# Chatwoot

> The open source support inbox for website chat, email and WhatsApp

Category: Open source alternatives (https://aiarabicdev.com/alternatives)
Canonical page: https://aiarabicdev.com/alternatives/chatwoot
Tags: customer-support, live-chat, whatsapp, helpdesk

Chatwoot puts customer conversations from website live chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and more into one shared inbox, as Intercom or Zendesk do. Its core is MIT licensed and self hostable, while an enterprise folder and the hosted cloud are commercial.

## Facts

- Licence: MIT core, with an enterprise folder under a commercial license
- Language: Ruby
- Cost: Free core, paid tiers exist
- Self hostable: yes
- Added: 2026-10-25
- Last checked: 2026-10-25

## Links

- Website: https://www.chatwoot.com
- Source: https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot

## Every channel in one team inbox

Support teams usually answer customers in many places at once. Chatwoot gathers them: a chat widget for your website, connected email addresses, WhatsApp, social inboxes and an API channel for anything else. Agents get assignments, private notes, canned replies, labels and reports in one place.

It also has a help center for articles, automation rules, and AI assistance for drafting replies and answering from your docs. For businesses in the Arab world where WhatsApp is the main support channel, having it in a shared inbox with your other channels is often the main reason to look at Chatwoot.

## What the move from Intercom involves

Intercom and Zendesk have more mature AI agents, product tours, outbound messaging and large app marketplaces. Some advanced Chatwoot features live in the enterprise folder or the paid cloud plans, so check what the free core covers for your use.

Self hosting is a Ruby on Rails app with PostgreSQL, Redis and background workers, and it must be publicly reachable for the widget and webhooks. The WhatsApp channel goes through Meta's official Business API, which brings its own setup, approval and per conversation charges.

## Reach for it when

- your team answers customers on WhatsApp, email and website chat at once
- you want support conversations stored on your own server
- you want an Intercom style chat widget without per seat pricing

## Watch out for

- it must be publicly reachable for the widget and webhooks, so it adds to your exposure
- WhatsApp requires Meta's Business API, with its own approval and charges
- some advanced and AI features are in the enterprise edition or paid cloud

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