DriftOlarkDrift vs Olark

Drift vs Olark: entry plans at $2,500 and $29

A conversational marketing platform against a live chat software: Olark is $2,355 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Drift if you want a sales chatbot that qualifies visitors and books meetings, not a support inbox. Pick Olark if you want an AI chat agent at a flat monthly price with no usage meter. For five people, Olark is $2,355 a month cheaper than Drift ($2,500 a month on Drift against $145 on Olark), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $100 under Olark. Drift and Olark both include website chat in the price. Neither Drift nor Olark includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Drift and Olark sell here at one price.

At a glanceDriftDriftOlarkOlark
Built aroundSales conversations · a marketing tool, not a help deskA simple chat box · AI agent at a flat price
Entry planFrom $2,500/mo · Premium, yearly contract$29/agent/mo · human-only chat
Chat in the priceFrom $2,500/mo · one contract for the whole team$29/agent/mo · the whole product is chat
AI agentBy contract · part of the Salesloft platform$400/mo flat · unlimited AI conversations, 1 seat
Copilot for agentsBy contractNone
Free planNone · sales-led, no trialNone · trial, no card

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    DriftDrift

    As a chat with a website visitor that Drift tries to qualify and route to a sales rep or a meeting. Olark has no ticket queue either.

    OlarkOlark

    As a chat in the box on your site, with transcripts emailed afterwards. Drift has no ticket queue either.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    DriftDrift

    There are no support seats: one annual contract from $2,500 a month covers the revenue team. $2,500 for five people, against $145 on Olark.

    OlarkOlark

    $29 buys a human agent seat; the AI Website Agent is $400 a month flat with one seat included. $145 for five people, against $2,500 on Drift.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    DriftDrift

    AI chat and qualification are part of the Salesloft platform and priced in the contract. Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan instead.

    OlarkOlark

    A flat $400 a month for unlimited AI conversations, with no token or per-outcome charge. Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    DriftDrift

    Website chat, email sequences and meeting booking; no WhatsApp, Instagram or ticket queue. The same set as Olark.

    OlarkOlark

    Website chat only; no email inbox, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. The same set as Drift.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    DriftDrift

    Account-based marketing, playbooks, meeting booking and Salesloft's sales engagement suite. Olark is a live chat software instead.

    OlarkOlark

    Transcripts, reports and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and help desks. Drift is a conversational marketing platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    DriftDrift

    Weeks: a sales-led onboarding with playbooks and routing, and Salesloft has said the product is winding down. Olark is minutes.

    OlarkOlark

    Minutes: paste the snippet. Drift is weeks.

Sources: Drift pricing · Olark pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Drift conversation view: a visitor chat with routing to a rep and a meeting booker
DriftDrift. The Drift conversation view: a visitor chat with routing to a rep and a meeting booker
The Olark agent console: the chat list and the conversation with visitor details
OlarkOlark. The Olark agent console: the chat list and the conversation with visitor details

Pricing references: Drift pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06; needs verification); Olark pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Drift, Olark and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureDriftDriftOlarkOlarkSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Annual platform contract from $2,500/mo.
Per agent; AI flat
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
Sales-led only.
None; trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
The core of the product, aimed at lead capture.
The whole product
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Sales email sequences; not a support inbox.
Transcripts only
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Not a channel.
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Not a channel.
Not offered
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not a channel.
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications for sales alerts.
Slack notifications
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI for qualification and booking rather than support answers.
AI Website Agent
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
By contract.
$400 a month flat
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Routes to reps.
Hands to a human seat
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
No ticketing.
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Playbooks for lead routing.
Chat rules only
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Pipeline and conversion reporting; no CSAT.
Chat reports
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile.
Browser only
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Drift if

  • You want a sales chatbot that qualifies visitors and books meetings, not a support inbox.
  • You already run Salesloft and want chat inside the same platform.
  • Time to the first reply is weeks here and minutes on Olark.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Olark's: drift's pricing page redirects to Salesloft. Published figures come from third-party summaries and Salesloft's own materials; Salesloft has announced the product is being wound down.

Pick Olark if

  • You want an AI chat agent at a flat monthly price with no usage meter.
  • Website chat is the only channel and simplicity beats features.
  • Five people cost $2,355 a month less than on Drift ($145 against $2,500), before AI.
  • You want the AI in the seat price ($400/mo flat) rather than Drift's meter at by contract.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Drift or Olark who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $2,500 a month on Drift against $145 on Olark for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats, Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Drift nor Olark includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Drift: $2,500 a month for five (one annual contract, from $2,500 a month); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Olark on Live chat: $58, $145 and $290 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $2,455 less than Drift and $100 less than Olark for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $195 under Olark.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Drift is a conversational marketing platform built around sales conversations; Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box. Neither has a free plan: Drift offers no trial, Olark a free trial. Drift and Olark both include website chat in the price. Neither Drift nor Olark includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats; Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan. Neither Drift nor Olark has a ticket queue, and neither Drift nor Olark ships a desktop app. Drift is weeks; Olark is minutes.

What each price leaves out

Drift: AI features are part of the Salesloft platform and priced by contract. Olark: AI Website Agent $400 a month flat, extra human seats $29 each. Beside Drift's by contract and Olark's $400/mo flat, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How these figures were read

Drift does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (Drift's pricing page redirects to Salesloft. Published figures come from third-party summaries and Salesloft's own materials; Salesloft has announced the product is being wound down.), so they are marked unverified here beside Olark's, and Drift's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    DriftDriftSee vendorNot quoted
    OlarkOlarkAssumed $0$0
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    DriftDrift · None; sales-led contracts
    OlarkOlark · Free trial, no card
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Drift vs Olark: the questions people ask

Drift is a conversational marketing platform built around sales conversations; Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box. Neither Drift nor Olark has a ticket queue, and neither Drift nor Olark ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Drift From $2,500/mo (Premium, yearly contract); Olark $29/agent/mo (human-only chat).
  • Chat in the price: Drift From $2,500/mo (one contract for the whole team); Olark $29/agent/mo (the whole product is chat).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Drift nor Olark has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Drift and Olark rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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