LiveAgentOlarkLiveAgent vs Olark

LiveAgent vs Olark: the same $145 for five people, compared

A help desk with live chat and calls against a live chat software: five people cost the same on both. What decides between LiveAgent and Olark, and a third option for small teams.

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 LiveAgent if you want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price. Pick Olark if you want an AI chat agent at a flat monthly price with no usage meter. Five people cost the same on LiveAgent and Olark, $145 a month before AI; Sellio Mini is $45, $100 less. LiveAgent and Olark both include website chat in the price; only LiveAgent has email. Neither LiveAgent nor Olark includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. A team of two to ten choosing between LiveAgent and Olark for chat and tickets at one price has a third option below.

At a glanceLiveAgentLiveAgentOlarkOlark
Built aroundA universal inbox · email, chat and callsA simple chat box · AI agent at a flat price
Entry plan$15/agent/mo · Small Business, yearly$29/agent/mo · human-only chat
Chat in the price$15/agent/mo · chat on every plan$29/agent/mo · the whole product is chat
AI agentIncluded · chatbot and answer assistant$400/mo flat · unlimited AI conversations, 1 seat
Copilot for agentsIncludedNone
Free planNone · 30-day trialNone · trial, no card

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    As a ticket in the universal inbox, whether it came by email, chat or a call. Olark has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    OlarkOlark

    As a chat in the box on your site, with transcripts emailed afterwards. LiveAgent raises a ticket where Olark keeps a conversation.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    $15 buys email and two chat buttons on Small Business; the call center starts on Medium at $29. $145 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 $145 on LiveAgent.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    The chatbot, answer assistant and triage are included in the paid plans; no per-conversation meter. Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan as well.

    OlarkOlark

    A flat $400 a month for unlimited AI conversations, with no token or per-outcome charge. LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    Email and chat on every plan; calls from Medium; WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram and Facebook on Large and up. email is here and not on Olark.

    OlarkOlark

    Website chat only; no email inbox, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. LiveAgent adds email, which Olark lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A call center with IVR, a knowledge base and a customer portal. Olark is a live chat software instead.

    OlarkOlark

    Transcripts, reports and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and help desks. LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A day: connect the mailbox, add the chat button, set the departments. Olark is minutes.

    OlarkOlark

    Minutes: paste the snippet. LiveAgent is a day.

Sources: LiveAgent 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 LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together
LiveAgentLiveAgent. The LiveAgent universal inbox: the ticket list with email, chat and call tickets together
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

What your team would pay

Move the sliders. Yearly-billing rates from each vendor’s pricing page, next to Sellio’s plan for the same number of seats.

5 people who answer customers

50

300 AI conversations on LiveAgent, AI conversations on Olark

3000+
LiveAgentLiveAgent

$145/mo

Adds the call center.

5 × $29 seats
$145
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. LiveAgent includes its chatbot and answer assistant in the seat; no per-conversation rate is printed. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

OlarkOlark

$145/mo

Human agent seat.

5 × $29 seats
$145
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Olark's AI agent is a flat $400 a month for unlimited conversations; add that to the seats rather than a per-conversation rate. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

Sellio · Mini

$55/mo

One price for the workspace: 3 channels, 2 AI agents, $5 AI credit a month.

Workspace, 5 of 5 seats
$45
AI past 100 included conversations
$10
Copilot for agents
Included

About $0.05 per AI conversation past the credit, with a daily and monthly cap you set. Yearly billing takes 20% off. See every plan.

Pricing references: LiveAgent pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); Olark pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Calculator uses yearly-billing rates. Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

5 people, website chat plus 2 more channels, 2 AI agents: $45 a month. Start free, no card.

Start freeSee every plan

LiveAgent, 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.

FeatureLiveAgentLiveAgentOlarkOlarkSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI included
Per agent; AI flat
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 30-day trial
None; trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
All plans
The whole product
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
All plans
Transcripts only
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Large and up
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Add-on below Large
Not offered
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Viber, not Telegram
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack integration
Slack notifications
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Chatbot included
AI Website Agent
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
In the seat
$400 a month flat
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to an agent
Hands to a human seat
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Universal inbox
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Rules and time rules
Chat rules only
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Chat reports
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick LiveAgent if

  • You want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price.
  • AI included in the seat matters more than a tunable AI meter.
  • You need email in the price, which Olark does not include outright.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Olark does not ship.

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.
  • Time to the first reply is minutes here and a day on LiveAgent.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than LiveAgent's: per agent per month for human chat; a flat monthly price for the AI agent.

The third option: Sellio

  • Two to ten of you answer chat, messaging and email. Compare Sellio's workspace plans with $145 a month on LiveAgent against $145 on Olark for five people, including each product's limits.
  • The AI invoice should be known in advance: LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan and Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan, where Sellio's credit is included and capped by you.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither LiveAgent nor Olark includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

LiveAgent on Medium Business: $58, $145 and $290 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. 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, $100 less than LiveAgent 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 LiveAgent and $195 under Olark.

Where the two agree, and where they split

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box. Neither has a free plan: LiveAgent offers a 30-day trial, no card, Olark a free trial. LiveAgent and Olark both include website chat in the price; only LiveAgent has email. Neither LiveAgent nor Olark includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. LiveAgent (included) and Olark ($400/mo flat) both fold AI into the plan. LiveAgent has tickets and Olark does not, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps. LiveAgent is a day; Olark is minutes.

What each price leaves out

LiveAgent: Chatbot, answer assistant, autoresponder and triage included in the paid plans. Olark: AI Website Agent $400 a month flat, extra human seats $29 each. Beside LiveAgent's included 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 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
    LiveAgentLiveAgentAssumed $0$0
    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.

    LiveAgentLiveAgent · 30-day trial, no card
    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

LiveAgent vs Olark: the questions people ask

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box. LiveAgent has tickets and Olark does not, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (Small Business, yearly); Olark $29/agent/mo (human-only chat).
  • Chat in the price: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (chat on every plan); Olark $29/agent/mo (the whole product is chat).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither LiveAgent nor Olark has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the LiveAgent 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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