3.9
Very Good
The Best
Automation features
Usability
Seasonal templates
The Worst
Web client is very basic
Pricey compared to other tools
Starting From
$29/month
Olark Review
In many ways, Olark is an interesting company. Founded in 2009, they are a fully remote team with employees distributed all over the world.
It's also one of the most popular live chat tools out there, claiming to serve more than 12,000 businesses.
What's great is that they sport advanced features such as live chat automation (targeted chat as they call it).
They also have a selection of holiday themes, which is a pretty nice touch (e.g. a Halloween pumpkin or a Santa Claus hat). With their "attention grabbers," that can be put on top of a regular chat box, you'll make sure that no visitor passes by not noticing the live chat.
Pricing is simple: they feature a free plan (slightly hidden on their website), which only allows up to 20 individual conversations, and one premium plan. You can choose to pay monthly ($19), yearly ($15) or bi-yearly ($12).
Olark Pricing
Olark Review: Conclusion
Olark’s browser-based console looks smart and is promising. But there is still some room for improvement. Instead of providing buttons for quick access to key features, a lot of commands have to be keyed in, for example !block for blacklisting a user or !transfer to pass a visitor on to another agent.
Generally, we very much like the look and feel of Olark’s user interface and the chat client. What’s also great is that visitors can rate their chat experience, allowing you to collect satisfaction data. Also, if you are looking for a live chat software featuring cobrowsing, Olark is your top choice.
However, we do feel that the pricing could be more in line with its’ competitors. The fact that you’re charged per seat, plus need to pay extra for its “Power Up” features, means that costs can add up quickly.
If this isn’t an issue, we’d encourage you to give it a shot and see if Olark is right for your company. Chances are pretty good that it actually is.
Olark Alternatives
Squarespace is the one you should pick if you want to start a blog. Their fully responsive designs are sophisticated, and Squarespace’s support is more personal and less salesy. The editor feels a bit more complicated than Wix, though. Read our Wix vs. Squarespace article for more information. In our book, it’s the top Wix alternative.
Hostinger Website Builder (formerly Zyro) is a relatively new contender with very affordable prices. Their website editor feels very similar to Wix’s but is lighter on features. We would recommend Hostinger for anyone who is looking for a website builder like Wix but doesn’t have the budget for it. They also offer great designs as well as multilingual sites, but you won’t find many apps or integrations with external services. See our full Hostinger Website Builder vs Wix comparison.
Jimdo is a lot lighter on features but probably the fastest website builder. It’ll take you no more than 10 minutes to create your first personalized website draft. Jimdo sites also load very fast. But don’t expect features like a blog or advanced SEO settings.
Weebly is a great Wix alternative as it’s extremely intuitive and easy to use. Its templates are not quite as stylish (or as numerous) as Wix’s. Weebly also offers a more structured editing approach than Wix that some users prefer. Read our Wix vs Weebly comparison.
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