What is the difference between Chatwoot and Olark?

Chatwoot is best for Teams wanting open-source customer engagement, while Olark is best for Small businesses wanting simple live chat. Chatwoot starts at Free and Olark starts at $29/seat/mo.

Is Chatwoot or Olark cheaper?

Chatwoot starts at Free and is free. Olark starts at $29/seat/mo.

Is there a free alternative to Olark?

Yes, Chatwoot offers a free tier.

Chatwoot vs Olark

Chatwoot is open-source customer engagement platform with live chat, email, social channels, and chatbots, while Olark is simple live chat software with automation rules, team management, and CRM integrations. The biggest difference up front: Chatwoot is free, while Olark starts at $29/seat/mo. Chatwoot is built for teams wanting open-source customer engagement, whereas Olark targets small businesses wanting simple live chat.

At a glance

	Chatwoot	Olark
Best for	Teams wanting open-source customer engagement	Small businesses wanting simple live chat
Starting price	Free	$29/seat/mo
Free tier	✓	—
Open source	✓	—
Free tier available	✓	—
Open source	✓	—
Automation Rules	—	✓
CRM Integration	—	✓
Chatbots	✓	—
Live Chat	✓	✓
Omnichannel	✓	—
Self-Hosted	✓	—
Transcripts	—	✓

Chatwoot

Strengths

Open source and transparent
Includes Live Chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Fully open-source — you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in
The core product is free with no paywalled essentials

Weaknesses

May lack some advanced features
Self-hosting is free but requires server maintenance and DevOps knowledge
Self-hosting requires Linux admin skills and ongoing server maintenance
Ticket volume can quickly overwhelm small teams without triage automation

Try Chatwoot → Full review

Olark

Strengths

Includes Live Chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Includes Automation Rules as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Pricing starts at $29/seat/mo, which includes the full customer support feature set
Established product with 17+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $29/seat/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ticket volume can quickly overwhelm small teams without triage automation
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Olark → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Chatwoot is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Olark starts at $29/seat/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Chatwoot offers Chatbots, Omnichannel and Self-Hosted that Olark lacks. Olark brings Automation Rules, CRM Integration and Transcripts that Chatwoot does not have. Both share Live Chat.

Team fit: Both tools target small teams teams, so the decision hinges on features and workflow fit rather than scale.

Open source: Chatwoot is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Olark is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Chatwoot's biggest strengths are: open source and transparent. includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. Olark's biggest strengths are: includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. includes automation rules as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows.

Watch out for: With Chatwoot, users commonly note that may lack some advanced features. With Olark, the main complaint is that starts at $29/seat/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

Choose Chatwoot if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams wanting open-source customer engagement
Budget is a hard constraint — Chatwoot is free, Olark is not
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Chatbots and Omnichannel
You care about includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows

Choose Olark if...

You need a tool built for small businesses wanting simple live chat
You specifically need Automation Rules and CRM Integration
You care about includes automation rules as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows