OlarkFreshdeskOlark vs Freshdesk

Olark vs Freshdesk: $290 or $550 for ten people

A live chat software against a help desk: Olark is $130 a month cheaper for five people. Where Olark and Freshdesk 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 Olark if you want an AI chat agent at a flat monthly price with no usage meter. Pick Freshdesk if your support is email tickets first and you want SLAs, time tracking and field service in one help desk. For five people, Olark is $130 a month cheaper than Freshdesk ($145 a month on Olark against $275 on Freshdesk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $100 below Olark. Olark and Freshdesk share no channel in the base price; only Olark has website chat; only Freshdesk has email. Neither Olark nor Freshdesk includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Olark against Freshdesk, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceOlarkOlarkFreshdeskFreshdesk
Built aroundA simple chat box · AI agent at a flat priceEmail tickets · chat is the separate Freshchat
Entry plan$29/agent/mo · human-only chat$19/agent/mo · Growth: email and tickets
Chat in the price$29/agent/mo · the whole product is chat$55/agent/mo · Pro, with Freshchat on top
AI agent$400/mo flat · unlimited AI conversations, 1 seat$49 per 100 sessions · 500 trial sessions once per account
Copilot for agentsNone$29/agent/mo · Freddy Copilot
Free planNone · trial, no cardNone · 14-day trial

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    OlarkOlark

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

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    As a ticket in an email queue. Chat conversations live in Freshchat and become tickets when escalated. Olark has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    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 $275 on Freshdesk.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    $19 buys email tickets on Growth. Chat and messaging mean adding Freshchat or an Omni bundle. $275 for five people, against $145 on Olark.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    OlarkOlark

    A flat $400 a month for unlimited AI conversations, with no token or per-outcome charge. Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats instead.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Freddy AI Agent: 500 trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100. Freddy Copilot is $29 per agent on top. Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    OlarkOlark

    Website chat only; no email inbox, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. website chat is here and not on Freshdesk.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Email and web forms on every plan; chat, WhatsApp and Instagram arrive with Freshchat. email is here and not on Olark.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    OlarkOlark

    Transcripts, reports and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and help desks. Freshdesk is a help desk instead.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    Field service, time tracking, SLAs and a marketplace; the wider Freshworks suite for IT and sales. Olark is a live chat software instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    OlarkOlark

    Minutes: paste the snippet. Freshdesk is a day or two.

    FreshdeskFreshdesk

    A day or two: connect the support address, set groups and SLAs, then add Freshchat for the widget. Olark is minutes.

Sources: Olark pricing · Freshdesk 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 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
The Freshdesk ticket view: the queue on the left, the ticket thread and the properties panel
FreshdeskFreshdesk. The Freshdesk ticket view: the queue on the left, the ticket thread and the properties panel

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 Olark, AI agent sessions on Freshdesk

3000+
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.

FreshdeskFreshdesk

$422/mo

Custom roles, round robin, more automations and reporting.

5 × $55 seats
$275
300 AI agent sessions × $0.49 (rounded to 100-session packs)
$147
Copilot, 5 × $29
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. 500 trial sessions are available once per account, not every month. Recurring estimates exclude that trial and charge $49 per 100-session pack. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

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: Olark pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); Freshdesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06). 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

Olark, Freshdesk 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.

FeatureOlarkOlarkFreshdeskFreshdeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI flat
Per agent; AI per agent and per session
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; trial
Not on the pricing page; 14-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI Website Agent
Freddy, trained on the knowledge base
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
$400 a month flat
500 one-time trial sessions, then $49 per 100
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to a human seat
Escalates to agents
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

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 $130 a month less than on Freshdesk ($145 against $275), before AI.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Freshdesk does not include outright.

Pick Freshdesk if

  • Your support is email tickets first and you want SLAs, time tracking and field service in one help desk.
  • You are already on Freshworks products and want the same admin and billing.
  • You need email in the price, which Olark does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Olark does not have.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $145 a month on Olark against $275 on Freshdesk for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan, Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Olark nor Freshdesk includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Olark on Live chat: $58, $145 and $290 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Freshdesk on Pro: $110, $275 and $550 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $100 less than Olark and $230 less than Freshdesk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $195 under Olark and $455 under Freshdesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Neither has a free plan: Olark offers a free trial, Freshdesk 14 days of Enterprise. Olark and Freshdesk share no channel in the base price; only Olark has website chat; only Freshdesk has email. Neither Olark nor Freshdesk includes WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan; Freshdesk meters AI ($49 per 100 sessions) above the seats. Freshdesk has tickets and Olark does not, and neither Olark nor Freshdesk ships a desktop app. Olark is minutes; Freshdesk is a day or two.

What each price leaves out

Olark: AI Website Agent $400 a month flat, extra human seats $29 each. Freshdesk: Freddy AI Copilot $29 per agent per month yearly; 500 AI agent trial sessions once per account, then $49 per 100 sessions. Beside Olark's $400/mo flat and Freshdesk's $49 per 100 sessions, 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
    OlarkOlarkAssumed $0$0
    FreshdeskFreshdesk$0.49$245
    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.

    OlarkOlark · Free trial, no card
    FreshdeskFreshdesk · 14 days of Enterprise
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Olark vs Freshdesk: the questions people ask

Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box; Freshdesk is a help desk built around email tickets. Freshdesk has tickets and Olark does not, and neither Olark nor Freshdesk ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Olark $29/agent/mo (human-only chat); Freshdesk $19/agent/mo (Growth: email and tickets).
  • Chat in the price: Olark $29/agent/mo (the whole product is chat); Freshdesk $55/agent/mo (Pro, with Freshchat on top).
  • Sellio: WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Olark nor Freshdesk has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Olark and Freshdesk 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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