LiveChatZoho DeskLiveChat vs Zoho Desk

LiveChat vs Zoho Desk: $245 against $70 a month

A live chat software against a help desk: Zoho Desk is $175 a month cheaper for five people. Where LiveChat 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 LiveChat if website chat is the channel and you want the most refined console and widget available. Pick Zoho Desk if you already run Zoho CRM or Books and want support in the same suite. For five people, Zoho Desk is $175 a month cheaper than LiveChat ($245 a month on LiveChat against $70 on Zoho Desk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $25 below Zoho Desk. LiveChat and Zoho Desk share no channel in the base price; only LiveChat has website chat; only Zoho Desk has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them LiveChat and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. For a team of two to ten weighing LiveChat against Zoho Desk, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceLiveChatLiveChatZoho DeskZoho Desk
Built aroundThe chat console · help desk and chatbot sold separatelyEmail tickets · part of the Zoho suite
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Starter: 60-day history$7/user/mo · Express, yearly
Chat in the price$49/agent/mo · Team$40/user/mo · Enterprise, with SalesIQ
AI agentChatBot from $52/mo · a separate productIn the plan · Zia on Professional and up
Copilot for agentsIncluded · Text IntelligenceZia · Professional and up
Free planNone · 14-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

    LiveChatLiveChat

    As a chat in the agent console, with the visitor's page and typing shown live; tickets go to the separate HelpDesk product. Zoho Desk raises a ticket where LiveChat keeps a conversation.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    As a ticket from email, a form or a messaging app, in a queue with blueprints for the process. LiveChat has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  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 $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 $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. Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan instead.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    Zia's answer bot and generative AI are included by plan, with a token allowance, rather than metered per conversation. 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. 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. email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram are here and not on LiveChat.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    LiveChatLiveChat

    A large marketplace, and sibling products for chatbot, help desk and knowledge base at their own prices. Zoho Desk is a help desk instead.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    The Zoho suite: CRM, SalesIQ, Projects and Books share the account. LiveChat is a live chat software instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    LiveChatLiveChat

    An hour: paste the snippet, invite agents, answer. Zoho Desk is a day.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    A day: connect the mailbox, set departments and a blueprint. LiveChat is an hour.

Sources: LiveChat 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 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 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 LiveChat, AI conversations on Zoho Desk

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.

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

LiveChat, 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.

FeatureLiveChatLiveChatZoho DeskZoho DeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; ChatBot is a separate product.
Per user; AI in the plan
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
14-day trial.
3 agents
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
The core product.
Enterprise, via SalesIQ
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Via marketplace integration.
All plans
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Via marketplace integration.
Standard and up
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Via marketplace integration.
Standard and up
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not listed.
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, a separate subscription.
Zia answer bot
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $52/mo for ChatBot; copilot included.
In the plan, token allowance
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
ChatBot transfers to agents.
Creates a ticket
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Mac and Windows apps.
Browser and mobile
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 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 $175 a month less than on LiveChat ($70 against $245), before AI.
  • You need email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram in the price, which LiveChat does not include outright.

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 $70 on Zoho Desk 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, 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 LiveChat and Zoho Desk have only in part.

What two, five and ten people pay

LiveChat on Team: $98, $245 and $490 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, $200 less than LiveChat 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 $395 under LiveChat and $45 under Zoho Desk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

LiveChat is a live chat software built around the chat console; Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets. Only Zoho Desk has a free plan (3 agents, email tickets); LiveChat offers 14 days, no card. LiveChat and Zoho Desk share no channel in the base price; only LiveChat has website chat; only Zoho Desk has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them LiveChat and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. LiveChat meters AI (ChatBot from $52/mo) above the seats; Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan. Zoho Desk has tickets and LiveChat does not, and only LiveChat ships desktop apps. LiveChat is an hour; Zoho Desk is a day.

What each price leaves out

LiveChat: Text Intelligence (copilot, suggestions, summaries) included. The ChatBot product is separate, from $52 a month yearly. Zoho Desk: Zia answer bot from Standard; generative AI on Professional and up with a token allowance. Beside LiveChat's ChatBot from $52/mo 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 LiveChat'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
    LiveChatLiveChatAssumed $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.

    LiveChatLiveChat · 14 days, 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

LiveChat vs Zoho Desk: the questions people ask

LiveChat is a live chat software built around the chat console; Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets. Zoho Desk has tickets and LiveChat does not, and only LiveChat ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: LiveChat $19/agent/mo (Starter: 60-day history); Zoho Desk $7/user/mo (Express, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: LiveChat $49/agent/mo (Team); Zoho Desk $40/user/mo (Enterprise, with SalesIQ).
  • Sellio: all five channels on every paid plan, where LiveChat and Zoho Desk each include only some.

Sellio's side of the LiveChat and Zoho Desk 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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