Chatwoot
Shared inbox software
Help desk software
Live chat software
Customer self-service software
Social customer service software
Conversational support software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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- Information technology and software
- Accommodation and food services
- Media and communications
What is Chatwoot
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform that combines a shared inbox, live chat, and omnichannel messaging into a single agent workspace. It is used by support and success teams to manage conversations from website chat, email, and social/messaging channels, and to collaborate with internal notes and assignments. Chatwoot can be deployed as a cloud service or self-hosted, which is a key differentiator for organizations with data residency or customization requirements.
Open-source and self-hostable
Chatwoot offers an open-source codebase and supports self-hosted deployments in addition to a hosted option. This helps teams that need greater control over data storage, network access, and upgrade timing. It also enables deeper customization than many closed, SaaS-only tools in this category.
Omnichannel shared inbox workflow
Chatwoot centralizes conversations into a shared inbox with assignment, labels, internal notes, and collision avoidance features. It supports common support workflows such as triage, escalation, and team collaboration across channels. This aligns well with teams that want a single queue rather than separate tools for chat and messaging.
APIs and integration options
Chatwoot provides APIs and integration capabilities that can connect it to CRMs, data stores, and automation tools. Webhooks and developer-oriented configuration support event-driven workflows (for example, syncing contacts or triggering internal processes). This is useful for organizations that need to embed support into existing systems rather than adopting an all-in-one suite.
Self-hosting adds operational overhead
Running Chatwoot on your own infrastructure requires ongoing maintenance such as upgrades, backups, monitoring, and security patching. Teams without DevOps capacity may find the hosted option simpler, but then lose some infrastructure-level control. Operational complexity can increase as message volume and channels grow.
Advanced automation varies by plan
Compared with some products in this space that emphasize built-in automation and AI-driven routing, Chatwoot may require more configuration or external tooling to achieve similar outcomes. Capabilities like sophisticated workflows, analytics depth, or bot experiences can depend on deployment choices and integrations. Buyers should validate which features are available in the specific edition and plan they intend to use.
Channel coverage depends on connectors
While Chatwoot supports multiple channels, the breadth and maturity of each channel integration can vary. Some social or messaging channels may require additional setup, third-party providers, or have limitations imposed by the channel’s own APIs. Organizations with heavy reliance on a specific network should confirm feature parity (templates, media, history sync, and compliance requirements).
Plan & Pricing
Cloud (Chatwoot Cloud) plans:
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hacker | $0 /agent/month | Up to 2 agents; Conversations 500/month; Channels: Live chat only; Captain AI not included; Help center not included; Data retention 30 days. |
| Startups | $19 /agent/month (billed annually) | Conversations: Unlimited (subject to fair use); Channels: All; Captain AI: 300 credits/month included; Help center included; Data retention 1 year. |
| Business | $39 /agent/month (billed annually) | Conversations: Unlimited; Channels: All; Captain AI: 500 credits/month included; Help center, Teams, Automation rules included; Data retention 2 years. |
| Enterprise | $99 /agent/month (billed annually) | Conversations: Unlimited; Channels: All; Captain AI: 800 credits/month included; Help center, Teams, Automation, SSO/SAML, Audit logs included; Data retention 3 years; Contact sales for enterprise onboarding. |
Additional Cloud notes:
- Captain AI additional credits: $20 per 1,000 credits (usage-based).
- Chatwoot offers a 15-day free trial for Cloud signups (full-feature trial).
Self-hosted (Host on your infrastructure) plans:
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Community Edition | $0 /agent/month | Free forever; Host on your infrastructure; Captain AI not included; Voice calls not included; Custom branding not included; Agent capacity, SSO/SAML, Roles & permissions, SLA policies, Priority support not included; Community support (Discord/GitHub). |
| Premium Support | $19 /agent/month (billed annually) | Host on your infrastructure; Captain AI included; Voice calls (coming soon) included; Custom branding included; Agent capacity included; Priority email support included; SSO/SAML, Roles & permissions, SLA policies not included. |
| Enterprise Edition | $99 /agent/month (billed annually) | Host on your infrastructure; Captain AI included; Voice calls (coming soon) included; Custom branding, Agent capacity, SSO/SAML, Roles & permissions, SLA policies, Priority support included; Contact sales for purchase. |
Free/Paid summary:
- Free plan availability: Community (self-hosted) and Hacker (cloud) are free forever tiers.
- Free trial: 15-day free trial available for Cloud signups.
- Minimum paid cost: $19 per agent/month (billed annually) is the entry paid tier for both Cloud (Startups) and Self-hosted (Premium Support).
Seller details
Chatwoot Inc.
San Francisco, CA, USA
2017
Private
https://www.chatwoot.com
https://x.com/chatwoot
https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatwoot/
