and AI Analyst answers pause until you top up from $5. Reading and everything else keep working.
Is there a monthly minimum or a contract?+
No. There are no monthly plans and no contracts. You buy credits when you want them, from $5, and purchased credits are valid for 10 years.
How do I check what a per-seat helpdesk would really cost me?+
Count every person who needs a login, add any AI or add-on fees, and compare the total with your monthly ticket volume times $0.10. The helpdesk cost calculator does this with your own seat price.
Try pay-per-ticket with 1,100 free credits
No card, no seats, no monthly plan. Live in minutes.
$0.10
per ticket · unlimited members