What is the difference between Freshdesk and Olark?

Freshdesk is best for Small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support, while Olark is best for Small businesses wanting simple live chat. Freshdesk starts at Free and Olark starts at $29/seat/mo.

Is Freshdesk or Olark cheaper?

Freshdesk starts at Free with a free tier. Olark starts at $29/seat/mo.

Is there a free alternative to Olark?

Yes, Freshdesk offers a free tier (Free for up to 10 agents).

Freshdesk vs Olark

Freshdesk is cloud-based help desk with ticketing, automation, and multichannel support at accessible pricing, while Olark is simple live chat software with automation rules, team management, and CRM integrations. The biggest difference up front: Freshdesk is free, while Olark starts at $29/seat/mo. Freshdesk is built for small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support, whereas Olark targets small businesses wanting simple live chat.

At a glance

	Freshdesk	Olark
Best for	Small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support	Small businesses wanting simple live chat
Starting price	Free	$29/seat/mo
Free tier	✓	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	—
Open source	—	—
Automation Rules	—	✓
Automations	✓	—
CRM Integration	—	✓
Live Chat	—	✓
Multichannel	✓	—
SLA Management	✓	—
Ticketing	✓	—
Transcripts	—	✓

Freshdesk

Strengths

Includes Ticketing as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments
Free for up to 10 agents — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Established product with 16+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ticket volume can quickly overwhelm small teams without triage automation
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Freshdesk → 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: Freshdesk is completely free (Free for up to 10 agents), 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: Freshdesk offers Automations, Multichannel and SLA Management that Olark lacks. Olark brings Automation Rules, CRM Integration and Live Chat that Freshdesk does not have.

Team fit: Freshdesk is geared toward mid-size teams teams, while Olark is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Freshdesk's biggest strengths are: includes ticketing as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments. 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 Freshdesk, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With Olark, the main complaint is that starts at $29/seat/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

Choose Freshdesk if...

You need a tool built for small to mid-size teams wanting affordable support
Budget is a hard constraint — Freshdesk is free, Olark is not
You specifically need Automations and Multichannel
You care about built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Freshdesk is designed for

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
Your team size fits the small teams profile Olark is designed for