Chatwoot
An open-source omnichannel customer support platform you can use as a managed cloud service or self-host, with live chat, shared inbox, help center and Captain AI.
- Free plan
- Free trial
- Per-seat pricing
- Usage-based elements
- Cloud
- AI features
- Vendor-sourced
- Verified 23 Oct 2026Sources are dated on this profile
- 4 sourcesLinked, typed and dated
- Vendor and official documentationHow this profile was compiled
- Not an endorsementStack18 has not tested this product
What is Chatwoot?
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform from Chatwoot Inc. that brings live chat, email, social and messaging conversations into a shared inbox. It runs as a managed cloud service with a free Hacker plan and paid Startups ($19), Business ($39) and Enterprise ($99) plans per agent per month, or as a free self-hosted Community Edition. Captain AI adds an assistant, copilot and reply suggestions using monthly credits.
- Best forStartups and engineering-led teams that want an open-source support platform
- Team size fitSmall teams, Mid-size teams
- PricingFree Hacker plan (2 agents). Cloud paid plans per agent per month: Startups $19, Business $39, Enterprise $99. Self-hosted: Community Edition free, Premium Support $19, Enterprise $99. 15-day free trial. Free plan available.
- Main limitationThe free Hacker plan is limited to live chat, 2 agents, 500 conversations a month and 30-day retention.
- AlternativesIntercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Crisp, LiveChat
Chatwoot overview: who it is for and what it does.
Chatwoot positions itself as the modern, open-source, self-hosted alternative to Intercom and Zendesk, and says more than 15,000 organisations use it to run support. Conversations from website live chat and other channels land in one inbox where agents collaborate with private notes, labels, teams and automation. It is backed by Y Combinator and is also a Meta Business Partner, and its mobile apps let agents reply from phones. The open-source model is a real differentiator: teams can inspect, deploy and extend the code, and keep customer data on their own infrastructure.
Chatwoot offers two commercial routes. The cloud service runs on AWS in the United States and is priced per agent per month: Hacker is free for up to two agents with live chat only, 500 conversations a month and 30 days of data retention, while Startups, Business and Enterprise add all channels, a help center and Captain AI credits (300, 500 and 800 a month) with 1, 2 and 3 years of data retention. Business adds voice, teams and automation rules, and Enterprise adds SSO/SAML and audit logs. The self-hosted route is the free Community Edition, Premium Support at $19 per agent per month and Enterprise Edition at $99.
Free does not mean zero cost. Self-hosting needs a Linux server with PostgreSQL and Redis, with at least 4 GB of RAM and 2 CPU cores recommended for production, plus upgrades, backups and security work. Captain AI is not part of the Community Edition, runs on credits that cost $20 per 1,000 beyond the monthly allowance, and 'unlimited' conversations on paid cloud plans are subject to a fair use policy. Teams with strong engineering skills and data-control requirements will find it compelling, while teams that want a fully managed help desk with deep ticketing and reporting may prefer larger vendors.
Main problem it solves
Gives support teams a single inbox for live chat and messaging channels with AI assistance, without being locked into a closed SaaS, and lets technical teams self-host to control their data.
Typical customer segment
Startups, SMBs and engineering-led companies that want an open-source or self-hosted support platform, plus teams migrating from Intercom or Zendesk to reduce cost.
Target users
- Startups that want a free or low-cost support inbox
- Engineering-led teams that want to self-host and customise support software
- Support teams handling live chat, email and messaging channels together
- Companies with data residency or privacy requirements that favour self-hosting
Primary use cases
- Omnichannel shared inbox
- Website live chat
- AI-assisted replies and summaries
- Self-service help center
- Customer support automation and routing
- Self-hosted support for data control
What makes it distinct
- Open-source Community Edition with no licence cost
- Free cloud plan for up to two agents
- Captain AI assistant, copilot, triage and reply suggestions on paid plans
- Self-hosted Premium Support from $19 per agent per month
Chatwoot features explained.
Inbox, channels and collaboration
- Omnichannel shared inbox
- Paid cloud plans include all channels in one inbox, while the free Hacker plan includes live chat only.
- Teams and automation rules
- Teams and automation rules are included from the Business plan, allowing conversations to be grouped, routed and acted on automatically.
- Help center
- A knowledge-base help center is included from the Startups plan and not on Hacker.
- Voice channel
- Voice is included on Business and Enterprise cloud plans, and is listed as coming soon for self-hosted editions.
Captain AI
- Assistant and copilot
- Captain includes a chatbot that answers customer questions around the clock and a copilot that suggests what agents should say.
- Reply suggestions and summaries
- One-click draft replies and conversation summaries speed up handling of long threads.
- Triage, scenarios and memories
- Captain can set priority, labels and team on new conversations, follow written scenarios and keep notes about each customer.
- Content gap detection
- Content gap analysis finds questions that the help center does not yet answer.
Deployment, security and administration
- Self-hosted Community Edition
- The free Community Edition runs on your own Linux server with PostgreSQL and Redis, with Docker, Kubernetes and cloud guides.
- SSO/SAML and audit logs
- SSO/SAML and audit logs are included on Enterprise cloud and SSO/SAML plus SLA policies on Enterprise Edition self-hosted.
- Data retention by plan
- Cloud plans keep data for 30 days on Hacker, 1 year on Startups, 2 years on Business and 3 years on Enterprise.
- API and data export
- The API lets teams export conversations, contacts and other data, and there is a Chatwoot CLI and API documentation for developers.
Chatwoot pricing and plans.
Prices from a vendor-published source. Checked 23 Oct 2026 against Chatwoot · Chatwoot · eesel AI.
Pricing model
Cloud: per agent per month by plan with a free plan for up to 2 agents; self-hosted: free Community Edition plus per-agent paid editions; Captain AI uses monthly credits with paid top-ups.
Free plan
Yes
Free trial
Yes
Chatwoot plans and prices (USD)
Hacker (cloud)
$0 for up to 2 agents
Not applicable
Live chat only, 500 conversations per month, 30-day data retention, no Captain AI, help center, teams or automation.
Startups (cloud)
$19 per agent per month
Reported as annual billing
Unlimited conversations (fair use), all channels, help center, 300 Captain AI credits per month, 1-year data retention.
Business (cloud)
$39 per agent per month
Reported as annual billing
Adds voice, teams and automation rules, 500 Captain AI credits per month and 2-year data retention.
Enterprise (cloud)
$99 per agent per month
Reported as annual billing
Adds SSO/SAML and audit logs, 800 Captain AI credits per month and 3-year data retention.
Community Edition (self-hosted)
$0 per agent per month
Not applicable
Open source and free forever; you provide the infrastructure; no Captain AI, voice, custom branding or SSO; community support on Discord and GitHub.
Premium Support (self-hosted)
$19 per agent per month
Per agent
Adds Captain AI, custom branding, agent capacity, roles and permissions and priority email support.
Enterprise Edition (self-hosted)
$99 per agent per month
Per agent
Adds SSO/SAML, SLA policies, phone support and developer office hours.
All figures are from Chatwoot's cloud and self-hosted pricing pages. Additional Captain AI credits cost $20 per 1,000 and are non-refundable. Chatwoot says 'unlimited' conversations are subject to its fair use policy, and that cloud plans are refundable based on unused time. Several older blogs quote shorter data retention (such as 6 months on Startups); the official page lists 1, 2 and 3 years for Startups, Business and Enterprise. Annual billing is reported by independent sources.
Prices change. Confirm current plans and terms on the vendor's site before you decide.
Visit official website (external) ↗See alternativesChatwoot integrations, API and platforms.
Important integrations
- Website live chat
- Email and messaging channels (all channels on paid plans)
- Meta Business Partner platform
- Help center
- API and Chatwoot CLI
- Mobile apps
Supported platforms
- Web
- Mobile apps
- Self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, major clouds)
- Cloud (AWS, United States)
API
Chatwoot publishes API documentation for exporting conversations, contacts and other data, and provides a CLI for agents and automation.
Data import and export
Chatwoot states that data can be exported via its API at any time.
Chatwoot Cloud runs on AWS in the United States, and customers with specific residency or compliance questions are asked to contact the company. Individual channel integrations were not tested.
Balanced and sourced.
Each point cites a source. Editorial summaries are not customer reviews.
Strengths
- A free cloud plan for two agents and a free open-source Community Edition lower the cost of getting started. [1]
- Self-hosting keeps customer data on your own infrastructure, with deployment guides for Docker, Kubernetes and major clouds. [2]
- Captain AI is included in per-agent pricing with monthly credits rather than charged per resolution. [1]
- Paid cloud plans include all channels and a help center with long data retention. [1]
- Cloud plans are refundable based on unused time, and open-source projects can get the Startups plan free. [1]
Limitations
- The free Hacker plan is limited to live chat, 2 agents, 500 conversations a month and 30-day retention. [1]
- The Community Edition excludes Captain AI, voice, custom branding, roles and permissions, SSO and SLA policies. [2]
- Self-hosting requires your own server, PostgreSQL, Redis, upgrades and security work, so total cost exceeds the licence fee. [3]
- Captain AI runs on credits, with extra credits at $20 per 1,000, which can make high-volume deflection cost unpredictable. [3]
- Cloud data is hosted in the United States, which may not meet every residency requirement. [1]
Best for
- Startups and engineering-led teams that want an open-source support platform
- Companies that need self-hosting for data control
- Teams migrating from Intercom or Zendesk to cut per-agent cost
May be less suited to
- Teams without technical resources that want a fully managed help desk with deep ITIL or SLA tooling
- Organisations that require non-US cloud hosting
Alternatives to Chatwoot.
Intercom
A customer service platform with a shared inbox, Messenger and help center, plus the Fin AI Agent billed per…
Explore →Related productZendesk
A customer service platform with ticketing and omnichannel Suite plans priced per agent, and AI agents…
Explore →Related productFreshdesk
A cloud customer support platform from Freshworks with Growth, Pro and Enterprise plans per agent, a limited…
Explore →Related productCrisp
A customer messaging and support platform sold as flat monthly plans per workspace rather than per agent…
Explore →Related productLiveChat
Live chat software for websites and online stores that combines a chat widget, ticketing, routing, reports…
Explore →Chatwoot compared with similar customer support software.
Summaries come from each profile. This is a side-by-side aid, not a ranking.
| Product | Pricing model | Free plan | Channels | Automation | AI features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot | Per agent by plan; Captain AI credits (usage-based) | Yes (Hacker, 2 agents) and free self-hosted edition | Live chat on free plan; all channels on paid plans | Automation rules and teams from Business | Captain AI assistant, copilot and triage (credits) |
| Crisp | Flat monthly price per workspace | Yes, 2 seats | Live chat and shared email inbox; omnichannel inbox on Essentials | Chat triggers and workflow builder (Essentials) | AI chatbot on Essentials and Plus, with usage limits |
| Freshchat | Per agent by plan; Freddy AI Agent billed per session | Yes (up to 10 agents) | Web chat free; WhatsApp, Messenger and others from Growth | Assignment rules, routing and workflows from Growth | Freddy AI Agent (sessions) and Copilot (add-on) |
| Freshdesk | Per agent per month; AI sessions extra | Free Program: 1-2 agents for 6 months | Email-first; multichannel via Omni | Automation and SLAs from Growth | Freddy AI Copilot and AI Agent add-ons |
| Freshservice | Per agent by plan; Freddy AI and Business Agent add-ons | No; 14-day trial | Service portal, email and chat for ITSM | Workflow and orchestration (metered by plan) | Freddy AI Copilot (add-on) and AI Agent (Enterprise) |
| Front | Per seat per month; AI add-ons per seat or per conversation | No free plan reported | Email, SMS, chat and messaging; WhatsApp as add-on | Rules and workflows by plan (about 10 on Starter) | Copilot, Smart QA and Autopilot as paid add-ons (reported) |
Chatwoot head-to-head.
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Join the discussion.
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Chatwoot questions and answers
What is Chatwoot?
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform that combines live chat, a shared inbox, a help center and Captain AI. You can use it as a managed cloud service or self-host it on your own servers.
Is Chatwoot free?
Yes, in two ways. The cloud Hacker plan is free for up to two agents with live chat only and 500 conversations a month, and the self-hosted Community Edition is open source and free forever, though you pay for your own infrastructure.
How much does Chatwoot cost?
On Chatwoot Cloud, Startups costs $19, Business $39 and Enterprise $99 per agent per month. Self-hosted Premium Support is $19 and Enterprise Edition is $99 per agent per month, while the Community Edition is free.
Does Chatwoot have AI features?
Yes. Captain AI includes an assistant, copilot, reply suggestions, summaries, triage and content gap detection. Paid cloud plans include 300, 500 or 800 monthly credits, and extra credits cost $20 per 1,000. Captain is not included in the free Community Edition.
Can I self-host Chatwoot?
Yes. You need a Linux server with PostgreSQL and Redis, S3-compatible storage for uploads, and at least 4 GB of RAM and 2 CPU cores for production. Chatwoot provides guides for Docker, Kubernetes and most cloud providers.
Does Chatwoot offer a free trial?
Yes. Chatwoot offers a 15-day free trial of its cloud service in addition to the free Hacker plan.
Where is Chatwoot Cloud hosted?
Chatwoot Cloud runs on AWS with servers in the United States. Customers with specific data residency or compliance needs, such as GDPR or SOC 2 questions, are asked to contact Chatwoot.
What are alternatives to Chatwoot?
Common alternatives include Intercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Crisp and LiveChat. Chatwoot stands out as an open-source option that can be self-hosted.
What integrations does Chatwoot support?
Documented integrations and ecosystem items include Website live chat, Email and messaging channels (all channels on paid plans), Meta Business Partner platform, Help center, API and Chatwoot CLI, Mobile apps. API details: Chatwoot publishes API documentation for exporting conversations, contacts and other data, and provides a CLI for agents and automation.
What are the limitations of Chatwoot?
The free Hacker plan is limited to live chat, 2 agents, 500 conversations a month and 30-day retention. The Community Edition excludes Captain AI, voice, custom branding, roles and permissions, SSO and SLA policies. Self-hosting requires your own server, PostgreSQL, Redis, upgrades and security work, so total cost exceeds the licence fee.
Which platforms does Chatwoot run on?
Chatwoot is documented as available on: Web, Mobile apps, Self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, major clouds), Cloud (AWS, United States).
When was the Chatwoot profile last verified?
Sources for this profile were last reviewed on 23 Oct 2026. 4 sources are listed under Sources, and prices and plans can change, so confirm with the vendor.
Where this information comes from.
- Chatwoot pricing: free, cloud and self-hosted plans Chatwoot Official Accessed 23 Oct 2026
- Chatwoot self-hosted pricing and plans Chatwoot Official Accessed 23 Oct 2026
- Chatwoot pricing in 2026: plans, Captain AI credits and what you actually pay eesel AI Third-party Accessed 23 Oct 2026
- Chatwoot pricing 2026: is it worth it? Featurebase Third-party Accessed 23 Oct 2026
Further official pages: Chatwoot pricing (external) · Chatwoot self-hosted plans (external)
Plan prices, limits, data retention, Captain AI credits, the free trial and self-hosted requirements were checked against Chatwoot's own cloud and self-hosted pricing pages on 23 Oct 2026. Billing terms and total cost of ownership come from independent articles, some of which quote older retention figures. Product behaviour was not tested.
Stack18 has not tested this product or received anything from the vendor for this profile. Editorial summaries of vendor information are not endorsements. Confirm details with the vendor before buying.
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