LiveChatOlarkLiveChat vs Olark

LiveChat vs Olark: two live chat options for a small team

Two live chat softwares: Olark is $100 a month cheaper for five people. Where LiveChat and Olark 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 LiveChat if website chat is the channel and you want the most refined console and widget available. Pick Olark if you want an AI chat agent at a flat monthly price with no usage meter. For five people, Olark is $100 a month cheaper than LiveChat ($245 a month on LiveChat against $145 on Olark), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $100 below Olark. LiveChat and Olark both include website chat in the price. Neither LiveChat nor Olark includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing LiveChat against Olark, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceLiveChatLiveChatOlarkOlark
Built aroundThe chat console · help desk and chatbot sold separatelyA simple chat box · AI agent at a flat price
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Starter: 60-day history$29/agent/mo · human-only chat
Chat in the price$49/agent/mo · Team$29/agent/mo · the whole product is chat
AI agentChatBot from $52/mo · a separate product$400/mo flat · unlimited AI conversations, 1 seat
Copilot for agentsIncluded · Text IntelligenceNone
Free planNone · 14-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

    LiveChatLiveChat

    As a chat in the agent console, with the visitor's page and typing shown live; tickets go to the separate HelpDesk product. Olark has no ticket queue either.

    OlarkOlark

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

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    LiveChatLiveChat

    $19 buys the console with 60 days of history. Team at $49 keeps the history and adds reports. $245 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 $245 on LiveChat.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    LiveChatLiveChat

    Text Intelligence assists are included; an AI answering customers means the separate ChatBot product from $52 a month. 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. LiveChat meters AI (ChatBot from $52/mo) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    LiveChatLiveChat

    Website chat, Messenger, Apple Messages, WhatsApp and email in the console; SMS via integration. The same set as Olark.

    OlarkOlark

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

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    LiveChatLiveChat

    A large marketplace, and sibling products for chatbot, help desk and knowledge base at their own prices. Olark is the same kind of product, a live chat software.

    OlarkOlark

    Transcripts, reports and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and help desks. LiveChat is the same kind of product, a live chat software.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    LiveChatLiveChat

    An hour: paste the snippet, invite agents, answer. Olark is minutes.

    OlarkOlark

    Minutes: paste the snippet. LiveChat is an hour.

Sources: LiveChat 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 LiveChat agent console: the chat list, the conversation and the visitor details
LiveChatLiveChat. The LiveChat agent console: the chat list, the conversation and the visitor details
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 LiveChat, AI conversations on Olark

3000+
LiveChatLiveChat

$245/mo

Full history, reports, agent groups.

5 × $49 seats
$245
300 AI conversations × $0
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. LiveChat sells its chatbot as a separate ChatBot subscription from $52 a month, not per conversation; add that flat fee. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

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: LiveChat pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); 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

LiveChat, 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.

FeatureLiveChatLiveChatOlarkOlarkSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; ChatBot is a separate product.
Per agent; AI flat
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
14-day trial.
None; trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
The core product.
The whole product
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Via marketplace integration.
Transcripts only
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Via marketplace integration.
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Via marketplace integration.
Not offered
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not listed.
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, a separate subscription.
AI Website Agent
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $52/mo for ChatBot; copilot included.
$400 a month flat
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
ChatBot transfers to agents.
Hands to a human seat
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
HelpDesk is a separate product.
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Routing rules; flows live in ChatBot.
Chat rules only
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and ratings.
Chat reports
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick LiveChat if

  • Website chat is the channel and you want the most refined console and widget available.
  • You need Apple Messages for Business.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Olark does not ship.
  • Time to the first reply is an hour here and minutes on Olark.

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 $100 a month less than on LiveChat ($145 against $245), before AI.
  • You want the AI in the seat price ($400/mo flat) rather than LiveChat's meter at ChatBot from $52/mo.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $245 a month on LiveChat against $145 on Olark for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: LiveChat meters AI (ChatBot from $52/mo) above the seats, Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither LiveChat nor Olark includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

LiveChat on Team: $98, $245 and $490 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, $200 less than LiveChat and $100 less than Olark for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $395 under LiveChat and $195 under Olark.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Both LiveChat and Olark are live chat softwares, so the category is settled and the question is what each seat buys: LiveChat is built around the chat console, Olark around a simple chat box. Neither has a free plan: LiveChat offers 14 days, no card, Olark a free trial. LiveChat and Olark both include website chat in the price. Neither LiveChat nor Olark includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. LiveChat meters AI (ChatBot from $52/mo) above the seats; Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan. Neither LiveChat nor Olark has a ticket queue, and only LiveChat ships desktop apps. LiveChat is an hour; Olark is minutes.

What each price leaves out

LiveChat: Text Intelligence (copilot, suggestions, summaries) included. The ChatBot product is separate, from $52 a month yearly. Olark: AI Website Agent $400 a month flat, extra human seats $29 each. Beside LiveChat's ChatBot from $52/mo 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
    LiveChatLiveChatAssumed $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.

    LiveChatLiveChat · 14 days, 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

LiveChat vs Olark: the questions people ask

Both LiveChat and Olark are live chat softwares, so the category is settled and the question is what each seat buys: LiveChat is built around the chat console, Olark around a simple chat box.

  • Entry plan: LiveChat $19/agent/mo (Starter: 60-day history); Olark $29/agent/mo (human-only chat).
  • Chat in the price: LiveChat $49/agent/mo (Team); Olark $29/agent/mo (the whole product is chat).
  • Sellio's inbox: email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither LiveChat nor Olark has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside LiveChat and Olark 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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