# Orka vs Crisp

Crisp is a close alternative, with workspace pricing, a shared inbox and a real knowledge base. Orka adds its own take on multi-project support, free self-service and human boundaries.

Published by Orka / BIGMO SAS. Reviewed 2026-09-18.
Canonical: https://orka-1t3.pages.dev/orka-vs-crisp

## This is a comparison of two plausible choices.

Crisp is not a straw-man enterprise product placed beside a friendly startup. It has workspace pricing, a shared inbox and a public knowledge base. A small business can reasonably put both Crisp and Orka on its shortlist. The useful question is where the included features, team bundles and working style diverge, not whether one has discovered customer support and the other has not.

Orka emphasizes unlimited projects in one subscription, a free multilingual help center and an AI teammate you can keep in draft mode or allow to answer. Crisp offers its own integrated workspace and automation tools. If your existing support process already feels natural in Crisp, that familiarity is worth something. A move should solve a concrete problem such as plan access, project organization or the way your team maintains knowledge.

Sources: [Crisp pricing](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/), [Crisp Inbox documentation](https://help.crisp.chat/en/category/inbox-15ctwet/)

## Workspace pricing makes this less obvious than it looks.

Crisp lists Free for two seats, Mini at $45 for four, Essentials at $95 for ten and Plus at $295 for twenty. These are workspace prices, not amounts to multiply by every agent. Orka offers Solo free for one, Pod at $29 for three and Fleet at $99 for twenty. A ten-person team can therefore see a lower base price on Crisp Essentials than on Orka Fleet. A twenty-person comparison produces a different result.

This is why the calculator lets you choose a Crisp plan instead of announcing an automatic winner. Essentials includes the knowledge base, while other capabilities and AI allowances vary by package. Compare the plan you would really buy. If you need several separately billed workspaces, enter that into your own budget too; our displayed calculation deliberately covers one Crisp workspace and does not guess your organizational structure.

Sources: [Crisp pricing](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)

## Both products understand Markdown and self-service.

Crisp’s knowledge base supports Markdown, categories, multiple languages, custom domains and content for Hugo. Orka also uses Markdown and supports branded public help, collections and widget access. Calling Markdown an Orka-only advantage would be false. The meaningful difference is that Orka includes its help center on the free plan, while Crisp’s published documentation places the knowledge base on Essentials and Plus.

Translation maintenance is another detail to inspect. The Crisp quickstart describes adding languages and manually localizing articles. Orka includes background automatic translation with editable results and outdated markers after source changes. For either system, check a real article in a language you serve. The words should be correct, the links should still work, and the visitor should reach a useful answer without discovering half-translated navigation along the way.

Sources: [Knowledge Base quickstart](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)

## Automation can be worth paying for.

Crisp documents a workflow builder with conditions, message steps, internal actions and AI actions. That is a meaningful tool when your team wants a deliberately structured process. It can express decisions about visitor information and route the interaction through steps. Orka’s current catalogue establishes automatic replies, drafts, summaries, shortcuts and human takeover; it does not establish a directly equivalent general-purpose visual workflow builder.

Think about whether you need a conversation assistant or an explicit automation design. For a routine product question, a reviewed answer from current documentation may be enough. For a sequence involving several conditions and updates, a visual workflow may be the reason you buy a platform. Test the hardest branch in your process, including the unhappy path, before deciding that a simpler interface can replace it.

Sources: [Crisp workflows](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/understanding-and-mastering-the-crisp-workflows-1boypme/)

## AI credits are not the same as model tokens.

Crisp packages include stated AI credits at different levels. Orka separates team subscription pricing from model-specific AI usage and offers a bring-your-own-key option without markup. Neither arrangement can be translated into a universal number of useful answers without assumptions about the workload. A vendor’s illustrative answer count is not a promise that your longest conversations will fit the same average.

Keep two measurements during a trial: what you spend and how often a person has to repair the answer. A cheap draft that needs three corrections is not necessarily efficient. A more expensive response that handles a difficult question cleanly can be worthwhile. For Orka, the pricing page names the models and separates input from output. Use that calculation as a budgeting aid and bring your actual context lengths into it.

Sources: [Crisp pricing](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)

## The small details can decide the daily experience.

Orka gives a teammate context before and during the conversation: the current project, visitor information, recent activity and cart details when connected. Private notes and mentions help another person join without asking the customer to repeat everything. Availability and night, break-day or panic banners explain the human side of response times. These are especially useful when the support team is also building or running the business.

Crisp has a substantial inbox of its own, so a trial should compare the same sequence on both sides. Search for an earlier exchange, involve a colleague, find a help article and continue the conversation. Then ask the person who uses the inbox least often to repeat it. The system that makes occasional contributors comfortable may be more valuable than the one that only your power user navigates quickly.

Sources: [Crisp Inbox documentation](https://help.crisp.chat/en/category/inbox-15ctwet/)

## Our verdict depends on the team size and workflow.

Orka makes a strong case for a founder or a small crew managing several projects, especially if public documentation and multilingual support should be available from day one. Pod is an approachable step up, and Fleet leaves room for a larger crew without adding a seat charge for each person within its twenty-person allowance. The option to use your own AI key also deserves a place in the comparison.

Crisp remains compelling when its ten-seat Essentials bundle fits neatly or when its broader automation and workspace tools match an established process. There is no need to invent a deficiency to recommend Orka for a different situation. Try both with one normal question, one ambiguous question and one exception. Then choose the workspace that makes those three conversations clearer for the people on both sides.

## What the Orka subscription actually includes.

Orka Solo is free for one person. Pod is $29 per month for up to three people, and Fleet is $99 per month for up to twenty. Unlimited projects and the help center are included across the plans. Message search, image sharing and analytics are paid-plan features. Fleet adds removal of Orka branding and a custom name for Orky. AI usage is a separate budget; using a provider key does not create an Orka markup.

The support toolkit includes live chat, live typing, saved replies, attachments, read receipts and email continuation. Your team can assign conversations, add private notes and mentions, use tags and filters, mark work resolved and set reminders. Visitor tools include a live map, a visitor list, profile information, recent page context, custom attributes and cart context when connected. Availability, reply-time expectations and night, break-day and panic banners explain when a human is around.

Orky can use your knowledge for automatic replies or drafts you review, help with writing shortcuts and summaries, translate conversations and hand over to a person. Widget branding, layout choices and seasonal themes sit alongside mobile apps, installation tools and an SDK. The detailed matrix below covers the full catalogue, including help-center publishing and translation maintenance. Features that depend on a plan or connected data are labeled, rather than silently promised everywhere.

## How to read this comparison.

This guide is published by Orka, not an independent review site. Competitor facts come from the linked official product pages, documentation and developer-maintained listings checked on 18 September 2026. Our recommendations and trial ideas are our analysis. Pricing can change, and a negotiated offer or annual commitment may differ from the monthly examples shown here.

A row marked “Not verified” means the reviewed sources did not establish that exact capability. It does not mean the competitor cannot do it. We distinguish similar functions where needed: a typing indicator is not necessarily a preview of unsent text, an AI knowledge source is not automatically a public help center, and viewing a cart is not the same as changing an order. Ask the vendor to demonstrate the details that are essential to your team.

We compare published capabilities without making claims about certifications, ownership structure or data location that the evidence does not establish. The only deliberately unserious category is the orca connection. For everything else, bring a real support example, use the right plan and check the result. A fair comparison should help you choose well, even when the right choice is not Orka.

## Full feature comparison

Not verified means the reviewed sources did not establish this exact feature. It is not a claim of absence.

- **Real-time live chat** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Live chat ([source](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)).
- **See messages as they are typed** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Conversation history & search** — Orka: Message search: Pod & Fleet. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Saved reply shortcuts** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Files & images** — Orka: Image sharing: Pod & Fleet. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Emoji picker** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Read receipts** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Continue by email** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Email in the inbox ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/category/inbox-15ctwet/)).
- **Unlimited projects. One inbox.** — Orka: Unlimited projects on every plan. Crisp: Shared workspace inbox ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/category/inbox-15ctwet/)).
- **Conversation assignment** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Private notes & @mentions** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Conversation tags** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Inbox filters** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Mark as resolved** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Conversation reminders** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Urgency at a glance** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Room for your whole crew** — Orka: Solo: 1 member · Pod: 3 · Fleet: 20. Crisp: Workspace seat bundles ([source](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)).
- **Answers from your own knowledge** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Help articles support Hugo ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Automatic replies & escalation** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: AI agent and workflow options ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/understanding-and-mastering-the-crisp-workflows-1boypme/)).
- **AI drafts you approve** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Live human takeover** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **AI control per conversation** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Two-way translation** — Orka: Solo translation: bring your own AI key. Crisp: Not verified.
- **One-click writing shortcuts** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Conversation summaries** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **ChatGPT or Claude** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Bring your own AI key** — Orka: AI usage is separate from the plan. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Pay-as-you-go AI** — Orka: See current AI rates on the pricing section. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Give Orky your own name** — Orka: Fleet. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Worldwide live visitor map** — Orka: Pod & Fleet. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Live visitor list** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Visitor details** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Current page & recent activity** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Your own customer attributes** — Orka: Requires your integration to supply the data. Crisp: Variables and custom data in workflows ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/understanding-and-mastering-the-crisp-workflows-1boypme/)).
- **Cart context** — Orka: Requires connected cart data. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Conversation analytics** — Orka: Pod & Fleet. Crisp: Not verified.
- **A free help center** — Orka: Included on every plan. Crisp: Essentials and Plus ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Help in every language** — Orka: Included on every plan. Crisp: Multiple languages; manual article localization documented ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Online & away status** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Your average reply time** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Night banner & working hours** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Break day banner** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Panic banner** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Your colors & your words** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Widget layouts & team profiles** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Christmas & Halloween themes** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Remove Orka branding** — Orka: Fleet. Crisp: Plan-dependent white labeling ([source](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)).
- **Install on your website** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **A simple setup** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **SDK for custom integrations** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: SDK / integrations ([source](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)).
- **iOS & Android apps** — Orka: Included on every plan. Crisp: Mobile apps ([source](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)).
- **A lightweight widget** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **IP & country blocking** — Orka: Available; setup may apply. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Your own help center domain** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Custom domain or crisp.help ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Bring your existing knowledge** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Markdown editor & preview** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Markdown editor ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Collections, sections & ordering** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Article categories ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Automatic article translation** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Edit translations & spot outdated copy** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Searchable help inside the widget** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Not verified.
- **The same knowledge for Orky** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Knowledge for Hugo ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Drafts, publishing & article filters** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Draft and publish workflow ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).
- **Article views & reader reactions** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Not verified.
- **Article URLs, excerpts & SEO fields** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Not verified.
- **A help center that feels like yours** — Orka: Help center included on every plan. Crisp: Brand customization ([source](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)).

## Sources

- [Crisp pricing](https://crisp.chat/en/pricing/)
- [Knowledge Base quickstart](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/getting-started-with-the-crisp-knowledge-base-i2tsm1/)
- [Crisp workflows](https://help.crisp.chat/en/article/understanding-and-mastering-the-crisp-workflows-1boypme/)
- [Crisp Inbox documentation](https://help.crisp.chat/en/category/inbox-15ctwet/)

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