Olark vs LiveChat: Complete Comparison 2026

An in-depth comparison of features, pricing, and user experience to help you make the right choice.

Olark

7.4(3,800 reviews)

Simple, affordable live chat for small businesses with real-time visitor monitoring and CRM integrations from $29/mo.

8.2(8,900 reviews)

Dedicated live chat platform for customer support with ticketing, canned responses, and rich messaging from $20/agent/mo.

Aspect	Olark	LiveChat
Best For	Small businesses that want straightforward chat without learning a complex platform	Support teams of 3-20 agents who want a focused, reliable chat tool without platform bloat
Pricing Model	Subscription	Subscription
Starting Price	$29/mo	$20/mo
Deployment	cloud	cloud
Platforms	WEB	WEB, IOS, ANDROID, MAC, WINDOWS
Rating	7.4/10	8.2/10

Dead simple to set up and use — add the code snippet and you are chatting within 5 minutes
WCAG 2.1 AA compliant chat widget makes it the most accessible option for ADA compliance
Transparent flat pricing at $29/seat/month with no hidden tiers or surprise add-ons
PowerUps system lets you add only the features you actually need without forced upgrades
Reliable and stable — 15+ years of uptime without the constant product churn of newer tools

No AI chatbot at all — visitors outside business hours just see an offline contact form
No mobile app for agents, so you can only manage chats from a desktop browser
Widget design looks dated compared to the modern aesthetics of Intercom or Crisp
Reporting is basic — no staffing predictions, no advanced analytics dashboards
PowerUps like cobrowsing ($99/mo) and translation ($29/mo) add up if you need multiple extras

Dead simple setup — install the widget and start chatting within 15 minutes, no technical skills required
Agent dashboard is clean and fast with sneak peek typing preview that cuts response times
Staffing prediction feature helps managers schedule the right number of agents per shift
Multi-channel support pulls website, WhatsApp, Messenger, and email into one unified queue
Reliable uptime and performance — the company has 20+ years of experience doing this one thing well

AI chatbot requires separate ChatBot subscription starting at $52/month — not built in
Knowledge base is another separate product (KnowledgeBase) with its own pricing
Starter plan limits chat history to 60 days, which is frustratingly short
No built-in help desk comparable to Intercom or Zendesk — strictly a chat tool
Per-agent pricing adds up quickly for larger teams compared to flat-rate alternatives

Product	Pricing Model	Starting Price
Olark	subscription	$29/mo
LiveChat	subscription	$20/mo

Choose Olark if...

Small businesses that want straightforward chat without learning a complex platform

Choose LiveChat if...

Support teams of 3-20 agents who want a focused, reliable chat tool without platform bloat

Explore more alternatives or read in-depth reviews to make your decision.