Chatwoot vs Plain
Chatwoot and Plain are both customer support tools aimed at developers and small businesses. Chatwoot costs less, from $19/mo versus $45/mo for Plain. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Open source · $19 | Freemium · $45 |
| Starting price | $19/mo | $45/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 15 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses | Developers, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | IN · 2019 | GB · 2020 |
| 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 Plain if
B2B and developer-focused SaaS.
- Built for B2B support in Slack
- Developer-friendly API
- Modern, fast UI
Look elsewhere if: High-volume consumer support (Zendesk, Gorgias).
Chatwoot vs Plain 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
Plain
- Foundation$45/user/moBilled annually; up to 5 seats, 1,000 AI credits/mo
- Horizon$99/user/moBilled annually; 3-10 seats, 2,500 AI credits, SLAs, Teams
- FrontierCustomMultiple workspaces, SSO/SCIM, HIPAA
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
Plain · Key features
- Unified inbox for Slack, Teams, email, Discord, chat
- Customer context via API
- Tiers, SLAs and routing
- AI triage and drafting
- Linear and Jira integration
- API-first architecture
Cons
- Per-seat pricing
- Less suited for B2C volume
- Younger product
Chatwoot vs Plain: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Chatwoot or Plain?
Chatwoot starts at $19/mo and Plain at $45/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Chatwoot and Plain have a free plan?
Yes, both Chatwoot and Plain have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.