LiveAgentZoho DeskLiveAgent vs Zoho Desk

LiveAgent vs Zoho Desk: $145 or $70 for five people

A help desk with live chat and calls against a help desk: Zoho Desk is $75 a month cheaper for five people. Where LiveAgent and Zoho Desk split, 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 Zoho Desk if you already run Zoho CRM or Books and want support in the same suite. For five people, Zoho Desk is $75 a month cheaper than LiveAgent ($145 a month on LiveAgent against $70 on Zoho Desk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $25 below Zoho Desk. LiveAgent and Zoho Desk both include email in the price; only LiveAgent has website chat; only Zoho Desk has WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them LiveAgent and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. For a team of two to ten weighing LiveAgent against Zoho Desk, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceLiveAgentLiveAgentZoho DeskZoho Desk
Built aroundA universal inbox · email, chat and callsEmail tickets · part of the Zoho suite
Entry plan$15/agent/mo · Small Business, yearly$7/user/mo · Express, yearly
Chat in the price$15/agent/mo · chat on every plan$40/user/mo · Enterprise, with SalesIQ
AI agentIncluded · chatbot and answer assistantIn the plan · Zia on Professional and up
Copilot for agentsIncludedZia · Professional and up
Free planNone · 30-day trialYes · 3 agents, email tickets

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. Zoho Desk raises tickets too, from email tickets.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    As a ticket from email, a form or a messaging app, in a queue with blueprints for the process. 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 $70 on Zoho Desk.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    $7 buys email tickets on Express; WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram start on Standard at $14; live chat needs Enterprise. $70 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. Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan as well.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    Zia's answer bot and generative AI are included by plan, with a token allowance, rather than metered per conversation. 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. website chat is here and not on Zoho Desk.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    Email and social on every plan; WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and Messenger from Standard; chat on Enterprise. WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram are here and not on LiveAgent.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    LiveAgentLiveAgent

    A call center with IVR, a knowledge base and a customer portal. Zoho Desk is a help desk instead.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    The Zoho suite: CRM, SalesIQ, Projects and Books share the account. 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. Zoho Desk is a day.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    A day: connect the mailbox, set departments and a blueprint. LiveAgent is a day.

Sources: LiveAgent pricing · Zoho Desk 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 Zoho Desk ticket view: the queue, the ticket with Zia's suggestions and the contact
Zoho DeskZoho Desk. The Zoho Desk ticket view: the queue, the ticket with Zia's suggestions and the contact

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 Zoho Desk

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.

Zoho DeskZoho Desk

$70/mo

WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, answer bot.

5 × $14 seats
$70
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Zoho includes Zia and the answer bot in the plan with a token allowance; no per-conversation rate is printed. 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); Zoho Desk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification). 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, Zoho Desk 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.

FeatureLiveAgentLiveAgentZoho DeskZoho DeskSellio

Pricing

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

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Chatbot included
Zia answer bot
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
In the seat
In the plan, token allowance
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to an agent
Creates a ticket
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Universal inbox
Ticket-first with blueprints
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Rules and time rules
Workflows and blueprints
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Reports and dashboards
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.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Zoho Desk does not include outright.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Zoho Desk does not ship.

Pick Zoho Desk if

  • You already run Zoho CRM or Books and want support in the same suite.
  • Email tickets with WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram at a low seat price.
  • Five people cost $75 a month less than on LiveAgent ($70 against $145), before AI.
  • You need WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram in the price, which LiveAgent does not include outright.

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 $70 on Zoho Desk for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: LiveAgent folds AI (included) into the plan, Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You want native Windows and macOS apps and a free plan that never expires beside the paid tiers, which LiveAgent and Zoho Desk have only in part.

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. Zoho Desk on Standard: $28, $70 and $140 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 $25 less than Zoho Desk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $195 under LiveAgent and $45 under Zoho Desk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets. Only Zoho Desk has a free plan (3 agents, email tickets); LiveAgent offers a 30-day trial, no card. LiveAgent and Zoho Desk both include email in the price; only LiveAgent has website chat; only Zoho Desk has WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them LiveAgent and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. LiveAgent (included) and Zoho Desk (in the plan) both fold AI into the plan. LiveAgent and Zoho Desk both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps. LiveAgent is a day; Zoho Desk is a day.

What each price leaves out

LiveAgent: Chatbot, answer assistant, autoresponder and triage included in the paid plans. Zoho Desk: Zia answer bot from Standard; generative AI on Professional and up with a token allowance. Beside LiveAgent's included and Zoho Desk's in the plan, 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

Zoho Desk does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (Per user per month, billed yearly; monthly costs more. The page could only be read in a local currency, so the dollar figures are Zoho's US list prices from published summaries.), so they are marked unverified here beside LiveAgent's, and Zoho Desk'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
    LiveAgentLiveAgentAssumed $0$0
    Zoho DeskZoho DeskAssumed $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
    Zoho DeskZoho Desk · 15-day 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 Zoho Desk: the questions people ask

LiveAgent is a help desk with live chat and calls built around a universal inbox; Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets. LiveAgent and Zoho Desk both raise tickets, and only LiveAgent ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (Small Business, yearly); Zoho Desk $7/user/mo (Express, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: LiveAgent $15/agent/mo (chat on every plan); Zoho Desk $40/user/mo (Enterprise, with SalesIQ).
  • Sellio's inbox: all five channels on every paid plan, where LiveAgent and Zoho Desk each include only some.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside LiveAgent and Zoho Desk on the same rows.

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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