LiveChat vs Olark

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Our analysts compared LiveChat vs Olark based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Live Chat Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

LiveChat is a live chat software designed to improve customer engagement and support. It allows businesses to engage with website visitors in real-time, providing immediate assistance and resolving queries efficiently.

LiveChat is ideal for businesses looking to enhance their customer experience, increase conversion rates, and streamline support processes. Its key benefits include improved communication, reduced response times, increased customer satisfaction, and valuable insights into customer behavior.

Popular features of LiveChat include customizable chat widgets, proactive chat invitations, offline messaging, chat routing, and analytics. It integrates seamlessly with popular CRM and help desk systems, ensuring a comprehensive customer support solution.

LiveChat offers flexible pricing plans based on the number of agents and features required. Its pricing ranges from a basic plan for small businesses to enterprise-level plans for large organizations, with payment options including monthly and annual subscriptions.

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Olark is a cloud-based messaging platform that provides seamless interactions between businesses and customers. It offers real-time channels to communicate with customers and generate leads while improving customer support. It prioritizes chats that need follow-up and forwards them to the CRM.

It provides instant screen sharing for agents to assist website visitors. It also offers modules to upload files, images and videos for immediate support. It supports over 100 languages.
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$20/User, Monthly
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$29/Seat, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Reduces Costs: LiveChat helps companies cut costs by employing a smaller staff. It allows customer service agents to talk with multiple visitors at once to maintain efficiency. 
  • Boosts Customer Satisfaction: The software provides customer information like name and current page viewed so agents are able to operate with full context. This visibility, along with customer feedback surveys and chat ratings, helps companies increase CSAT (customer satisfaction) scores. 
  • Enables Faster Responses: The software facilitates timely responses through real-time interactions, canned responses and chat previews that show what a customer is typing before they hit send. 
  • Offers Free Trial: Users can test the software for 14 days to see if it works for them before committing to a purchase. The free trial offers the features included with the Team package. 
  • Provides 24/7 Support: Companies can provide round-the-clock support via integration with ChatBot, allowing customers to get their questions answered at any time. 
  • Lightens Workloads: Integration with a knowledge base reduces the number of queries that agents need to handle by allowing customers to find answers in the company knowledge base directly from the chat. 
  • Lets Users Customize: Configurable widgets enable the creation of personal experiences that are on-brand. Users can change colors, upload the company logo, add introductions and agent headshots, set chat button types, and optimize for web and mobile interfaces. The chat window also supports 45 languages. 
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  • Enhance Customer Support: Speed up workflows by setting up automation rules. Keep visitors engaged by routing chats to the correct department. Track user behavior and send automatic messages. Personalize messages based on browsing details, including referring URL and location. 
  • Improve Data Collection: Gather relevant data using live chat transcripts. Filter and custom search customer information as needed. Saves offline emails and online chat transcripts in an archive. It captures details including chat ratings, email, location, name and the origin of the live chat page. 
  • Strengthen Engagement Rate: Answer queries or schedule demos in real time. Support customers without interrupting their browsing session with visitor insights and cobrowsing. It provides a non-branded chatbot to help visitors stay focused on the product, not the brand. 
  • Increase Sales: Capture leads from different locations by detecting in-use language and translating in real time. Prioritize chats and score leads by collecting visitor data from multiple websites. It also provides access to company data, size, social profile links and relevant profiles to understand the audience. It displays the user’s age, gender, company name, job title and more. 
  • Free Trial: Get hands-on access with a free 14-day trial version. 
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  • Ticketing System: This module streamlines and simplifies the process of managing tickets. Users can create tickets from email or chat, group related cases with tags, assign tickets, schedule automated follow-ups and track open cases via a dashboard. Any messages sent after hours are saved as a ticket so no conversations are left untouched. 
  • Chat Routing: This feature ensures that customers speak to the most suitable agent based on department (sales or service, for example). Incoming chats can be routed automatically based on criteria like URL, or they can enter a queue for agents to manually select from. 
  • Reporting: A range of reports and analysis tools grant visibility into support efforts for a better understanding of performance. Managers can project staffing needs, monitor agent activity, track effectiveness via ticket statistics, drill down based on tags or groups and view high-level metrics like number of chats. Reports can be scheduled and delivered in multiple formats including CSV and XLS. 
  • Marketplace: LiveChat offers integration with more than 170 third-party tools for CMS, CRM, help desk, analytics, email marketing and e-commerce. Integrations include Slack, Calendly, Dropbox, Salesforce, Google Analytics, Facebook Messenger, ChatBot and MailChimp. 
  • Eye-Catcher: This tool increases engagement with chat widgets by letting users add visuals like images and GIFs that help draw attention to the chat. 
  • Notifications: This feature prevents messages from going unanswered via visual and audio alerts. Users can select the type of notifications to receive — new messages, new chats, etc. 
  • File Sharing: Reps can provide information when needed through this feature, such as sharing tutorials or marketing collateral. Visitors can also share files. 
  • Chat Archives: Users don’t have to worry about losing historical information with the ability to refer to chat histories. This feature is included in all plans, but the Starter package has a limit of 60 days. 
  • E-Commerce: Managers are able to estimate and measure the effectiveness of LiveChat with tools for goal setting and sales tracking. 
  • Security: LiveChat provides robust security via SSL encryption, single sign-on (SSO), two-step authentication, credit card masking, access restriction and audit logs. It’s hosted on U.S. or E.U. data centers and supports IP blocking. 
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  • Reporting and Analytics: Sort and filter customer data based on satisfaction ratings and conversation tags. Check for highest and lowest rated chats. Filter most frequent chat topics. Receive automatic email summaries on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Check which day and time the visitors are most interested. 
  • Chatbox Forms: Customize forms and pre-chat surveys to gather customer details before starting a conversation. Send offline messages via emails for agents to contact them as needed. Provide optional questions and add automated chat rules for frequent visitors. 
  • Team Management: Manage, monitor and keep track of team performance. Tracks activity reports and limits the number of chats for a single agent to handle. Assign chats to the next available agent if the current agent cannot assist the customer. Save links, documents, FAQs and product pitches for quick access. 
  • Integration: Choose the preferred software and stay connected with sales, marketing and support processes. Use live chat plugins to integrate with eCommerce platforms. Provides seamless integration with help desks, CRMs, team communication and marketing automation platforms. Customize integrations using Webhooks for platforms that do not support the preferred CRM. 
  • Canned Responses: Pre-program and personalize responses for the team and individual purposes with the text expander. Use shortcuts to recall long and common answers. 
  • Chatbox: Customize a chatbox that aligns with the website’s color and brand. Adjust shape, size, colors and position. Personalize live chat by using human avatars. Choose the language the user is comfortable with by picking from a list of available languages. 
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Product Ranking

#14

among all
Live Chat Software

#25

among all
Live Chat Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

90
78
93
84
66
59
94
94
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Integration and Extensibility
Online Visitor Management
Conversation Management
Platform Capabilities
Online Visitor Management

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

LiveChat
Olark
+ Add Product + Add Product
Conversation Management Customer Collaboration Online Visitor Management Platform Capabilities Ticket Management 93 66 94 89 76 84 59 94 80 56 0 25 50 75 100
91%
0%
9%
82%
5%
13%
29%
0%
71%
29%
14%
57%
89%
0%
11%
89%
0%
11%
86%
0%
14%
71%
5%
24%
70%
10%
20%
11%
0%
89%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

100%
0%
0%
67%
0%
33%

User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 1298 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 924 reviews
93%
of users recommend this product

LiveChat has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 93% when considering 1298 user reviews from 1 recognized software review sites.

91%
of users recommend this product

Olark has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 91% when considering 924 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

4.65 (1298)
4.55 (462)
n/a
4.5 (462)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated LiveChat and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall Live Chat Software available today and earns best-in-class honors for Integration and Extensibility. LiveChat stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

Analysts' Pick Award
User Favorite Award
Integration and Extensibility Award

Olark stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Seamless Customer Support: LiveChat enables real-time communication, allowing businesses to resolve customer queries promptly and efficiently, enhancing customer satisfaction.
Personalized Interactions: Agents can access customer history and context, facilitating personalized interactions that build stronger relationships and drive loyalty.
Increased Conversion Rates: LiveChat provides an opportunity to engage with website visitors proactively, addressing objections and guiding them through the conversion funnel.
Improved Team Collaboration: LiveChat fosters collaboration between agents, allowing them to transfer chats seamlessly and share customer information for effective problem-solving.
Comprehensive Analytics: LiveChat offers robust analytics that provide valuable insights into customer behavior, enabling businesses to optimize their live chat strategy and measure its impact.
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Simple to Use: Olark's interface is clean and intuitive, making it easy for users to navigate and find the features they need. The learning curve is minimal, allowing teams to get up and running quickly without extensive training.
Customization Options: Olark provides a variety of customization options, allowing users to tailor the chat experience to their brand and website. This includes customizing the chat box's appearance, creating automated messages, and setting up pre-chat surveys to gather visitor information.
Integrations: Olark integrates with numerous third-party applications, such as CRM systems, email marketing platforms, and help desk software. This allows users to streamline their workflows and improve efficiency by connecting Olark with their existing tools.
Real-Time Reporting: Olark offers real-time reporting features that provide insights into chat volume, visitor engagement, and agent performance. These reports help users track key metrics and make data-driven decisions to optimize their live chat strategy.
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Inconsistent Agent Availability: Users experience frustration when they are unable to connect with a live agent during critical moments, leading to unresolved queries and dissatisfaction.
Limited Customization Options: Predefined chat templates and inflexible chat window designs restrict businesses from tailoring the live chat experience to match their brand identity and specific needs.
Data Security Concerns: Users are hesitant to provide sensitive information through live chat platforms due to concerns about data privacy and the potential for security breaches.
Delayed Response Times: Slow response times can lead to frustration and abandonment, especially during peak hours when users expect immediate assistance.
Lack of Proactive Engagement: Live chat software that lacks proactive engagement features limits the ability of businesses to initiate conversations and proactively address customer needs.
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Limited Customization: Olark offers basic customization options, but users seeking advanced branding control or unique chat box designs may find the platform restrictive. For example, modifying the chat box's shape or adding interactive elements might not be possible.
Reporting Features: While Olark provides basic reporting on chat volume and agent activity, it may lack the depth of analytics that some businesses require. Users who need granular insights into customer behavior, chat flow, or agent performance might find the reporting capabilities insufficient.
Integrations: Olark integrates with popular CRM and helpdesk platforms, but the range of integrations might not be as extensive as some competitors. Users relying on niche or industry-specific software may encounter compatibility challenges.
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LiveChat is often praised for its user-friendly interface and ease of setup. It seamlessly integrates with various platforms and offers a wide range of customization options. One of its strengths is the ability to create automated chatbots, which can handle simple inquiries and free up agents for more complex tasks. LiveChat's analytics and reporting capabilities provide valuable insights into customer interactions, allowing businesses to optimize their support strategies. It compares favorably to similar products due to its comprehensive feature set, intuitive design, and robust reporting functionality. These factors are crucial for businesses seeking a reliable and efficient live chat solution. However, some users have expressed concerns about occasional technical glitches and limited customization options for chatbots. Additionally, LiveChat's pricing can be a consideration for smaller businesses or those with limited budgets. Despite these minor drawbacks, LiveChat remains a top choice for businesses seeking a comprehensive and user-friendly live chat solution. Its strengths in ease of use, automation capabilities, and reporting functionality make it particularly suitable for businesses looking to improve customer support efficiency and gain valuable insights into customer interactions.

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Users of Olark, the live chat software, frequently praise its user-friendly interface and straightforward setup, making it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. The platform's intuitive design allows customer service representatives to manage multiple conversations simultaneously, boosting efficiency and response times. Olark's reporting and analytics tools also receive positive feedback, providing valuable insights into customer interactions and team performance. However, some users note that Olark's customization options are somewhat limited compared to competitors like Zendesk Chat and LiveChat. While Olark offers basic customization features, businesses with complex branding or workflow requirements may find it restrictive. Additionally, Olark's pricing structure, based on the number of operators, can become expensive for larger teams. Despite these limitations, Olark's strengths lie in its ease of use, affordability for smaller teams, and focus on core live chat functionality. This makes it an ideal choice for small to medium-sized businesses seeking a simple and effective solution to engage with website visitors and provide real-time support. Olark's emphasis on user-friendliness and essential features ensures that businesses can quickly implement and utilize the platform without a steep learning curve or excessive costs.

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Screenshots

Top Alternatives in Live Chat Software


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Chatra

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Freshchat

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LiveAgent

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Pure Chat

Smartsupp

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