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Chatwoot

Chatwoot

Open source omnichannel customer support platform with AI

softwareCustomer Supportcustomer-supportlive-chatopen-source
Our Verdict

Best for

Support teams wanting an open source, self-hostable Intercom/Zendesk alternative

Skip if

You need voice support without committing to the Business tier

What is Chatwoot?

Chatwoot is an open source customer support platform that unifies live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and LINE into a single agent inbox, positioning itself as an alternative to Intercom and Zendesk. It pairs the omnichannel inbox with a customizable knowledge base, so customers can self-serve before ever reaching an agent. Chatwoot layers AI on top with Captain, an assistant that learns from your help center and past conversations to automate responses, and Captain Copilot, which suggests answers and surfaces relevant history to human agents in real time. The core product is open source and self-hostable, with a managed cloud version and SOC 2 Type II compliance for teams that don't want to run their own infrastructure.

SpecificationsAI-estimated

deploymentCloud/SaaS
open source✅ Yes
api available✅ Yes
support optionsEmail, Live Chat, Priority support on higher tiers
key integrationsWhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, LINE, Gmail, Slack

Key Features of Chatwoot

Unifies live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and LINE into one shared agent inbox
Includes a customizable live chat widget that matches brand colors, language, and design
Provides Captain, an AI assistant that automates responses by learning from your help center and past chats
Offers Captain Copilot to suggest answers and surface conversation history to agents in real time
Ships a flexible knowledge base and help center with AI-powered search
Can be fully self-hosted on your own infrastructure or run as a managed cloud service
Exposes a developer API for building custom integrations on top of the support inbox

Use Cases for Chatwoot

1

Omnichannel support inbox

Support teams manage WhatsApp, email, and live chat conversations from one shared inbox instead of switching tools.

2

Self-hosted support for compliance

Companies with data residency requirements self-host Chatwoot to keep customer conversations on their own servers.

3

AI-assisted first response

Teams use Captain to auto-answer common questions from the help center before a human agent gets involved.

4

Startup helpdesk on a budget

Early-stage startups use the free Hacker tier to run live chat support before scaling to a paid plan.

Pros & Cons of Chatwoot

Pros

  • Genuine free tier for small teams
  • Open source with a real self-hosting path
  • Combines many support channels in one inbox
  • AI assistant is priced as usage-based credits, not a flat upcharge

Cons

  • Voice channel requires the pricier Business tier
  • AI credits are a separate metered add-on cost
  • Per-agent pricing can add up for larger support teams

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Chatwoot open source?

Yes, Chatwoot is open source under the MIT license and can be self-hosted or run on their managed cloud.

Does Chatwoot have a free plan?

Yes, the Hacker plan is free for up to 2 agents with 500 conversations per month.

What channels does Chatwoot support?

Chatwoot supports live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, LINE, and voice on higher tiers.

What is Captain?

Captain is Chatwoot's AI assistant that automates responses using your help center and past conversations, billed as metered credits.

Pricing Overview

View full pricing →
Freemium

Hacker

$0

Startups

$19

Business

$39

Enterprise

$99

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Target AudienceSupport teams wanting an open source Intercom or Zendesk alternative

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Tags

customer-supportlive-chatopen-sourceomnichannelhelpdesk

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