25 Chatwoot Alternatives: Open Source and Hosted (2026)

Your shortlist of Chatwoot alternatives depends on which half of Chatwoot you care about: other open-source support platforms you can self-host (Zammad, FreeScout, Tiledesk, Rocket.Chat) and hosted customer service suites that trade control for zero maintenance (Tidio, Crisp Chat, Zendesk, Freshdesk). Chatwoot is the best-known open-source customer support platform: a shared inbox, website live chat, help center, and Captain AI in one product, available as a free self-hosted Community Edition or as Chatwoot Cloud. Cloud pricing as of July 2026: a free Hacker plan (up to 2 agents, 500 conversations per month, 30-day data retention), Startups at $19 per agent per month billed annually, Business at $39, and Enterprise at $99, with a 15-day trial. Every paid plan includes monthly Captain AI credits (300 to 800), with additional credits at $20 per 1,000.

If self-hosting maintenance, Captain AI credit metering, the limited free cloud tier, or the US-hosted cloud do not fit your team, this guide ranks the 25 best Chatwoot alternatives in 2026. The list is organized by use case (open-source platforms, SMB live chat suites, helpdesk and shared inbox, AI-led support, WhatsApp-first messaging, ecommerce, free), with published pricing where available, key features, and the type of team each Chatwoot alternative fits best. You will also find a quick comparison table, a recap of what Chatwoot does well, a five-step buyer framework, and a 15-item FAQ. Tiers quoted are the vendors' published July 2026 prices; verify before purchase.

Why teams leave Chatwoot

Chatwoot occupies a rare position: real open source with a polished hosted option. Teams usually start shopping for a Chatwoot alternative when one of five limits shows up.

• Self-hosting is an ops commitment. The Community Edition is free, but upgrades, backups, scaling, and security patching are on your team. If the maintainer leaves, the helpdesk becomes technical debt.
• Captain AI is credit-metered. Paid cloud plans include 300 to 800 credits per month; beyond that, credits cost $20 per 1,000. AI-heavy teams should model usage before committing.
• The free cloud tier is tight. Hacker covers 2 agents and 500 conversations per month with 30-day retention. Growing teams hit those walls quickly.
• Cloud data lives in the United States. Chatwoot Cloud runs on AWS with US servers. EU-resident teams either self-host or pick a vendor with EU hosting.
• Ecosystem depth. Chatwoot's integrations are solid but thinner than Zendesk's marketplace or the Shopify-native depth of ecommerce helpdesks like Gorgias.

The side-by-side comparison table

The table below compares every Chatwoot alternative in this guide on the two questions buyers ask first: is there a free plan, and what does the entry paid tier cost.

Chatwoot alternative	Best for	Free plan	Paid from (as of July 2026)
Zammad	Open-source helpdesk and ticketing	Yes, self-hosted	Self-host free; hosted tiers on vendor page
FreeScout	Lightweight open-source shared inbox	Yes, self-hosted	Self-host free; paid modules on vendor page
Tiledesk	Open-source chat plus chatbots	Yes, self-hosted	Self-host free; cloud tiers on vendor page
Rocket.Chat	Open-source team chat with omnichannel	Yes, self-hosted	See vendor pricing page
Tidio	Live chat plus Lyro AI	Yes, 50 conversations/month	Starter $24.17 per workspace (annual)
Crisp Chat	Multichannel inbox, workspace pricing	Yes, 2 seats	Mini $45 per workspace
Chaport	Simple SMB chat, flat tiers	Yes, 2 operators	Pro from $29 (annual)
HelpCrunch	Chat plus email marketing	14-day trial	Basic $12 per user (annual)
Smartsupp	Low flat tiers by operator count	Yes, 1 operator, 25 conversations/month	Solo $17 (annual)
JivoChat	Chat plus phone plus social	Yes, basic features	Basic from $28 per agent (annual)
Zendesk	Enterprise ticketing suite	Trial only	Suite Team $55 per agent (annual)
Freshdesk	SMB ticketing with a free plan	$0 for 1-2 agents (6 months)	Growth $19 per agent (annual)
HelpScout	Shared inbox with a human tone	Yes, up to 5 users	Standard $25 per user
Front	Shared inbox for email-heavy teams	14-day trial	Starter $19 per seat (annual)
Zoho Desk	Budget ticketing in the Zoho suite	Yes, up to 3 users	Standard $14 per user (annual; Express $7)
Intercom	Fin AI agent on a full suite	Trial only	Essential $29 per seat (annual) + Fin usage
Chatbase	AI agent trained on your content	Yes, 50 credits/month	Hobby $32 per month (annual)
Botpress	Developer-grade AI agents	Yes, 100 conversations/month	Plus $150 per month (annual)
Respond.io	WhatsApp-led multichannel inbox	7-day trial	Starter $79 per month
Wati	WhatsApp broadcasts plus chatbot	7-day trial	Growth $59 per month (annual)
Userlike (Lime Connect)	GDPR-aligned WhatsApp support	Yes, 1 seat, 200 conversations	Pro from €87 per month (min 3 seats)
Gorgias	Shopify-native helpdesk	Trial only	Basic $50/month helpdesk, $77 with AI (annual)
Re:amaze	Multi-brand ecommerce support	14-day trial	Basic $29 per user ($26.10 annual)
Tawk.to	Free unlimited-agent chat	Yes, unlimited agents	$0 core; Remove Branding $29 (annual)
HubSpot Service Hub	Free chat inside a CRM	Yes, free tools	Starter from $7 per seat (list $20)

Pricing and features change frequently, verify on each vendor's official pricing page before purchase. Some prices shown above reflect annual billing. Where a price is not listed, published tiers changed too often to verify for this article; check the vendor pricing page. Currency is USD unless otherwise noted (Userlike / Lime Connect tiers are quoted in EUR). Chatwoot pricing was as listed on the vendor’s pricing page in July 2026.

Chatim: hosted chat plus chatbot without the ops burden

Disclosure: Chatim is our own product. Chatwoot's Community Edition trades subscription fees for server maintenance. For SMB teams that want live chat plus a chatbot working today, with no infrastructure to run and predictable per-plan pricing, Chatim offers a hosted widget with native Shopify and WordPress integrations and a free tier for small teams.

Try Chatim free at chatim.app →

The open-source contenders

If open source is the requirement (data control, no per-agent fees, code you can extend), these four are the serious candidates. All are free to self-host; ops cost is the real price.

Zammad, open-source helpdesk and ticketing

Zammad is the most mature open-source helpdesk: email ticketing, web, chat, and social channels with strong search, text modules, and granular permissions. The self-hosted core is free under an open-source license, with hosted plans published on the vendor's site. Compared with Chatwoot, Zammad leans ticket-first rather than chat-first, which suits teams whose volume arrives by email. Best for organizations replacing an aging ticket system that want ownership without enterprise licensing.

FreeScout, lightweight open-source shared inbox

FreeScout is a free, self-hosted shared inbox in the HelpScout mold: clean mailbox UI, notes, assignments, and a large catalog of inexpensive paid modules (live chat, knowledge base, integrations) that extend the core. It runs happily on modest hosting, making it the lowest-infrastructure route to an owned helpdesk. Best for small teams with a part-time sysadmin and email-centric support.

Tiledesk, open-source chat with chatbot design

Tiledesk combines website live chat with a visual chatbot builder and human handoff, self-hostable under an open-source license with cloud tiers on the vendor's site. It is the closest open-source match to Chatwoot's chat-plus-automation combination, with a stronger emphasis on designed bot flows. Best for teams that want an owned stack where the bot does structured work before an agent joins.

Rocket.Chat, open-source team chat with omnichannel support

Rocket.Chat is primarily an open-source team communication platform (a self-hosted Slack analog) that added an omnichannel module: website live chat, email, and messenger channels routed to internal teams. Self-hosting is free, with paid tiers published on the vendor's site. Pick it when internal chat and customer chat should live in one owned system; pick Chatwoot when customer support is the whole job.

Best hosted SMB chat suites

These are the tools teams actually move to when they stop wanting to run servers: hosted, quick to set up, and priced for small teams.

Tidio, live chat plus Lyro AI

Tidio pairs a polished widget with the Lyro AI agent (add-on from $32.50 per month) on workspace pricing: free tier with 50 conversations per month, Starter at $24.17 per month billed annually, Growth from $49.17. Strong Shopify and WordPress apps. It is the most common hosted landing spot for teams leaving self-hosted chat. Full guide: Tidio alternatives.

Crisp Chat, flat workspace pricing with unlimited chats

Crisp bundles chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, a knowledge base, and campaigns into one inbox: free 2-seat plan, Mini at $45 per month for 4 seats, Essentials at $95 for 10. The feature set overlaps heavily with Chatwoot Cloud at a similar mid-team price point, minus the open-source escape hatch. Full guide: Crisp Chat alternatives.

Chaport, flat-tier simplicity

Chaport keeps it minimal: clean widget, auto-invitations, multichannel connections, chatbots on the Unlimited tier. Free for 2 operators; Pro from $29 per month billed annually, Unlimited from $99 with unlimited operators. Best for teams that want chat running in an afternoon with no ops at all. See Chaport alternatives.

HelpCrunch, chat plus email marketing

HelpCrunch combines live chat, a shared inbox, a knowledge base, popups, and email campaigns: Basic at $12 per user per month billed annually ($15 monthly), Pro at $20, Unlimited at $495 flat. It covers support plus lifecycle marketing in one subscription, something Chatwoot does not attempt. Full guide: HelpCrunch alternatives.

Smartsupp, operator-count pricing

Smartsupp's free plan covers 1 operator with 25 conversations per month, with Solo at $17 per month billed annually and Plus at $25 (3 operators), both unlimited-agent. Visitor recordings and an AI shopping assistant target ecommerce. The flat model undercuts per-agent cloud pricing for bigger teams. See Smartsupp alternatives.

JivoChat, one agent app for every channel

JivoChat lands website chat, telephony (via its Telephony Plus module), email, and social messengers in one agent app: free basic plan, Basic from $28 per agent per month billed annually (Professional $42). It adds a voice channel through its telephony module at SMB pricing. Full guide: JivoChat alternatives.

Best helpdesk and shared inbox alternatives

Pick from this group when tickets, SLAs, and reporting matter more than the chat widget.

Zendesk, the enterprise yardstick

Zendesk Suite bundles ticketing, messaging, help center, voice, and AI agents ($1.50 per resolution) with the deepest integration marketplace in the category. Suite Team is $55 per agent per month billed annually; a ticketing-only Support Team plan starts from $19. The polar opposite of self-hosting: maximum ecosystem, maximum per-agent cost. Full guide: Zendesk alternatives.

Freshdesk, SMB ticketing with a real free plan

Freshdesk offers ticketing, collaboration, a knowledge base, and Freddy AI, with a $0-for-6-months program for 1-2 agents and paid tiers from $19 per agent per month billed annually (Growth). It is the most common hosted ticket-first alternative for teams outgrowing an owned helpdesk without enterprise budgets.

HelpScout, the human-tone inbox

HelpScout hides ticket numbers from customers and keeps agents in a clean shared inbox with Docs and Beacon chat. Free covers up to 5 users; Standard is $25 per user per month, Plus $45. Closest hosted analog to FreeScout (which cloned its model) with none of the maintenance. Full guide: HelpScout alternatives.

Front, the email-centric team inbox

Front unifies email, chat, SMS, and social in a collaborative inbox with assignments and SLA rules: Starter at $19 per seat per month billed annually, Growth at $59. Best for ops and logistics teams living in email threads. See Front alternatives.

Zoho Desk, the Zoho-suite value pick

Zoho Desk runs from a free 3-user plan to Standard at $14 per user per month, Professional at $23, and Enterprise at $40, all billed annually, with tight Zoho CRM and SalesIQ integration. The value pick for teams already on Zoho. See Zoho alternatives.

Best AI-led Chatwoot alternatives

Chatwoot's Captain AI assists agents and answers from your help center on metered credits. These platforms make the AI the centerpiece.

Intercom, the AI-first support platform

Intercom's Fin resolves conversations against your help content, with everything unresolved landing in a staffed inbox with routing and reporting. Essential is $29 per seat per month billed annually plus per-resolution Fin usage. The strongest AI-plus-humans combination, at the highest total cost in this guide. Full breakdown: Intercom alternatives.

Chatbase, AI agent trained on your content

Chatbase trains an AI support agent on your website and documents and deploys it to web, Slack, WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram, with advanced OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini models on paid tiers. Free tier with 50 message credits; Hobby at $32 per month billed annually, Standard at $120 with helpdesk, voice, and API access. Pick it when the bot is the product; pair it with a human channel for escalations.

Botpress, developer-grade AI agents

Botpress gives developers a visual flow builder plus LLM orchestration, deployable to web, WhatsApp, Messenger, Slack, and Teams. Free tier with 100 conversations per month and AI usage included; Plus at $150 per month billed annually (250 conversations). An open-source core is also published, which keeps it on self-hosting shortlists alongside Chatwoot itself.

The WhatsApp-first options

Chatwoot connects WhatsApp via the Business API, but messaging-first platforms make it the core product.

Respond.io, messaging channels as the product

Respond.io unifies WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, and SMS with automation workflows and broadcasts, priced by monthly active contacts: Starter at $79 per month, Growth at $159. Best when support volume lives in messaging apps rather than on the website. Full guide: Respond.io alternatives.

Wati, WhatsApp-only automation for SMBs

Wati is a WhatsApp Business Platform partner for SMBs: broadcasts, a no-code chatbot, and a team inbox from $59 per month billed annually (Growth, 3 users), with message charges passed through. The lower-cost entry into serious WhatsApp support.

Userlike (now Lime Connect), WhatsApp support the GDPR way

Userlike, rebranded to Lime Connect after its September 2025 acquisition, pairs website chat with WhatsApp channels and EU data residency: free 1-seat plan (200 conversations), Pro from €87 per month (minimum 3 seats). The hosted answer to the EU-hosting concern that pushes some teams toward self-hosted Chatwoot. Full guide: Userlike alternatives.

Ecommerce-first Chatwoot replacements

Chatwoot's ecommerce workflows are general-purpose. These two are built around the order.

Gorgias, ecommerce support that sells

Gorgias surfaces Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce order data next to every conversation and automates where-is-my-order replies, on ticket-volume pricing that is never per agent: helpdesk-only Basic at $50 per month billed annually (300 tickets), or $77 with the optional AI Agent (30 automated interactions, then $1.50 each). Full guide: Gorgias alternatives.

Re:amaze, cheap seats with AI included

Re:amaze handles chat, email, social, and push with first-class multi-brand support for operators running several storefronts: Basic at $29 per user per month ($26.10 annual), plus a flat-rate volume tier with unlimited agents. See Re:amaze alternatives.

Free options that hold up

Chatwoot's Hacker plan and Community Edition are already free; these two are the hosted free options to compare.

Tawk.to, the free-forever option

Tawk.to keeps live chat free with unlimited agents and chats, monetizing through add-ons (Remove Branding at $29 per month billed annually, AI Assist from $29). No ticketing engine, no self-hosting, no server bills. The zero-cost hosted baseline every self-hosting plan should be compared against. Full guide: Tawk.to alternatives.

HubSpot Service Hub, chat bundled with the CRM

HubSpot's free tools bundle live chat, a shared inbox, ticketing basics, and the CRM, with Starter from $7 per seat per month (list $20). Every conversation lands on the contact record. Costs ramp at Professional ($90-$100 per seat), so model the growth path. See HubSpot alternatives.

A short framework for deciding

Five questions turn 25 options into a shortlist.

• 1. Is open source the requirement or the habit? If data ownership or extensibility is contractual, shortlist Zammad, FreeScout, Tiledesk, and Rocket.Chat. If open source was just the free entry point, a hosted free tier (Tawk.to, HubSpot, Tidio, Smartsupp) may cost less than your server time.
• 2. Count the real ops budget. Price self-hosting honestly: server costs, upgrade windows, backups, and the bus factor. Compare that number against Chatwoot Cloud, Crisp, or Tidio at your seat count.
• 3. Chat-first or ticket-first? Chat-first teams fit the SMB suites (Tidio, Crisp, Chaport, Smartsupp, JivoChat). Ticket-first teams fit Zammad, Freshdesk, Zendesk, HelpScout, Zoho Desk, or Front.
• 4. Where must data live? EU residency: self-host, or pick Userlike / Lime Connect and EU-hosted plans. US cloud is fine: everything on this list qualifies.
• 5. How much AI, on whose meter? Credit-metered AI (Chatwoot Captain, Crisp, Chatbase, Tawk.to AI Assist) suits predictable volume; per-resolution (Zendesk, Intercom Fin) scales with outcomes; bundled AI (Tidio Lyro add-on, Freshdesk Freddy) is easiest to budget.

Chatwoot: strengths and price tags

Switching is not always the right call. Chatwoot remains the reference open-source support platform, and its cloud pricing is competitive even against closed rivals.

What Chatwoot does well: a genuinely open-source Community Edition you can self-host free; a shared inbox spanning live chat, email, and social channels; help center and team features on every paid plan; Captain AI (assistant, copilot, summarization) with 300 to 800 bundled credits on paid tiers; a free Hacker cloud plan for 2 agents; transparent per-agent pricing ($19 Startups, $39 Business, $99 Enterprise, billed annually) with a 15-day trial; API-based data export; and a free Startups plan for open-source projects and nonprofits.

Where it falls short: self-hosting demands real ops capacity; Captain AI credits meter at $20 per 1,000 beyond the bundle; the Hacker plan caps at 500 conversations per month with 30-day retention; cloud hosting is US-only; voice arrives only on higher tiers; and the integration catalog trails Zendesk's marketplace and Shopify-native helpdesks.

Questions buyers ask

For the broader chat landscape, see our guides on the best live chat platforms, Tidio alternatives, Crisp Chat alternatives, and Zendesk alternatives. For platform-specific picks, see WordPress live chat plugins and live chat for Shopify.