Chatwoot
Open-source support inbox you can self-host or use in the cloud
Chatwoot report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 17, 2026
Best for an open-source support inbox you can host
Chatwoot is an open-source support inbox: website chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger in one queue, with a help center and the Captain AI agent. You can pay $19 an agent for the cloud version or run it on your own server for free. The free cloud plan is chat only, though, and self-hosting means looking after a Linux server.
Who Chatwoot is for
- Great if you want to run your support inbox on your own servers
- Handy when you're starting small with website chat and want to pay nothing
- A treat if you're a developer who wants an open API and code you can change
Who Chatwoot is not for
- Tight if you stay on the free cloud plan, which is chat only with 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
Why Chatwoot gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyStartups 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.
- CFree plan and trialThe 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.
- BFeaturesOne 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.
- CEase of useNo 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.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, 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.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Chatwoot's own pages on 17 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Chatwoot? Put this grade on your site
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/chatwoot#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/chatwoot.svg" alt="Chatwoot: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Chatwoot stands among help desk and live chat tools
Chatwoot's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on features (B, above 9 of 19) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $19 a month for each person, against a middle price of $24.17 for the category: 5 of the 18 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 20 help desk and live chat tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Chatwoot’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 6 of 19, level with 5
- CFree plan and trialAbove 1 of 19, level with 16
- BFeaturesAbove 9 of 19, level with 10
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 19, level with 15
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 19, level with 15
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 19 help desk and live chat tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Chatwoot, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Chatwoot you would be making one mailbox that several people work at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 8 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools grade higher. It costs $228 a year. Chatwoot is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could make
- Help center: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- One mailbox that several people work at once.
- An AI model answering your customers from your own help articles.
- A chat box on your site that reaches you the moment a customer types.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Slack, Shopify and Stripe among them, and has an API.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Chatwoot’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Chatwoot?
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform that threads website chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram and other channels into one queue, with a help center and the Captain AI agent. It can be used as a hosted cloud service priced per agent, or run on your own server, where the Community Edition is free.
Chatwoot has a free plan. Paid plans start at $19 per agent / month, billing term not stated. See every plan
Good for
- Teams that want to run their support inbox on their own servers
- Small teams starting free with website chat
- Developers who want an open API and source code they can change
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
Chatwoot pricing
- Starts at
- $19 per agent / month, billing term not stated
- 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.
- Free trial
- 15-day free trial of the cloud plans
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | $19per 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 | $19per 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 | $39per 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 | $99per 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. |
Read from chatwoot.com on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Chatwoot before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Other savingsStartups 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.
Stated on chatwoot.com
Works with
Chatwoot alternatives
- Chatwoot vs Intercom
Free trial · from $29/mo
- Chatwoot vs Zendesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
- Chatwoot vs Crisp
Free plan · from $45/mo
- Chatwoot vs Tidio
Free plan · from $24.17/mo
- Chatwoot vs tawk.to
Free plan · from $29/mo
Common questions
Is Chatwoot free?
Chatwoot has a 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. Paid plans start at $19 per agent / month, billing term not stated.
How much does Chatwoot cost?
Chatwoot lists 6 plans. Hacker: $0. Community Edition: $0. Startups: $19 per agent / month, billing term not stated. Premium Support: $19 per agent / month, billing term not stated. Business: $39 per agent / month, billing term not stated. Enterprise: $99 per agent / month, billing term not stated. Prices were read from chatwoot.com on Oct 17, 2026.
What platforms does Chatwoot work on?
Chatwoot is available on Web, iOS and Android.
Does Chatwoot offer any discounts?
Chatwoot publicly lists the following: Startups plan free for open-source projects.
Does Chatwoot have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Chatwoot is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Chatwoot have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Chatwoot is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Chatwoot open source?
Yes. Chatwoot is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Does Chatwoot have an API?
Yes. Chatwoot offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Chatwoot integrate with?
Chatwoot's listing names Slack, Shopify, Stripe, HubSpot, Linear, Dialogflow, Google Translate and LeadSquared. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Does Chatwoot have a free trial?
Yes. 15-day free trial of the cloud plans.
Who makes Chatwoot?
Chatwoot is made by Chatwoot Inc.
What are the alternatives to Chatwoot?
The closest alternatives to Chatwoot in our directory are Intercom, Zendesk, Crisp, Tidio and tawk.to. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Chatwoot.
How does Chatwoot compare with other help desk and live chat tools?
Chatwoot's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 5. It stands best on features (B, above 9 of 19) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Is Chatwoot good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Chatwoot C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $19 a month for each person, against a middle price of $24.17 for the category: 5 of the 18 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Could I make my own version of Chatwoot?
To replace Chatwoot you would be making one mailbox that several people work at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 8 of the 19 other help desk and live chat tools grade higher. It costs $228 a year. Chatwoot is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. What you could not make: One mailbox that several people work at once. An AI model answering your customers from your own help articles. A chat box on your site that reaches you the moment a customer types. A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026.