Acquire vs Olark (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Acquire if

• Fits if your support team wants chat, SMS and email in one workspace
• Works for teams that sometimes need a video session with a customer

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a price on the page, as none is shown
• Watch out: the bot, cross-channel conversations, video recording and task management are listed as coming soon
• Not for you if you need to know the trial terms, because they aren't stated
• Watch out: tailored professional services are sold separately

Pick Olark if

• Fits if you want live chat answered by people, priced per seat
• Works for a site that wants an AI agent with unlimited conversations at a flat fee

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you need ticketing or a help center, as the pages show neither
• Pricey if you add the AI agent, which starts at $400 a month billed annually
• Watch out: the page doesn't say whether the $29 seat price is monthly or annual
• Watch out: SSO, regional routing and custom SLAs are only in the sales-only Custom package

Acquire

• No prices are published; the pricing page lists features under a self-service and an integrated solution and points to contacting sales or booking a demo.
• The pricing page marks a bot, cross-channel conversations, video recording and task management as coming soon.
• The free trial is offered on the site, but its length and terms are not stated on the pages read.
• Tailored professional services are sold separately.

Olark

• The AI agent starts at $400 a month, billed annually, which is far above the $29 live chat seat price.
• The pricing page does not say whether the $29 seat price is monthly or annual billing.
• Olark is a chat product; the pages here show no full ticketing or help center product.
• SSO, regional routing and custom SLAs are only in the sales-only Custom package.

Acquire

Live messaging

A chat widget for websites, with SMS and email channels in the same conversation view.

Unified agent view

Shows the whole conversation history and customer information in one place and lets an agent switch between chat, SMS and email.

Workflows and API

API-based workflows bring customer information from other systems into the conversation and drive prioritization and self-service.

Queues, SLAs and routing

Customers can be prioritized by type, wait time or custom attributes, with SLA alerts and several routing setups.

Video support

A live video session can be launched from a chat on either the agent's or the customer's side.

Reporting

The pricing page lists reporting and customer-data import and export among its features.

Olark

AI website agent

The agent answers visitor questions from your site content, keeps its knowledge in step with the site, and qualifies leads. The in-app name for it is AI Assistant.

Human live chat

Chat between visitors and your agents, with live handoff from the AI to a person in the same conversation thread.

Proactive engagement

Chats can be triggered by visitor behavior such as UTM source, return visits and time on page.

Lead capture

Buttons, in-chat contact forms and booking links appear when the agent decides they help.

Assistant split tests

Traffic can be split between two assistant configurations to compare tone, openers and qualification approach.

Channels and customization

The features page lists WhatsApp and SMS, and chatbox colors and position can be matched to the site.

Acquire

Pricing could not be confirmed. See acquire.io.

Olark

• Live Chat$29

  per agent / month, billing basis not shown

  Full-featured live chat with human agents and no AI. The AI agent can be added later without reinstalling.

• Standard AI Website Agent$400

  per month, billed annually ($4,800 a year)

  Unlimited AI conversations with no overages, lead capture and qualification, proactive engagement and one human agent seat. Extra human seats are $29 per agent a month.

• CustomCustom

  For power users and enterprise: regional routing, multiple teams, custom workflows and SLAs, and SSO. Sold through sales.