Kayako
Olark
| Feature | Kayako | Olark |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $30/mo | From $29/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 3.9 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 |
| Best For | ecommerce, saas-companies, support-teams, mid-size-companies | small-businesses, freelancers, sales-teams, support-teams |
| Founded | 2001 | 2009 |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ticketing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Customer Journey | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Service | ✓ | ✗ |
| Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sla Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Visitor Insights | ✗ | ✓ |
| Chat Transcripts | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom Forms | ✗ | ✓ |
| Team Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Automation Rules | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Kayako Pros
- Unified customer view
- Good live chat
- Journey tracking
- Multichannel
✗ Kayako Cons
- Dated interface
- Limited integrations
- Slow development pace
✓ Olark Pros
- Very easy to use
- Great for small teams
- Good customization
- Accessible chat widget
✗ Olark Cons
- Limited features vs competitors
- No chatbot builder
- Basic reporting
The Verdict
Kayako is built for ecommerce and saas companies, with a focus on live-chat and ticketing. Olark targets small businesses and freelancers and leads with live-chat and visitor-insights.
Pricing is close: Olark starts at $29/mo versus $30/mo for Kayako — not a deciding factor on its own.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
Both tools are a solid fit for support teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.