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- LiveAgent vs Textline
LiveAgent vs Textline
Side-by-side comparison for 2026
| Feature | LiveAgent | Textline |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $49/seat/mo | From $100/mo |
| Best For | Traditional customer service teams needing comprehensive help desk functionality with phone support | Small businesses needing simple SMS messaging |
| Standout Feature | Comprehensive all-in-one platform combining help desk, live chat, and call center in a single solution | Streamlined SMS-only experience |
| Free Plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| G2 Rating | 4.5/5 | 4.2 |
LiveAgent and Textline represent different approaches to customer communication. LiveAgent is a comprehensive help desk solution covering multiple channels including email, chat, phone, and social media, while Textline specializes exclusively in business text messaging and SMS customer support.
The decision between them depends on whether you need a full-featured support platform or want to focus specifically on text-based customer interactions with advanced SMS capabilities.
Feature Comparison
LiveAgent provides a complete customer support ecosystem with ticketing system, live chat widget, phone integration, social media monitoring, and knowledge base management. Its universal inbox consolidates all customer interactions regardless of channel.
Textline focuses exclusively on business texting with features like shared team inboxes for SMS, automated workflows, contact management, and integration with business phone systems. It excels at making text messaging a professional customer service channel.
The core difference is breadth versus depth - LiveAgent covers all support channels adequately, while Textline provides sophisticated SMS-specific features that traditional platforms often lack.
Pricing Comparison
LiveAgent uses standard per-agent pricing starting at $15/month for basic features, scaling to $49/month for comprehensive functionality. This model is predictable and scales with team size.
Textline typically starts around $50/month for basic business texting, with advanced plans reaching $200+/month depending on message volume and features. Pricing often includes message allowances rather than pure per-agent costs.
For teams needing multiple communication channels, LiveAgent usually provides better value. For businesses where text messaging is the primary customer interaction method, Textline's specialized features may justify the investment.
LiveAgent
Pros
- ✓ Extensive feature set with 188+ capabilities
- ✓ Strong call center functionality with unlimited recordings
- ✓ Mature platform with robust reporting and analytics
Cons
- ✗ Per-agent pricing can become expensive for larger teams
- ✗ Complex interface may overwhelm users focused on messaging
- ✗ Social media integrations require additional fees on lower tiers
Textline
Pros
- ✓ Simple SMS-focused interface
- ✓ Good team collaboration features
- ✓ Reasonable pricing for SMS
Cons
- ✗ SMS only - no other channels
- ✗ Message limits with overage fees
- ✗ Limited automation capabilities
Verdict
Choose LiveAgent if you need comprehensive multi-channel customer support with ticketing, knowledge base, and traditional help desk features. Choose Textline if your business model centers around text messaging and you want advanced SMS automation and team collaboration features.
Choose LiveAgent if: You need a traditional help desk with multi-channel support, ticketing system, and want comprehensive customer service capabilities beyond just messaging.
Choose Textline if: Your business relies heavily on text messaging for customer communication and you need advanced SMS automation, team collaboration, and professional texting features.
For businesses seeking modern customer communication without channel restrictions or complex pricing, Converge at $49/month flat rate provides flexible messaging and support tools with straightforward pricing.
Looking for more options? Browse all 750+ platform comparisons, or see all LiveAgent comparisons and all Textline comparisons.