Chatwoot
The open source support inbox for website chat, email and WhatsApp
Alternative toIntercomZendesk
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.
Best for 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
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.
On the same shelf
Odoo
The open source business suite for accounting, sales, stock and more
Alternative to SAP · NetSuite · QuickBooks
Twenty
The open source CRM for teams who want Salesforce power without the lock-in
Alternative to Salesforce · HubSpot CRM
Documenso
The open source DocuSign alternative for sending documents to sign
Alternative to DocuSign