OlarkZoho DeskOlark vs Zoho Desk

Olark vs Zoho Desk: five seats for $145 or $70

A live chat software against a help desk: Zoho Desk is $75 a month cheaper for five people. Where Olark 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 Olark if you want an AI chat agent at a flat monthly price with no usage meter. 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 Olark ($145 a month on Olark against $70 on Zoho Desk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $25 below Zoho Desk. Olark and Zoho Desk share no channel in the base price; only Olark has website chat; only Zoho Desk has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them Olark and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. For a team of two to ten weighing Olark against Zoho Desk, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceOlarkOlarkZoho DeskZoho Desk
Built aroundA simple chat box · AI agent at a flat priceEmail tickets · part of the Zoho suite
Entry plan$29/agent/mo · human-only chat$7/user/mo · Express, yearly
Chat in the price$29/agent/mo · the whole product is chat$40/user/mo · Enterprise, with SalesIQ
AI agent$400/mo flat · unlimited AI conversations, 1 seatIn the plan · Zia on Professional and up
Copilot for agentsNoneZia · Professional and up
Free planNone · trial, no cardYes · 3 agents, email tickets

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. Zoho Desk raises a ticket where Olark 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. 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 $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 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. 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. Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    OlarkOlark

    Website chat only; no email inbox, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. 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 Olark.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    OlarkOlark

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

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

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

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    OlarkOlark

    Minutes: paste the snippet. Zoho Desk is a day.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

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

Sources: Olark 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 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 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 Olark, AI conversations on Zoho Desk

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.

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: Olark 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

Olark, 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.

FeatureOlarkOlarkZoho DeskZoho DeskSellio

Pricing

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

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI Website Agent
Zia answer bot
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
$400 a month flat
In the plan, token allowance
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to a human seat
Creates a ticket
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser only
Browser and mobile
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.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Zoho Desk does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is minutes here and a day on Zoho Desk.

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 Olark ($70 against $145), before AI.
  • You need email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram in the price, which Olark 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 Olark against $70 on Zoho Desk 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, Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Olark nor Zoho Desk 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. 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 Olark 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 Olark and $45 under Zoho Desk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box; Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets. Only Zoho Desk has a free plan (3 agents, email tickets); Olark offers a free trial. Olark and Zoho Desk share no channel in the base price; only Olark has website chat; only Zoho Desk has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them Olark and Zoho Desk cover every channel Sellio ships. Olark ($400/mo flat) and Zoho Desk (in the plan) both fold AI into the plan. Zoho Desk has tickets and Olark does not, and neither Olark nor Zoho Desk ships a desktop app. Olark is minutes; Zoho Desk is a day.

What each price leaves out

Olark: AI Website Agent $400 a month flat, extra human seats $29 each. Zoho Desk: Zia answer bot from Standard; generative AI on Professional and up with a token allowance. Beside Olark's $400/mo flat 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 Olark'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
    OlarkOlarkAssumed $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.

    OlarkOlark · Free 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

Olark vs Zoho Desk: the questions people ask

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

  • Entry plan: Olark $29/agent/mo (human-only chat); Zoho Desk $7/user/mo (Express, yearly).
  • Chat in the price: Olark $29/agent/mo (the whole product is chat); Zoho Desk $40/user/mo (Enterprise, with SalesIQ).
  • Sellio's inbox: all five channels on every paid plan, where Olark and Zoho Desk each include only some.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Olark 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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