Chatwoot vs Customerly (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Chatwoot grades higher than Customerly: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Chatwoot grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Chatwoot
Open-source support inbox you can self-host or use in the cloud
Customerly
Live chat, shared inbox and AI support with per-seat pricing
Which one is for you
Pick Chatwoot if
- Fits if you want to run your support inbox on your own servers
- Works for developers who want an open API and code they can change
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on the free cloud plan: 2 agents, 500 conversations a month, chat only and 30 days of history
- Skip it if nobody on your team can look after a server and you want it free
- Pricey if you need voice or automation rules, as both start on Business at $39 an agent
- Watch out: the pricing page doesn't say if per-agent prices are monthly or yearly, and extra AI credits are $20 per 1,000
- Watch out: the free Community Edition has no Captain AI, voice, branding or SSO, and help comes through Discord and GitHub
Pick Customerly if
- Fits if you want chat, a help center and AI answers under one roof
- Works for small teams that start on Core and see how it goes
Look elsewhere if
- Tight on Core: 500 interactions, 10 AI conversations and AI-only support
- Pricey if you want workflows and integrations, which start on Growth at €59
- Watch out: all subscription fees are non-refundable, and cancelling deletes the project
- Watch out: extra interactions are billed per use, and prices are shown in euros
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAChatwootFair | 2.2GPACustomerlyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStartups is $19 an agent a month, a little under this category's middle, with all channels and 300 AI credits. The page doesn't say if that's monthly or yearly. The free self-hosted edition needs your own server, so it doesn't lift the grade. | C€16 a seat a month on yearly billing for Core, under the category's $19 mark, but Core has 500 interactions and AI-only support. The useful parts, workflows and integrations, start on Growth at €59. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free cloud plan is 2 agents and 500 conversations a month, but live chat only, with 30 days of history. The self-hosted Community Edition is free forever if you can run a server. Paid cloud plans have a 15-day trial. | CA 14-day trial on all plans; the page does not say if a card is needed. There is no free plan. |
| Features | BOne queue for chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, the Captain AI agent, a help center, voice calls on Business, an open API and webhooks. It covers the job, and you can read and change the source code. | CChat, inbox, chatflows, a help center, surveys and AI. The listing shows gaps: interactions are capped per plan and billed per use beyond that. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. The cloud version means connecting each channel and training Captain on your help center. Self-hosting is real work: PostgreSQL, Redis and Docker or Kubernetes. | CNo store rating on record. You set up chatflows, the help center and AI before it works well. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with an open API, webhooks and Slack, Shopify, Stripe, HubSpot, Linear and Dialogflow. There's no desktop app, so it stops at a B. | BWeb only, with a mobile SDK and API, and Zapier, WordPress, Messenger and Google Ads connections. |
| Best for | an open-source support inbox you can host | live chat and a help center with AI support |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Chatwoot and Customerly. How we grade
Price against what you get
Chatwoot starts at $19 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Customerly starts at about $17.88 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Chatwoot scores higher, and starts $1.12 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Chatwoot for less, and 8 score higher than Customerly for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Chatwoot is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Customerly also covers surveys and chatbots.
At a glance
| Chatwoot | Customerly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $19 per agent / month, billing term not stated | €16 per seat / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Hacker cloud plan: up to 2 agents and 500 conversations a month, live chat only, 30 days of history. The self-hosted Community Edition is also free. | None |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial of the cloud plans | 14-day free trial on all plans |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Chatwoot Inc | Customerly |
| Price read from | chatwoot.com | docs.customerly.io |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Chatwoot
- The free Hacker plan is limited to 2 agents, 500 conversations a month, live chat only and 30 days of history.
- Captain AI credits are 300, 500 or 800 a month by plan; more cost $20 per 1,000, and Captain is not in Hacker or the Community Edition.
- Voice, teams and automation rules need Business at $39 per agent; SSO and audit logs need Enterprise at $99.
- The pricing page does not say whether per-agent prices are billed monthly or annually.
Customerly
- Prices are shown in euros; the help center says billing is in USD for companies outside Europe, but gives no USD figures.
- Interactions are capped per plan and extra ones are billed per use; an interaction is a replied conversation, an email sent or a survey response.
- The help center says all subscription fees are non-refundable, and cancelling also deletes the project.
- Core support is AI only, Growth is AI first with a 48-hour human reply, and Ultimate replies within 30 minutes.
Key features
Chatwoot
- One queue for every channel
- Website chat, email from Gmail, Outlook or any IMAP inbox, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger are threaded into a single conversation queue.
- Captain AI agent
- Learns from your help center, PDFs and website, answers routine questions, hands off to a person, and drafts replies for agents.
- Help center
- A public knowledge base on paid plans that Captain also draws on, with suggestions for questions the articles do not yet answer.
- Self-hosting
- Runs on a Linux server with PostgreSQL and Redis, with guides for Docker and Kubernetes. Paid self-hosted plans add AI and support.
- Open API and webhooks
- Send messages, create channels and listen to events through the API, and export conversations and contacts at any time.
- Voice calls
- Voice calls are included on the Business and Enterprise cloud plans and on paid self-hosted plans.
Customerly
- Live chat and shared inbox
- Live chat, reply via email, attachments and typing previews are on every plan, with several inboxes per project.
- Chatflows and workflows
- Flows automate support conversations; advanced chatflow actions and workflows start on the Growth plan.
- AI conversations
- Each plan includes a monthly allowance of AI conversations that never expire, and more cost €0.45 each. An AI Companion add-on is €19 a month per seat.
- Help center
- A knowledge base for customers; multi-language support and analytics for it are on the Ultimate plan.
- Surveys and NPS
- In-chat surveys and NPS from the Growth plan, with CSAT ratings on Ultimate.
- Mobile SDK and API
- Native iOS and Android SDKs add live chat inside a mobile app, and an API and webhooks cover custom work.
Plans
Chatwoot
Hacker$0
Cloud plan for up to 2 agents and 500 conversations a month, live chat only, with 30 days of data retention. No AI, help center or automation.
Community Edition$0
The open-source edition you host yourself, free forever. No Captain AI, voice calls, custom branding or SSO; help comes through Discord and GitHub.
Startups$19
per agent / month, billing term not stated
Cloud plan with all channels, unlimited conversations under fair use, a help center, 300 Captain AI credits a month and 1 year of history.
Premium Support$19
per agent / month, billing term not stated
Self-hosted plan adding Captain AI, voice calls, custom branding, agent capacity, roles and permissions, and priority email support.
Business$39
per agent / month, billing term not stated
Cloud plan adding voice, teams and automation rules, with 500 Captain AI credits a month and 2 years of history.
Enterprise$99
per agent / month, billing term not stated
Cloud plan adding SSO and SAML, audit logs, 800 AI credits and 3 years of history. The self-hosted Enterprise Edition costs the same and adds SLA policies.
Customerly
Core€16
per seat / month, billed annually
500 interactions and 10 AI conversations a month, 30-day history, AI-only support.
Growth€59
per seat / month, billed annually
1,000 interactions and 20 AI conversations a month, unlimited history, surveys, workflows, integrations.
Ultimate€84
per seat / month, billed annually
5,000 interactions and 50 AI conversations a month, CSAT, live translate, team analytics, human support replies in 30 minutes.
Ways to pay less
Chatwoot
- Other savings
Startups plan free for open-source projects
Chatwoot gives open-source projects the Startups plan free of charge and asks open-source projects and nonprofits to email it to arrange this.
Customerly
- Annual discount
2 months free on annual billing
The help center says annual billing saves the equivalent of 2 months a year compared with paying monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Chatwoot or Customerly?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Customerly is cheaper to start with: about $17.88 a month for each person, against $19 a month for each person for Chatwoot. Chatwoot starts at $19 per agent / month, billing term not stated, and Customerly starts at €16 per seat / month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Chatwoot or Customerly?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Chatwoot has a free plan. Customerly does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Chatwoot and Customerly run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Chatwoot lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.