Olark is website live chat with an AI agent sold at a flat price: $400 a month billed yearly for unlimited AI conversations, or $29 per agent a month for live chat without AI. Intercom is a full help desk with the Fin AI agent: $19 per seat a month billed yearly, plus $0.99 for each conversation Fin resolves. For a 3-person team, Intercom is cheaper below about 400 AI-resolved chats a month and Olark is cheaper above that. If both are more than you need, CRMsoftware.pro gives you AI chat, a team inbox and a CRM for 20 users at $49 a month.
We checked every price on the vendor's own pricing page on October 5–7, 2026. Prices are in US dollars, billed yearly unless we say otherwise, before tax. CRMsoftware.pro is our own product, so we list its limits too. No made-up scores or tests: each tool gets its real price, its pros and cons, and who it suits.
Olark vs Intercom at a glance
| Feature | Olark | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Website live chat plus an AI website agent (Aiden) | Help desk with shared inbox, tickets, help center and the Fin AI agent |
| Price without AI | $29 per agent a month | $19 per seat a month billed yearly ($29 monthly) |
| AI price | $400 a month billed yearly ($4,800 a year), unlimited AI conversations, 1 agent seat included | $0.99 per outcome (a conversation Fin resolves), on every plan |
| Extra agents with AI | $29 per agent a month | $19 per seat on Essential, $85 on Advanced, $132 on Expert |
| Free trial | 14 days for live chat; free AI preview on your own site | 14 days, no card |
| Help center and tickets | Not on the feature list; chats can be pushed to your help desk | Included from Essential |
| Channels | Website chat and email follow-up; WhatsApp and SMS listed for Olark Classic | Messenger live chat; Fin also answers by email, WhatsApp, SMS, voice and Slack |
| CRM | Integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce and others | Integrations; Fin also works inside Salesforce, HubSpot and Freshdesk |
| Best for | Lead capture on a marketing website | Support teams with tickets, a help center and high volume |
What is Intercom called now?
The company behind Intercom now calls itself Fin, after its AI agent. Salesforce completed its acquisition of Fin, formerly Intercom, on September 10, 2026. The help desk is still sold as "Intercom helpdesk", with the same plans and the Fin AI Agent built in, and Fin can also be bought on its own for Salesforce, HubSpot or Freshdesk.
Pricing: which one is cheaper?
The two tools charge for AI in opposite ways. Olark charges one flat price with no usage limits. Intercom charges per seat plus $0.99 for each outcome: it charges at most once per conversation and nothing if Fin cannot answer or the customer asks for a person. Here is what a team of 3 pays at different AI volumes, billed yearly.
| AI-resolved chats a month | Intercom Essential (3 seats) | Olark AI agent (3 seats) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $57 + $99 = $156 | $400 + 2 × $29 = $458 |
| 300 | $57 + $297 = $354 | $458 |
| 500 | $57 + $495 = $552 | $458 |
| 1,000 | $57 + $990 = $1,047 | $458 |
The break-even point is about 405 AI-resolved chats a month. Below it, Intercom is cheaper; above it, Olark's flat price wins, and the gap grows with every extra chat. Without AI, 3 agents cost $87 a month on Olark and $57 on Intercom Essential. Intercom also sells Fin Voice through sales at $1.99 per voice outcome.
AI agents: Olark's Aiden vs Intercom's Fin
- Olark's AI website agent trains on your live website and uploaded documents, qualifies leads against criteria you write in plain English, starts chats based on pages viewed, time on site, scroll depth, return visits or UTM source, and hands the chat to a person in the same thread. You can A/B test two agent setups, and an MCP server lets tools such as Claude query your chat data.
- Intercom's Fin resolves questions and takes actions across live chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, voice and Slack. Salesforce quotes an average resolution rate of 76%; that is the vendor's own figure. Spending limits and alerts cap the bill, and Fin comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee.
In short, Olark's AI is built to turn website visitors into leads, while Fin is built to close support tickets without a person.
Which should you choose?
| If you… | Choose |
|---|---|
| mostly want leads and booked calls from website visitors | Olark |
| run a support team that needs tickets and a help center | Intercom |
| expect more than about 400 AI-resolved chats a month and want a fixed bill | Olark |
| have low or uneven AI volume | Intercom |
| want AI chat, an inbox and a CRM pipeline for a small team on a small budget | CRMsoftware.pro |
Cheaper alternatives to Olark and Intercom
Here is what 3 agents pay in one realistic month: 800 chats, the AI answers every chat first and fully resolves 400, and people handle the rest. Billed yearly, list prices, before tax.
| Tool and plan | How the bill adds up | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|
| tawk.to | Free for 3 agents; AI Assist paid plans from $29; removing the badge is $29 more | From $29 |
| CRMsoftware.pro Growth | $49 flat for 20 users; 3,000 AI messages included (about 2,400 used at roughly 3 per chat) | $49 |
| Crisp Mini | $45 flat (4 seats); 800 AI conversations at about $0.05–$0.10 each, minus the $5 of credits included | About $80–$120 |
| LiveChat (Text) Growth | 3 × $79 = $237 with 200 AI resolutions + 4 packs of 50 more at $49.50 | $435 |
| Freshchat Growth | 3 × $19 = $57 + 800 AI sessions × $0.49 = $392 | $449 |
| Intercom Essential | 3 × $19 = $57 + 400 outcomes × $0.99 = $396 | $453 |
| Olark AI agent | $400 with 1 seat + 2 × $29 | $458 |
At this volume, Olark and Intercom cost almost the same. Your numbers will differ, so try our free AI chatbot pricing calculator.
CRMsoftware.pro includes users and AI messages in one flat price: 8 users and 1,000 AI messages on Launch, 20 users and 3,000 on Growth, with human handover, a team inbox and a CRM pipeline. Start free with 3 users, or see pricing.
1. CRMsoftware.pro: best for AI chat plus a CRM
CRMsoftware.pro puts an AI chat and voice agent on your website, trained on your own content, with human handover, a unified inbox and a sales pipeline in the same workspace. A chat can become a contact and a deal, and the AI can book a meeting.
- Price: Free (3 users, 100 AI messages and 3 AI voice minutes a month, 1 bot, 1 website); Launch $19/mo for 8 users and 1,000 AI messages; Growth $49 for 20 users and 3,000; Scale $99 for 50 users and 10,000. Monthly billing: $24, $59 and $119.
- Pros: users and AI messages in one price; lead capture into a pipeline, like Olark, but with a CRM built in; WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Messenger and Slack from Launch.
- Cons: not a ticketing help desk with SLAs like Intercom; the free plan is AI-only, and human handover starts on Launch; the API starts on Scale.
- Best for: small businesses where the same people answer customers and close sales.
2. tawk.to: best free live chat
tawk.to is free with no limit on agents or chats. AI Assist has a free tier with 100 message credits a month and paid plans from $29 a month; removing the tawk.to badge costs $29 a month per website.
- Pros: free for any team size; inbox, contacts, tickets and a knowledge base included.
- Cons: add-ons are billed per website; the free AI allowance is small. See our tawk.to alternatives guide.
- Best for: teams that need human live chat with no software budget.
3. Crisp: best flat price per workspace
Crisp charges per workspace, not per seat. Free covers 2 seats with no AI; Mini is $45 a month for 4 seats; Essentials $95 for 10 seats; Plus $295 for 20 seats. AI runs on credits, about $0.05–$0.10 per full AI conversation.
- Pros: a clean shared inbox; low AI cost per conversation; predictable price for small teams.
- Cons: seat limits force jumps between plans; white labelling is only on Plus. See our Crisp alternatives guide.
- Best for: teams of 2–10 that want a modern inbox with AI at a fixed monthly price.
4. Freshchat: best free plan for a larger team
Freshchat is free for up to 10 agents, and paid plans start at $19 per agent per month billed yearly. The Freddy AI Agent costs $49 per 100 sessions. Freshdesk Omni, which adds full ticketing, starts at $29 per agent.
- Pros: a generous free plan; WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and SMS channels; a path to full ticketing.
- Cons: AI sessions get expensive at volume; Freshchat and Freshdesk Omni overlap.
- Best for: teams of 5–10 that want messaging channels with no seat fee.
5. LiveChat: best polished paid live chat
LiveChat's pricing page now sells its Text plans: Essential is $19 per user per month billed yearly with 10 AI resolutions a month; Growth is $79 with 200. Extra resolutions cost $49.50 per 50. The classic LiveChat plans (Starter $19 for 1 user, Team $49 per person) are still on a separate page.
- Pros: a polished agent app with mobile apps; visitor tracking for sales chat.
- Cons: per-user pricing plus paid AI resolutions; no free plan.
- Best for: sales-led teams with people online during business hours.
6. Tidio: best for small online stores
Tidio combines live chat, a team inbox and the Lyro AI agent. The free plan covers 50 conversations a month and 10 seats. Starter is $24.17 a month billed yearly ($29 monthly) for 100 billable conversations; Lyro starts at $32.50 a month ($39) for 50 AI conversations.
- Pros: easy setup; Shopify integration; Flows automation for stores.
- Cons: people and AI conversations are billed separately, which adds up at volume. See our Tidio alternatives guide.
- Best for: small stores with low chat volume.
Looking only at Intercom's side? Our Intercom alternatives guide compares 10 options.
FAQ
Is Olark cheaper than Intercom?
It depends on AI volume. For 3 agents, Intercom Essential is cheaper below about 400 AI-resolved chats a month; above that, Olark's flat $400 AI plan plus $29 per extra agent is cheaper. Without AI, Intercom Essential ($19 per seat billed yearly) costs less than Olark ($29 per agent).
How much does Olark cost?
On October 7, 2026: live chat without AI is $29 per agent a month, with a 14-day free trial. The Standard AI Website Agent is $400 a month billed yearly ($4,800 a year) with unlimited AI conversations and 1 agent seat; extra agents are $29 each. Enterprise packages are priced by sales.
How much does Intercom cost?
Essential is $19 per seat a month billed yearly ($29 monthly), Advanced $85 and Expert $132. The Fin AI Agent costs $0.99 per outcome on every plan, and Fin Voice is $1.99 per voice outcome through sales.
What is Intercom called now?
The company renamed itself Fin, after its AI agent, and Salesforce completed its acquisition on September 10, 2026. The help desk is still sold as Intercom helpdesk.
Does Olark have AI?
Yes. Olark's AI website agent, powered by its Aiden engine, answers visitor questions from your website and documents, qualifies leads and hands chats to a person in the same thread. It costs $400 a month billed yearly with unlimited conversations.
Who are Intercom's main competitors?
For help desks: Zendesk, Freshdesk and Help Scout. For AI chat on a smaller budget: CRMsoftware.pro, Crisp, Tidio, LiveChat and tawk.to. For simple website lead chat: Olark.
Is there a free alternative to Olark?
Yes. tawk.to is free for unlimited agents, Freshchat is free for up to 10 agents, and CRMsoftware.pro has a free plan with 3 users and 100 AI messages a month.
Sources
- Pricing pages checked Oct 7, 2026: Olark and Olark feature list, Intercom.
- Salesforce: Salesforce completes acquisition of Fin, September 10, 2026.
- Pricing pages checked Oct 6, 2026: tawk.to add-ons, Crisp, LiveChat (Text), Tidio, CRMsoftware.pro.
- Pricing page checked Oct 5, 2026: Freshchat.
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