Olark vs ProProfs Live Chat (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ProProfs Live Chat grades higher than Olark: 3.0 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
ProProfs Live Chat grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Olark
Live chat for websites, with an optional flat-fee AI agent
ProProfs Live Chat
Live chat with an AI agent, free for a single operator
Which one is for you
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
Pick ProProfs Live Chat if
- Fits if one person answers the website chat
- Works for sites that want a basic bot before paying
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you have two operators: only one is free
- Watch out: AI conversations are capped at 100 a month on Essentials and 300 on Business
- Skip it if you want Copilot, appointment booking or WhatsApp without Business
- Watch out: only the yearly-billing view was readable, and the larger plans sit on tabs we could not read
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAOlarkFair | 3.0GPAProProfs Live ChatVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$29 per agent a month is the middle of the category. The AI agent package is $400 a month billed annually, about 14 times that. | AFree outright for one operator, and the paid plans are $19.99 and $29.99 an operator a month on yearly billing against a category middle of $29. We could not read monthly prices, and the page's rendering of the Essentials figure looked inconsistent with the listing. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day trial of Live Chat with no credit card. There is no free plan. | BA free forever plan for one operator with unlimited domains and chat history. A solo person can live on it, but a second operator needs a paid plan. |
| Features | CLive chat with human agents, and an AI agent as a separate package. It does the chat job fully, but it is a smaller job: the pages show no ticketing or help center. | CLive chat, an AI agent, visitor tracking, sentiment tags and co-browsing. The gaps are in the listing: AI conversations are capped, and Copilot, appointment booking and WhatsApp need Business. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and the chat widget and AI answers need setting up. | CNo store rating on record. You add the widget and set up the bot and triggers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iPhone and Android apps, and 8 listed integrations. No desktop app on record. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps, with WhatsApp, Slack, Shopify, Mailchimp and WordPress connections. |
| Best for | plain live chat on a website | free live chat for a single operator |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Olark and ProProfs Live Chat. How we grade
Price against what you get
Olark starts at $29 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. ProProfs Live Chat starts at $19.99 a month and scores 2.7.
ProProfs Live Chat scores higher and starts $9.01 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 19 score higher than Olark for less, and 2 score higher than ProProfs Live Chat for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Olark also covers sMS marketing.
At a glance
| Olark | ProProfs Live Chat | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $29 per agent / month | $19.99 per operator / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | Free forever for a single operator, with live chat, reports, sentiment tagging, translation and screenshare. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial for Live Chat, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Olark | ProProfs |
| Price read from | olark.com | proprofschat.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
ProProfs Live Chat
- AI conversations are capped: 100 a month on Essentials and 300 on Business.
- Prices shown are per operator and the figures read were the annual-billing view; monthly billing was not displayed.
- AI Copilot, appointment booking bot and WhatsApp are Business-plan features.
- Larger plans appear on the page's team and enterprise tabs, which were not readable in the default view.
Key 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.
ProProfs Live Chat
- AI customer service agent
- Trained on a website, help center, uploaded files and FAQs, it answers with cited sources and can be tested before going live.
- Live chat with visitor tracking
- Operators see what a visitor is typing, the pages they have viewed and their location, and can send proactive chat invitations.
- Sentiment and churn scoring
- AI tags each chat as angry, confused, happy and so on, and scores churn risk as high, medium or low.
- Screenshare and co-browsing
- Operators can see a visitor's screen and guide them through a task, and the Business plan adds a switch to audio chat.
- WhatsApp and chatbot flows
- A drag-and-drop bot builder with templates for lead capture and booking, and WhatsApp conversations in the same inbox on Business.
Plans
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.
ProProfs Live Chat
Single Operator (Free)$0
One operator with unlimited domains and chat history, ratings and surveys, reports and a basic chatbot.
Essentials$19.99
per operator / month, billed annually ($239.88 a year)
Unlimited conversations with live agents, 100 AI conversations a month, no-code bot builder and proactive triggers.
Business$29.99
per operator / month, billed annually ($359.88 a year)
Adds 300 AI conversations a month, AI Copilot, audio chat, appointment bot and WhatsApp, plus dedicated onboarding.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Olark or ProProfs Live Chat?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Olark starts at $29 per agent / month, and ProProfs Live Chat starts at $19.99 per operator / month, billed annually. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Olark or ProProfs Live Chat?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only ProProfs Live Chat has a free plan. Olark does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Olark and ProProfs Live Chat run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only ProProfs Live Chat lists macOS and Windows apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.