ZendeskOlarkZendesk vs Olark

Zendesk vs Olark: five seats for $275 or $145

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

At a glanceZendeskZendeskOlarkOlark
Built aroundTickets and a queue · messaging came laterA simple chat box · AI agent at a flat price
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and tickets$29/agent/mo · human-only chat
Chat in the price$55/agent/mo · Suite Team$29/agent/mo · the whole product is chat
AI agentPer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printed$400/mo flat · unlimited AI conversations, 1 seat
Copilot for agents$50/agent/moNone
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

    ZendeskZendesk

    As a ticket. Every channel, chat included, becomes a ticket with a status, a priority and an SLA clock. Olark has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    OlarkOlark

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

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    ZendeskZendesk

    $19 buys email and tickets. Live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and AI agents start at Suite Team, $55. $275 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 $275 on Zendesk.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    ZendeskZendesk

    AI agents are priced per automated resolution on top of seats, and the rate comes from your quote. 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. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    ZendeskZendesk

    Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice on Suite plans; WhatsApp conversation fees still apply. email and Instagram are here and not on Olark.

    OlarkOlark

    Website chat only; no email inbox, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. Zendesk adds email and Instagram, which Olark lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. Olark is a live chat software instead.

    OlarkOlark

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

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    ZendeskZendesk

    A project. Queue, SLAs, routing and macros are set up before the first ticket is answered. Olark is minutes.

    OlarkOlark

    Minutes: paste the snippet. Zendesk is a project.

Sources: Zendesk 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 Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields
ZendeskZendesk. The Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields
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 automated resolutions on Zendesk, AI conversations on Olark

3000+
ZendeskZendesk

$725/mo

Adds messaging, live chat, voice and AI agents.

5 × $55 seats
$275
300 automated resolutions × $1.5
$450
Copilot, 5 × $50
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Zendesk's pricing page says AI agents are priced per automated resolution and does not print the rate. $1.50 is the figure Zendesk has quoted publicly; change it to what your quote says. 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: Zendesk 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

Zendesk, 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.

FeatureZendeskZendeskOlarkOlarkSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
Per agent; AI flat
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
None; 14-day trial
None; trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
All plans, trained on the help center
AI Website Agent
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Per automated resolution, on top of seats
$400 a month flat
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Escalates to agents
Hands to a human seat
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

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

Which one, for whom

Pick Zendesk if

  • Your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage.
  • You need phone support and a contact center in the same tool.
  • You need email and Instagram in the price, which Olark does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Olark does not have.

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 Zendesk ($145 against $275), before AI.
  • You want the AI in the seat price ($400/mo flat) rather than Zendesk's meter at per automated resolution.

The third option: Sellio

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

What two, five and ten people pay

Zendesk on Suite Team: $110, $275 and $550 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, $230 less than Zendesk and $100 less than Olark for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $455 under Zendesk and $195 under Olark.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue; Olark is a live chat software built around a simple chat box. Neither has a free plan: Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional, Olark a free trial. Zendesk and Olark both include website chat in the price; only Zendesk has email and Instagram. Neither Zendesk nor Olark includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats; Olark folds AI ($400/mo flat) into the plan. Zendesk has tickets and Olark does not, and neither Zendesk nor Olark ships a desktop app. Zendesk is a project; Olark is minutes.

What each price leaves out

Zendesk: AI agents are billed per automated resolution on top of the seat price; the Copilot add-on is $50 per agent per month. Olark: AI Website Agent $400 a month flat, extra human seats $29 each. Beside Zendesk's per automated resolution 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
    ZendeskZendeskAssumed $1.5$720
    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.

    ZendeskZendesk · 14-day trial of Suite Professional
    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

Zendesk vs Olark: the questions people ask

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

  • Entry plan: Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets); Olark $29/agent/mo (human-only chat).
  • Chat in the price: Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team); Olark $29/agent/mo (the whole product is chat).
  • Sellio's inbox: WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Zendesk nor Olark has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Zendesk 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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