Chatwoot - the practical guide.

Chatwoot is an open-source customer engagement platform that's a credible open alternative to Intercom and Zendesk. It supports web chat, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS and API channels in a unified inbox, with a help centre, automation, AI assistance and a self-host or cloud deployment option.

Privacy-conscious teams, regulated industries and engineering-led organisations that want to self-host or run an open-source stack. Also attractive to SMBs and SaaS that like the cloud product's pricing model. Less of a fit for teams without engineering capacity who don't want to evaluate self-hosting.

Open-source Community edition is free to self-host. Cloud Hacker plan around USD 20/month per workspace, Startups around USD 99/month, Business around USD 199/month, gated by agents, contacts and channels. Self-hosted Enterprise edition is quote-only.

Right when you want data control, a transparent codebase and lower long-term cost than commercial suites. Wrong fit when you want a polished AI agent and zero-ops experience - Intercom and Zendesk are still ahead on out-of-the-box AI quality.

Self-hosting means you own uptime, upgrades and security - budget engineering time. Cloud product roadmap moves fast but features lag the leaders. WhatsApp Business setup requires a Meta-approved BSP; factor in onboarding time.