Softwr

Customer Support · head to head

Cresta vs LiveAgent

Cresta logo

Cresta

Customer Support

Real-time AI coaching and autonomous agents that sit on top of an existing contact centre platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LiveAgent logo

LiveAgent

Customer Support

All-in-one help desk software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only LiveAgent has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cresta cresta depends on the CCaaS platforms it integrates with, and NICE, Genesys and Five9 are all shipping native real-time assist and auto-QA of their own, so at renewal you may be paying twice for capability your platform vendor will bundle at a discount.; LiveAgent social and messaging channels are separately priced add ons rather than plan features, at $19 to $39 a month each on top of the seat price
  • They diverge on capability: Cresta covers Real-time agent assist, LiveAgent covers Ticketing system.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cresta and LiveAgent actually diverge.

Attributes where Cresta and LiveAgent differ
AttributeCrestaLiveAgent
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Ios, Android
FoundedUnknown2004

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Customer Support).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Cresta

  • Real-time agent assist
  • Autonomous AI Agent
  • Conversation intelligence
  • Automated quality management
  • Behavioural coaching
  • Knowledge surfacing
  • Multilingual deployment
  • Supervisor dashboards

Only in LiveAgent

  • Ticketing system
  • Live chat
  • Call center
  • Social media
  • Knowledge base
  • Customer portal
  • WordPress
  • Shopify

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cresta

  • A 1,500-seat telecommunications sales centre that wants conversion lift from live agent prompting without migrating off an incumbent Genesys deploymentnot LiveAgent
  • An insurance contact centre replacing manual QA sampling of two per cent of calls with automated scoring of every call for regulatory evidencenot LiveAgent
  • A retail support operation deploying autonomous voice agents on high-volume order status calls while keeping humans on complex claimsnot LiveAgent
  • A contact centre director who needs to prove which specific agent behaviours drive outcome differences, rather than relying on post-call survey scoresnot LiveAgent

LiveAgent

  • Multichannel help desk covering email, chat, calls and social messagesnot Cresta
  • Ticketing and shared inbox for customer support teamsnot Cresta

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cresta

  • Cresta depends on the CCaaS platforms it integrates with, and NICE, Genesys and Five9 are all shipping native real-time assist and auto-QA of their own, so at renewal you may be paying twice for capability your platform vendor will bundle at a discount.
  • Pricing is not published and contracts are seat-based and annual at enterprise scale, which in practice means six-figure commitments and a procurement cycle measured in months rather than weeks.
  • Real-time guidance only pays back where conversation outcomes are measurable and repeatable, so support teams handling long, varied, low-volume cases rarely recover the licence cost.
  • Deploying real-time assist requires agents to accept on-screen prompting mid-call, and contact centres with strong union representation or experienced tenured agents frequently see adoption resistance that no amount of model quality fixes.
  • Automated quality scoring changes what agents are measured on, and organisations that switch from human QA without rewriting their evaluation rubric and appeals process create industrial-relations problems that surface months after go-live.

LiveAgent

  • Social and messaging channels are separately priced add ons rather than plan features, at $19 to $39 a month each on top of the seat price
  • The entry plan is limited to 3 email accounts, 2 live chat buttons and 3 contact forms
  • WhatsApp numbers are rationed by plan, at 5 on Large Business and 20 on Enterprise
  • The advertised prices require annual billing, and monthly billing raises the entry plan from $10 to $13 per agent
  • Every published price is a discounted rate against a higher regular price

Pricing, plan by plan

Cresta

On request
  • Cresta$undefined/year
    • AI Agent
    • Agent Assist
    • Conversation Intelligence

LiveAgent

Free
  • Small Business$10/month
    • Ticketing
    • Live chat
    • Knowledge base
  • Medium Business$19/month
    • Everything in Small
    • Call center
    • IVR
  • Large Business$33/month
    • Everything in Medium
    • Social channels (Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber)
  • Enterprise$46/month
    • Everything in Large
    • Dedicated account manager
    • Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Cresta if

  • You need real-time agent assist.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want autonomous ai agent.
Cresta review

Choose LiveAgent if

  • You need ticketing system.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want live chat.
LiveAgent review

Questions people ask

Is Cresta or LiveAgent better?
Neither clearly leads. Cresta starts at On request and LiveAgent at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cresta or LiveAgent?
LiveAgent has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cresta and Free for LiveAgent.
Does Cresta or LiveAgent run on more platforms?
Cresta runs on Web, API. LiveAgent runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use LiveAgent for free?
Yes. LiveAgent has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cresta starts at On request.
What is Cresta best used for?
Cresta is most often used for a 1,500-seat telecommunications sales centre that wants conversion lift from live agent prompting without migrating off an incumbent genesys deployment, an insurance contact centre replacing manual qa sampling of two per cent of calls with automated scoring of every call for regulatory evidence, a retail support operation deploying autonomous voice agents on high-volume order status calls while keeping humans on complex claims, a contact centre director who needs to prove which specific agent behaviours drive outcome differences, rather than relying on post-call survey scores. Of those, a 1,500-seat telecommunications sales centre that wants conversion lift from live agent prompting without migrating off an incumbent genesys deployment and an insurance contact centre replacing manual qa sampling of two per cent of calls with automated scoring of every call for regulatory evidence are not what LiveAgent is typically brought in for.
What can Cresta do that LiveAgent cannot?
Cresta covers Real-time agent assist, Autonomous AI Agent, Conversation intelligence, Automated quality management. LiveAgent covers Ticketing system, Live chat, Call center, Social media.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cresta: Does Cresta replace my contact centre platform?

No. It is designed to sit on top of NICE, Genesys, Five9, Amazon Connect and similar platforms, which is why it is chosen where a full CCaaS migration is not feasible.

LiveAgent: How much does LiveAgent cost?

LiveAgent charges per agent on annual billing: Small Business at $10/agent/month, Medium at $19/agent/month, Large at $33/agent/month, and Enterprise at $46/agent/month (regular rates are $15, $29, $49, and $69 respectively). Monthly billing costs 30% more.

Source
Cresta: What does it cost?

Cresta does not publish pricing. Contracts are seat-based and annual, and at the enterprise scale it sells into they are typically six figures per year.

LiveAgent: Does LiveAgent offer a free trial?

Yes, LiveAgent provides a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, offering full access to all features including AI agents.

Source
Cresta: Is it viable for a contact centre under 100 seats?

Rarely. The commercial model, implementation effort and required outcome measurement all assume several hundred seats or more.

LiveAgent: Are AI agents included in all LiveAgent plans?

Yes, all LiveAgent plans include free AI agents with features like chatbots, answer assistants, human handover, and autoresponders.

Source
Cresta: Who owns Cresta?

It is an independent venture-backed company, having raised roughly 282 million USD in total including a 125 million USD Series D in November 2024 co-led by World Innovation Lab and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Share

Related pages

More on Cresta

More on LiveAgent

Keep looking

Other head to heads