OlarkLiveHelpNowOlark vs LiveHelpNow

Olark vs LiveHelpNow: live chat or help desk and live chat

A live chat software against a help desk and live chat: Olark is $150 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

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 LiveHelpNow if you want the knowledge base and chat to be the same product from day one. For five people, Olark is $150 a month cheaper than LiveHelpNow ($145 a month on Olark against $295 on LiveHelpNow), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $100 under Olark. Olark and LiveHelpNow both include website chat in the price. Neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Olark and LiveHelpNow sell here at one price.

At a glanceOlarkOlarkLiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow
Built aroundA simple chat box · AI agent at a flat priceChat and a knowledge base · tickets on the middle plan
Entry plan$29/agent/mo · human-only chat$39/agent/mo · Essential
Chat in the price$29/agent/mo · the whole product is chat$39/agent/mo · chat on every plan
AI agent$400/mo flat · unlimited AI conversations, 1 seatFrom $99/mo · Knowledge AI; conversational AI from $499
Copilot for agentsNoneIncluded · AI Agent Assist
Free planNone · trial, no cardNone · no trial printed

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. LiveHelpNow has no ticket queue either.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    As a chat or a knowledge base search; email tickets arrive on the Professional plan. Olark has no ticket queue either.

  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 $295 on LiveHelpNow.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    $39 buys chat, the knowledge base and social on Essential; ticketing starts on Professional at $59. $295 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. LiveHelpNow meters AI (from $99/mo) above the seats instead.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    Knowledge AI is from $99 a month for 2,000 answers; conversational AI from $499 for 1,000 conversations. 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. The same set as LiveHelpNow.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    Chat, email tickets, SMS and social; no native WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. The same set as Olark.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    OlarkOlark

    Transcripts, reports and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and help desks. LiveHelpNow is a help desk and live chat instead.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    Workforce management, call logging and a support portal. Olark is a live chat software instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    OlarkOlark

    Minutes: paste the snippet. LiveHelpNow is a day.

    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

    A day: add the chat and build the first knowledge base articles. Olark is minutes.

Sources: Olark pricing · LiveHelpNow 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 LiveHelpNow agent dashboard: the chat queue with the knowledge base search beside it
LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow. The LiveHelpNow agent dashboard: the chat queue with the knowledge base search beside it

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 conversations on LiveHelpNow

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.

LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow

$445/mo

Ticketing, workforce management.

5 × $59 seats
$295
300 AI conversations × $0.5
$150

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Conversational AI is $499 a month for 1,000 conversations, about $0.50 each; the rate is a stated assumption from that pack. 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: Olark pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); LiveHelpNow 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

Olark, LiveHelpNow 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.

FeatureOlarkOlarkLiveHelpNowLiveHelpNowSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI flat
Per agent; AI in monthly packs
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; trial
None
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI Website Agent
Knowledge AI and conversational AI
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
$400 a month flat
From $99 a month in packs
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to a human seat
Hands to an agent
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser only
Browser 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 $150 a month less than on LiveHelpNow ($145 against $295), before AI.
  • You want the AI in the seat price ($400/mo flat) rather than LiveHelpNow's meter at from $99/mo.

Pick LiveHelpNow if

  • You want the knowledge base and chat to be the same product from day one.
  • AI sold in monthly answer packs suits your budgeting.
  • Time to the first reply is a day here and minutes on Olark.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Olark's: per agent per month; AI sold in monthly packs of answers or conversations.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Olark or LiveHelpNow who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $145 a month on Olark against $295 on LiveHelpNow for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan, LiveHelpNow meters AI (from $99/mo) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow 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. LiveHelpNow on Professional: $118, $295 and $590 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 $250 less than LiveHelpNow for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $195 under Olark and $495 under LiveHelpNow.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box; LiveHelpNow is a help desk and live chat built around chat and a knowledge base. Neither has a free plan: Olark offers a free trial, LiveHelpNow no trial. Olark and LiveHelpNow both include website chat in the price. Neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan; LiveHelpNow meters AI (from $99/mo) above the seats. Neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow has a ticket queue, and neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow ships a desktop app. Olark is minutes; LiveHelpNow is a day.

What each price leaves out

Olark: AI Website Agent $400 a month flat, extra human seats $29 each. LiveHelpNow: AI Agent Assist included; Knowledge AI from $99 a month; Conversational AI from $499 a month. Beside Olark's $400/mo flat and LiveHelpNow's from $99/mo, 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
    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNowAssumed $0.5$240
    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
    LiveHelpNowLiveHelpNow · None printed
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Olark vs LiveHelpNow: the questions people ask

Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box; LiveHelpNow is a help desk and live chat built around chat and a knowledge base. Neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow has a ticket queue, and neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Olark $29/agent/mo (human-only chat); LiveHelpNow $39/agent/mo (Essential).
  • Chat in the price: Olark $29/agent/mo (the whole product is chat); LiveHelpNow $39/agent/mo (chat on every plan).
  • Sellio's inbox: email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Olark nor LiveHelpNow has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Olark and LiveHelpNow 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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