Chatwoot

Chatwoot: Pricing, Features & Review

Growing businesses that need a self-hosted Intercom alternative with omnichannel customer support across live chat, email, WhatsApp, and social media

Customer Service ★★★★☆ 4.1/5 Free self-hosted (Cloud from $19/agent/mo) Visit Official Site

What Is Chatwoot?

Chatwoot is a customer service tool. It's positioned for growing businesses that need a self-hosted intercom alternative with omnichannel customer support across live chat, email, whatsapp, and social media. Pricing starts at Free self-hosted (Cloud from $19/agent/mo). Based on our evaluation across pricing, features, ease of use, integrations, and support, we rate it 4.1/5.

This profile summarizes the key facts: pricing tiers, the strongest features, and the trade-offs to weigh before committing. For a hands-on opinion-led review, see the related articles section at the bottom.

Chatwoot Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Omnichannel inbox unifies live chat, email, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, WhatsApp, Telegram, and LINE into a single agent dashboard
  • Self-hosted version is free with unlimited agents and conversations, versus Intercom's $39/seat/mo Essential plan or Zendesk's $55/agent/mo Suite Team
  • Built-in chatbot builder with automation rules handles canned responses, auto-assignment, business hours routing, and SLA tracking without third-party bot tools
  • Full WhatsApp Business API integration allows businesses to handle support on WhatsApp natively, which Intercom only added recently as an add-on
  • Multi-brand and multi-language support with separate inboxes, portals, and knowledge bases per brand from a single Chatwoot installation

Cons

  • Reporting is limited to basic conversation metrics and agent performance; lacks the revenue attribution, custom funnels, and product tour analytics that Intercom provides
  • No native product tours, tooltips, or in-app messaging — Chatwoot is strictly a support tool, not a customer engagement platform like Intercom
  • Self-hosted deployment needs Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Sidekiq — a heavier stack than Go or Node.js-based alternatives
  • Knowledge base and help center features are functional but basic compared to Zendesk Guide or Intercom Articles in terms of theming and search quality

Chatwoot Key Features

Chatwoot ships with the following core capabilities. Feature availability depends on your plan tier.

  • Omnichannel inbox for live chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and LINE
  • Automation rules for auto-assignment, canned responses, and SLA tracking
  • Shared team inbox with private notes, mentions, and agent collision detection
  • Knowledge base and help center portal with category organization and search
  • Customer satisfaction ratings (CSAT) and conversation labels for quality tracking
  • Pre-chat forms and custom attributes for capturing visitor information
  • REST and Websocket APIs with webhooks for integration with CRMs and ticketing tools

Chatwoot Pricing

Chatwoot starts at Free self-hosted (Cloud from $19/agent/mo). Pricing changes frequently, so verify the latest tiers directly on the official Chatwoot pricing page before purchasing. Our linked review articles include full per-tier breakdowns at the time of writing.

Who Is Chatwoot Best For?

Growing businesses that need a self-hosted Intercom alternative with omnichannel customer support across live chat, email, WhatsApp, and social media. If your situation differs significantly, the related comparisons below help you weigh Chatwoot against the leading alternatives in customer service.

Chatwoot Reviews & Comparisons on ToolScout

roundups Best Self-Hosted Business Tools in 2026: Take Back Control roundups Best Open Source Alternatives to Popular SaaS Tools in 2026

Sources & References

Pricing and feature information last verified January 0001. Software vendors update plans frequently — always confirm current pricing on the vendor's site before purchase. See our review methodology.