Olark vs tawk.to (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick tawk.to: it is third in our ranking of help desk and live chat tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
tawk.to grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
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
tawk.to
Free live chat, ticketing and help center, with paid add-ons
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 tawk.to if
- Fits if you want chat on your site and don't want to pay per seat
- Works for anyone who'd rather hire someone to answer chats, at $1 an hour
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if the "Powered by tawk.to" badge bothers you, as removing it costs $29 a month per site
- Watch out: AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month
- Not for you if you need phone support, as voice agents (from $49 a month plus usage) were still waitlist-only
- Too light for teams that need lots of integrations, with only Shopify and WordPress listed and no API
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAOlarkFair | 3.0GPAtawk.toVery 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. | AThe whole platform is free, chat, inbox, tickets, help center and CRM, with no seat charges, which is free and substantial. You'd pay only for add-ons: $29 a month for the AI agent or for removing the badge. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day trial of Live Chat with no credit card. There is no free plan. | AFree outright for every seat, with no cap on chats in the listing. The catch is the "Powered by tawk.to" badge on your widget, chat page and help center, which costs $29 a month per site to remove. |
| 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. | CWebsite chat, chat pages for businesses without a site, an inbox for chat, email and forms, tickets, a help center, a CRM, and people you can hire to answer for $1 an hour. The gap: no phone, as voice agents were still waitlist-only. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and the chat widget and AI answers need setting up. | CNo store rating on record. It's free to start, but you still paste the chat box into your site, set up the help center and, if you want it, teach the AI agent. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iPhone and Android apps, and 8 listed integrations. No desktop app on record. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps, so every device is covered. What keeps it off an A is the connections: the listing names just Shopify and WordPress, and no API. |
| Best for | plain live chat on a website | free website chat for any size of team |
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 tawk.to. 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. tawk.to starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 16 score higher than Olark for less, and 16 score higher than tawk.to 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, whatsApp messaging and chatbots.
- tawk.to also covers help desk and help center.
At a glance
| Olark | tawk.to | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $29 per agent / month | $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on |
| Free plan | None | The whole platform is free: live chat, inbox, ticketing, knowledge base, chat pages and CRM, with no seat charges. A "Powered by tawk.to" badge stays unless removed for a fee. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial for Live Chat, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Olark | tawk.to |
| Price read from | olark.com | tawk.to |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 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.
tawk.to
- Removing the "Powered by tawk.to" badge from the widget, chat page and knowledge base costs $29 a month per property.
- AI Assist is free only for limited volume; paid plans start at $29 a month.
- Hired chat agents cost $1 an hour and dedicated virtual assistants from $7 an hour.
- Voice Agents (from $49 a month plus usage) and Data Enrichment (from $59 a month) were waitlist-only when read.
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.
tawk.to
- Live chat widget
- A chat box for websites that can be styled to match a brand, plus chat pages that turn a link into a conversation for businesses without a site.
- Inbox and ticketing
- Chat, email, form and messaging conversations arrive in one dashboard, with free ticketing for issues that need follow-up.
- Knowledge base
- A free hosted help center where customers can look up answers, which the AI Assist add-on also draws on.
- AI Assist
- AI agents and workflows that answer routine questions and hand off to a person with the conversation's history attached.
- Hired chat agents
- Trained human agents who answer chats on your behalf around the clock for $1 an hour, offered as a paid service.
- CRM and pipeline
- Contact records built from conversations, segments and tags, a deal pipeline and booking activities in the same dashboard.
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.
tawk.to
Free$0
Live chat widget, shared inbox, ticketing, a hosted knowledge base, chat pages and contacts, with the tawk.to badge shown. AI Assist has a free tier for limited volume.
AI Assist$29
per month and up
Add-on: AI agents that answer from your knowledge base and AI workflows that route and follow up, handing off to a person when needed.
Whitelabel$29
per property / month
Add-on: removes the tawk.to badge and puts the chat page, knowledge base and ticketing emails on your own domain and address.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Olark or tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Olark starts at $29 per agent / month, and tawk.to starts at $29 per month for the AI Assist or Whitelabel add-on. 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 tawk.to?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only tawk.to has a free plan. Olark does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Olark and tawk.to run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only tawk.to 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.