LiveAgentSalesforce Service CloudLiveAgent vs Salesforce Service Cloud

LiveAgent vs Salesforce Service Cloud: $145 or $975 for five people

A help desk with live chat and calls against an enterprise service CRM: LiveAgent is $830 a month cheaper for five people. Where LiveAgent and Salesforce Service Cloud split, and a third option for small teams.

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

No credit card. Live in minutes.

The short answer

Pick LiveAgent if you want email, chat and a call center in one ticket queue at a low seat price. Pick Salesforce Service Cloud if the rest of the company runs on Salesforce and support must share the record. For five people, LiveAgent is $830 a month cheaper than Salesforce Service Cloud ($145 a month on LiveAgent against $975 on Salesforce Service Cloud), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $100 below LiveAgent. LiveAgent and Salesforce Service Cloud both include email in the price; only LiveAgent has website chat. Neither LiveAgent nor Salesforce Service Cloud includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing LiveAgent against Salesforce Service Cloud, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceLiveAgentLiveAgentSalesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud
Built aroundA universal inbox · email, chat and callsCases on the CRM · channels bought separately
Entry plan$15/agent/mo · Small Business, yearly$25/user/mo · Starter Suite
Chat in the price$15/agent/mo · chat on every plan$195/user/mo · Core, plus messaging add-ons
AI agentIncluded · chatbot and answer assistantFlex Credits · Agentforce; Max includes 2.75M a year
Copilot for agentsIncludedIn Agentforce
Free planNone · 30-day trialNone · trials on Starter to Advanced

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. Salesforce Service Cloud raises tickets too, from cases on the CRM.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    As a case on the Salesforce record, routed by Omni-Channel to a queue or an agent. LiveAgent raises tickets too, from a universal inbox.

  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 $975 on Salesforce Service Cloud.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    $25 buys the Starter Suite; the service editions run $195 on Core to $550 on Max, with channels as add-ons. $975 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. Salesforce Service Cloud meters AI (Flex Credits) above the seats instead.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Agentforce is sold in Flex Credits by usage; only Max includes an allowance. LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan instead.

  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. website chat is here and not on Salesforce Service Cloud.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Email and web on the editions; chat, messaging, WhatsApp and voice are bought as add-ons. LiveAgent adds website chat, which Salesforce Service Cloud lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A call center with IVR, a knowledge base and a customer portal. Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM instead.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    The whole CRM: sales, marketing, commerce, analytics and thousands of AppExchange apps. 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. Salesforce Service Cloud is weeks to months.

    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

    Weeks to months: an implementation, often with a partner. LiveAgent is a day.

Sources: LiveAgent pricing · Salesforce Service Cloud 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 Service Cloud console: the case with the contact, the knowledge panel and Omni-Channel
Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud. The Service Cloud console: the case with the contact, the knowledge panel and Omni-Channel

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, Agentforce conversations on Salesforce Service Cloud

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.

Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud

$1,575/mo

The service console; channels as add-ons.

5 × $195 seats
$975
300 Agentforce conversations × $2
$600

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Agentforce was listed at $2 per conversation before moving to Flex Credits; the rate is a stated assumption. 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); Salesforce Service Cloud 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.

LiveAgent, Salesforce Service Cloud 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.

FeatureLiveAgentLiveAgentSalesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service CloudSellio

Pricing

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

Channels

Website live chat
All plans
Messaging add-on
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
All plans
Email-to-case
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Large and up
Messaging add-on
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Add-on below Large
Messenger via add-on
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 is a Salesforce product
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Chatbot included
Agentforce
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
In the seat
Flex Credits by usage
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to an agent
Routes to a queue
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Windows and macOS apps
Browser and mobile
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.
  • Five people cost $830 a month less than on Salesforce Service Cloud ($145 against $975), before AI.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Salesforce Service Cloud does not include outright.

Pick Salesforce Service Cloud if

  • The rest of the company runs on Salesforce and support must share the record.
  • You have an implementation partner and a budget for add-ons.
  • Time to the first reply is weeks to months here and a day on LiveAgent.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than LiveAgent's: per user per month, billed yearly. Channels and Agentforce are bought on top of the edition.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $145 a month on LiveAgent against $975 on Salesforce Service Cloud for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan, Salesforce Service Cloud meters AI (Flex Credits) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither LiveAgent nor Salesforce Service Cloud 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. Salesforce Service Cloud on Core: $390, $975 and $1,950 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 $930 less than Salesforce Service Cloud for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $195 under LiveAgent and $1,855 under Salesforce Service Cloud.

Where the two agree, and where they split

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM built around cases on the CRM. Neither has a free plan: LiveAgent offers a 30-day trial, no card, Salesforce Service Cloud a free trial. LiveAgent and Salesforce Service Cloud both include email in the price; only LiveAgent has website chat. Neither LiveAgent nor Salesforce Service Cloud includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan; Salesforce Service Cloud meters AI (Flex Credits) above the seats. LiveAgent and Salesforce Service Cloud both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps. LiveAgent is a day; Salesforce Service Cloud is weeks to months.

What each price leaves out

LiveAgent: Chatbot, answer assistant, autoresponder and triage included in the paid plans. Salesforce Service Cloud: Agentforce by Flex Credits; Max includes 2.75M a year, others buy by usage. Beside LiveAgent's included and Salesforce Service Cloud's Flex Credits, 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
    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service CloudAssumed $2$960
    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
    Salesforce Service CloudSalesforce Service Cloud · Free trials on Starter, Pro, Core and Advanced
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

FAQ

LiveAgent vs Salesforce Service Cloud: the questions people ask

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Salesforce Service Cloud is an enterprise service CRM built around cases on the CRM. LiveAgent and Salesforce Service Cloud both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (Small Business, yearly); Salesforce Service Cloud $25/user/mo (Starter Suite).
  • Chat in the price: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (chat on every plan); Salesforce Service Cloud $195/user/mo (Core, plus messaging add-ons).
  • Sellio: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither LiveAgent nor Salesforce Service Cloud has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the LiveAgent and Salesforce Service Cloud 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.

No credit card required