Chatwoot vs WhatsApp
Chatwoot
chatwoot.comSide by side
| Figure | Chatwoot | |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 4 |
| Spec score · WhatsApp Business API Providers | 9.4 (#2) | 8.3 (#8) |
| Audience | Chatwoot is designed for teams handling customer support, sales, or engagement and for founders and operators moving conversations into one place. | WhatsApp says more than 3 billion people in over 180 countries use it to stay in touch with friends and family. |
| Founded | 2016 | 2009 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Product | Chatwoot is an AI-powered, open-source customer support platform with an omnichannel support desk and knowledge base. | WhatsApp provides messaging and calling for free, with data charges potentially applying. |
| Self-hosting | Chatwoot can be deployed on cloud or on-premises infrastructure using AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, or Heroku deployment methods. | The documented Business Platform is hosted by Meta and the official materials describe direct API access or solution-provider integration rather than self-hosting. |
| Support | Community Edition support is provided through Discord and GitHub, while Premium Support adds priority email support and Enterprise includes phone support and developer office hours. | The developer hub lists troubleshooting, FAQs, API status, a developer community forum and contact support. |
Plans
Chatwoot
- HackerFree
- Startups$19 a month
- Business$39 a month
- Enterprise$99 a month
- Captain AI additional credits$20 a month
- Community EditionFree
- HackerFree
- Premium Support$19 a month
- Enterprise Edition$99 a month
- WhatsAppFree
- WhatsApp Business appFree
- WhatsApp MessengerFree
- WhatsApp Business PlatformPriced on request
In their own words
Chatwoot
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform that combines an omnichannel inbox with a knowledge base. The inbox brings website chat, email, WhatsApp, social and messaging services, voice, SMS, and API conversations together. Teams can use private notes, assignments, labels, canned replies, mentions, and activity logs to coordinate support. Captain, its built-in AI agent, can answer customer questions, suggest replies, summarize conversations, and draw on help-center content. The customizable knowledge base supports multiple portals, multilingual content, and AI-powered search. APIs, webhooks, and bot connections provide options for custom workflows, and Chatwoot can run in the cloud or on a customer’s own infrastructure. Its free Hacker plan allows up to two agents and 500 conversations per month, with 30-day data retention. Cloud plans start at $19 a month per agent, billed annually. Community Edition is free to self-host but does not include Captain AI, voice calls, or SSO/SAML. Chatwoot states that it is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant.
WhatsApp is a free messaging and calling app for Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. Users can exchange text, photos, videos, documents, and location, and make voice calls. Voice and video calls are end-to-end encrypted, have no time limits, and work one-to-one or in groups across iOS, Android, and web; group calls support up to 32 people. Calls can also be made in a browser. WhatsApp says end-to-end encryption keeps personal messages and calls private from others, including WhatsApp. Privacy controls include locked chats, disappearing messages, encrypted backups, online-visibility settings, and blocking unknown callers. Users can report messages, people, or businesses, and block contacts. Up to four devices can be linked to a primary phone, which is required to register an account and link new devices. Minimum requirements listed include Android OS 6.0, iOS 15.1, macOS 12.1, and Windows 10 or newer; iPadOS 15.1 is also listed. Data charges may apply, and calls use an internet connection. WhatsApp Business helps businesses showcase products and services and build customer relationships.