What is the difference between Olark and Kayako?

Olark is best for Small businesses wanting simple live chat, while Kayako is best for Support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking. Olark starts at $29/seat/mo and Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo.

Olark vs Kayako

Olark is simple live chat software with automation rules, team management, and CRM integrations, while Kayako is help desk platform with journey-based customer support and multichannel inbox. Kayako comes in cheaper, but price alone does not tell the full story. Olark is built for small businesses wanting simple live chat, whereas Kayako targets support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking.

At a glance

	Olark	Kayako
Best for	Small businesses wanting simple live chat	Support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking
Starting price	$29/seat/mo	$15/agent/mo
Free tier	—	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	—	—
Open source	—	—
Automation Rules	✓	—
CRM Integration	✓	—
Collaborators	—	✓
Journey Tracking	—	✓
Live Chat	✓	✓
Shared Inbox	—	✓
Transcripts	✓	—

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

Kayako

Strengths

Includes Journey Tracking as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Includes Live Chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Pricing starts at $15/agent/mo, which includes the full customer support feature set
Established product with 25+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $15/agent/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
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Kayako → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Olark starts at $29/seat/mo. Kayako starts at $15/agent/mo. Kayako is the more affordable option.

Feature gaps: Olark offers Automation Rules, CRM Integration and Transcripts that Kayako lacks. Kayako brings Collaborators, Journey Tracking and Shared Inbox that Olark does not have. Both share Live Chat.

Team fit: Olark is geared toward small teams teams, while Kayako is aimed at mid-size 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: 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. Kayako's biggest strengths are: includes journey tracking as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows. includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows.

Watch out for: With Olark, users commonly note that starts at $29/seat/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With Kayako, the main complaint is that starts at $15/agent/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

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

Choose Kayako if...

You need a tool built for support teams wanting unified customer journey tracking
You want to save on per-user costs — Kayako is $14.00/user/mo cheaper
You specifically need Collaborators and Journey Tracking
You care about includes live chat as a core feature, purpose-built for customer support workflows
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Kayako is designed for