Chatwoot vs Intercom
Chatwoot and Intercom are both customer support tools. Chatwoot is aimed at developers and small businesses, while Intercom is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Chatwoot costs less, from $19/mo versus $39/mo for Intercom. Only Chatwoot has a free plan.
| Pricing | Open source · $19 | Paid · $39 |
| Starting price | $19/mo | $39/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | 15 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses | Small businesses, Enterprise |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web, ios, android |
| Country | IN · 2019 | US · 2011 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Chatwoot if
Companies that want open source, WhatsApp-first support or a low-cost Intercom alternative.
- Open source with permissive license
- Excellent WhatsApp and social channel coverage
- Affordable cloud pricing
Look elsewhere if: Enterprises needing deep analytics, WFM and voice.
Choose Intercom if
B2B and B2C SaaS companies with meaningful support volume and a good knowledge base.
- Fin is among the best AI support agents on the market
- Excellent in-app messenger and SaaS integrations
- Mature workflows and reporting
Look elsewhere if: Very small teams or budget-sensitive startups; Crisp, Chatwoot or Plain cover the basics for far less.
Chatwoot vs Intercom pricing
Chatwoot
- Community (self-hosted)$0Free forever, self-hosted
- Hacker (Cloud)$02 agents, 500 conversations/mo, live chat only
- Startups$19/agent/moAll channels, 300 Captain AI credits/mo
- Business$39/agent/moVoice, automation, 500 Captain AI credits/mo
- Enterprise$99/agent/moSSO/SAML, audit logs, 800 Captain AI credits/mo
Intercom
- Essential$39/seat/mo$29 billed annually; Fin AI $0.99/outcome
- Advanced$99/seat/mo$85 billed annually; workflows, 20 Lite seats
- Expert$139/seat/mo$132 billed annually; SSO, HIPAA, 50 Lite seats
Chatwoot · Key features
- Omnichannel inbox with WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, SMS
- Website live chat widget and help center
- Automation rules, macros, canned responses and labels
- Captain AI agent and copilot
- Campaigns (ongoing and one-off) and CSAT surveys
- Self-hosted (Docker, Heroku, Kubernetes) or cloud
Cons
- Reporting is basic
- Self-hosting needs ops attention
- Fewer integrations than Zendesk
Intercom · Key features
- Fin AI agent trained on your help center, docs and past conversations
- Omnichannel inbox: chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, social
- Help center with AI-assisted article suggestions
- Workflows: visual automation for routing, SLAs and bots
- Proactive support: product tours, banners, outbound messages
- Reporting on resolution rate, CSAT and team performance
Cons
- Pricing is complex: seats plus per-outcome AI fees
- Expensive for small teams compared with Crisp or Chatwoot
- Frequent packaging changes over the years
Chatwoot vs Intercom: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Chatwoot or Intercom?
Chatwoot starts at $19/mo and Intercom at $39/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Chatwoot and Intercom have a free plan?
Chatwoot has a free plan. Intercom has no free plan, a 14-day free trial.