Is Olark or tawk.to better?

Neither clearly leads. Olark starts at $29/month and tawk.to at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Olark or tawk.to?

tawk.to has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Olark and Free for tawk.to.

Does Olark or tawk.to run on more platforms?

Olark runs on Web. tawk.to runs on Web, Ios, Android, Windows, Mac.

Can I use tawk.to for free?

Yes. tawk.to has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Olark starts at $29/month.

What is Olark best used for?

Olark is most often used for live chat on a website with a small support team, running an ai agent on website conversations with human handoff. Of those, live chat on a website with a small support team and running an ai agent on website conversations with human handoff are not what tawk.to is typically brought in for.

What can Olark do that tawk.to cannot?

Olark covers Chat transcripts, Visitor insights, Customization, Offline messaging. tawk.to covers Ticketing, Knowledge base, CRM, Video chat. Both handle Live chat, GDPR, SSL, Web support.

Live Chat · head to head

Olark vs tawk.to

Olark

Live Chat

Make your business human

From: $29/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

tawk.to

Live Chat

100% free live chat software

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only tawk.to has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Olark the AI website agent is a $400 a month flat plan billed annually at $4,800, which is a large step from the $29 per agent human only plan; tawk.to removing the Powered by tawk.to branding costs an extra $29/month even on the free plan
They diverge on capability: Olark covers Chat transcripts, tawk.to covers Ticketing.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Olark and tawk.to actually diverge.

Attributes where Olark and tawk.to differ
Attribute	Olark	tawk.to
Starting price	$29/month	Free
Pricing model	subscription	freemium
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web	Web, Ios, Android, Windows, Mac
Founded	2009	2013

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Live Chat).

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 Olark

Chat transcripts
Visitor insights
Customization
Offline messaging
Shortcuts
Salesforce
HubSpot
Slack

Only in tawk.to

Ticketing
Knowledge base
CRM
Video chat
Screen sharing
WordPress
Shopify
Wix

Both cover

Live chat
GDPR
SSL
Web support

What people use each for

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

Olark

Live chat on a website with a small support teamnot tawk.to
Running an AI agent on website conversations with human handoffnot tawk.to

tawk.to

Website live chat and visitor engagementnot Olark
Customer support automationnot Olark

Where each one falls short

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

Olark

The AI website agent is a $400 a month flat plan billed annually at $4,800, which is a large step from the $29 per agent human only plan
That flat price covers only one human seat, with each additional seat at $29 a month
Regional routing, SSO and custom SLAs require a custom enterprise plan with no published price

tawk.to

Removing the Powered by tawk.to branding costs an extra $29/month even on the free plan
Enhanced AI Assist chatbot is a paid add-on starting at $29/month rather than included free
Human staffed chat agents are billed at $1/hour as a separate add-on

Pricing, plan by plan

Olark

$29/month

Standard AI Website Agent$400/month
- One human agent seat included
- Unlimited AI conversations
- Automatic FAQ and knowledge updates
Live Chat Only$29/month
- Human operators only
- No AI component
- Upgradeable to AI later
Custom Enterprise$undefined/mo
- Regional routing
- Advanced integrations
- Custom workflows

tawk.to

Free

Free Core SoftwareFree
- Live chat software with no feature limitations
- Chat pages
- Knowledge base (hosted help center)
Branding Removal$29/month
- Remove Powered by tawk.to widget branding
AI Assist Premium$29/month
- AI-powered chatbot automation
Hired Chat Agents$1/hour
- Professional trained agents 24/7/365

Which should you pick?

Choose Olark if

You need chat transcripts.
You also want visitor insights.

Olark review

Choose tawk.to if

You need ticketing.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Ios, Android, Windows, Mac.
You also want knowledge base.

tawk.to review

Questions people ask

Is Olark or tawk.to better?: Neither clearly leads. Olark starts at $29/month and tawk.to at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Olark or tawk.to?: tawk.to has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Olark and Free for tawk.to.
Does Olark or tawk.to run on more platforms?: Olark runs on Web. tawk.to runs on Web, Ios, Android, Windows, Mac.
Can I use tawk.to for free?: Yes. tawk.to has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Olark starts at $29/month.
What is Olark best used for?: Olark is most often used for live chat on a website with a small support team, running an ai agent on website conversations with human handoff. Of those, live chat on a website with a small support team and running an ai agent on website conversations with human handoff are not what tawk.to is typically brought in for.
What can Olark do that tawk.to cannot?: Olark covers Chat transcripts, Visitor insights, Customization, Offline messaging. tawk.to covers Ticketing, Knowledge base, CRM, Video chat. Both handle Live chat, GDPR, SSL, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Olark: How much does Olark's Standard AI plan cost?

Olark's Standard AI Website Agent plan costs $400 per month when billed annually ($4,800/year). This includes one human agent seat, unlimited AI conversations, automatic FAQ updates, lead capture, and white glove support with no token limits or overages.

Source

tawk.to: How much does tawk.to cost?

tawk.to is free for core live chat, knowledge base, ticketing, and CRM. Premium add-ons start at $29/month for branding removal or AI Assist, and $1/hour for hired chat agents.

Source

Olark: What is the cost for additional agent seats on Olark?

Additional human agent seats on Olark cost $29 per agent per month. This rate applies when upgrading from the Standard AI plan.

Source

tawk.to: Is tawk.to free forever?

Yes, tawk.to's core software including live chat, knowledge base, ticketing, and contacts is free forever with no feature limitations.

Source

Olark: Does Olark charge based on token usage?

No, Olark explicitly states 'No token costs, ever.' The Standard AI plan charges per agent seat with no usage-based overages or token limits, avoiding unexpected cost spikes during peak traffic periods.

Source

tawk.to: How are tawk.to's hired chat agents priced?

Hired chat agents are billed at $1 per hour with professional trained staff providing 24/7/365 support.

Source

Olark vs tawk.to

Olark

tawk.to

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Olark

Only in tawk.to

Both cover

What people use each for

Olark

tawk.to

Where each one falls short

Olark

tawk.to

Pricing, plan by plan

Olark

tawk.to

Which should you pick?

Choose Olark if

Choose tawk.to if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Olark

More on tawk.to

Keep looking

Other head to heads