What is the difference between Help Scout and Olark?

Help Scout is best for Teams that want email-like support conversations, while Olark is best for Small businesses wanting simple live chat. Help Scout starts at $20/user/mo and Olark starts at $29/seat/mo.

Help Scout vs Olark

Help Scout is help desk that feels like email — shared inboxes, knowledge base, and live chat without the ticket numbers, while Olark is simple live chat software with automation rules, team management, and CRM integrations. Help Scout comes in cheaper, but price alone does not tell the full story. Help Scout is built for teams that want email-like support conversations, whereas Olark targets small businesses wanting simple live chat.

At a glance

	Help Scout	Olark
Best for	Teams that want email-like support conversations	Small businesses wanting simple live chat
Starting price	$20/user/mo	$29/seat/mo
Free tier	—	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	—	—
Open source	—	—
Automation Rules	—	✓
Beacon	✓	—
CRM Integration	—	✓
Knowledge Base	✓	—
Live Chat	—	✓
Reports	✓	—
Shared Inbox	✓	—
Transcripts	—	✓

Help Scout

Strengths

Includes Shared Inbox as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Includes Knowledge Base as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Pricing starts at $20/user/mo, which includes the full customer support feature set
Established product with 15+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $20/user/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 Help Scout → 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: Help Scout starts at $20/user/mo. Olark starts at $29/seat/mo. Help Scout is the more affordable option.

Feature gaps: Help Scout offers Beacon, Knowledge Base and Reports that Olark lacks. Olark brings Automation Rules, CRM Integration and Live Chat that Help Scout does not have.

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

Where each tool shines: Help Scout's biggest strengths are: includes shared inbox as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. includes knowledge base 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 Help Scout, users commonly note that starts at $20/user/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With Olark, the main complaint is that starts at $29/seat/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

Choose Help Scout if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams that want email-like support conversations
You want to save on per-user costs — Help Scout is $9.00/user/mo cheaper
You specifically need Beacon and Knowledge Base
You care about includes knowledge base 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