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Open-source alternative to Intercom

Chatwoot is a free, open-source Intercom alternative: one inbox for website chat, email and social messages. Intercom charges per support seat; self-hosted Chatwoot has no per-agent fee and keeps conversations on your server.

1 alternative Free app Our pick: Chatwoot

At a glance

App Good for Code Import from Intercom Ease of use
Chatwoot Small support teams answering chat, email and social messages together Code Open source Import from Intercom Partly Some setup

Why look for an alternative to Intercom?

Intercom is a customer messaging platform: a chat widget for your website, a shared inbox, a help centre and an AI agent called Fin that answers customers.

Businesses look for an alternative because of cost. Intercom charges per support seat, and Fin charges for each conversation it resolves, so the bill grows with both your team and your customers. Smaller teams often use only the chat widget and inbox. A self-hosted app such as Chatwoot covers those with no price per agent, and keeps customer conversations on your own server.

How Chatwoot compares

Chatwoot

Answer website chat, email, WhatsApp and social in one inbox.

Covers the core of Intercom: a chat widget for your website, a shared inbox for chat, email and social messages, canned replies, labels, team assignment and a help centre. It has fewer automation and AI features.

What you gain
  • No price per support agent
  • Customer conversations stay on your own server
  • Chat, email and social messages in one inbox
What is different
  • Fewer automation and AI features than Intercom
  • Inviting your team and replying by email need an email sending service
  • You connect each channel yourself, once, in the settings
Some setup Open source · MIT
Deploy Chatwoot About Chatwoot

Moving from Intercom

Export your contacts from Intercom as a CSV file and import them into Chatwoot. Past conversations cannot be imported, so keep Intercom read-only for a while. Replace the Intercom chat snippet on your website with Chatwoot's, connect your support email address and social accounts, and recreate your saved replies.

Questions

What is the best open-source alternative to Intercom?

Chatwoot is the free, open-source alternative to Intercom for customer chat in the catalogue today. Covers the core of Intercom: a chat widget for your website, a shared inbox for chat, email and social messages, canned replies, labels, team assignment and a help centre. It has fewer automation and AI features.

Does Chatwoot have a chat widget for my website?

Yes. You paste a short snippet into your site and a chat bubble appears, with your colours and greeting.

Does Chatwoot have AI replies like Intercom Fin?

Not to the same degree. Chatwoot’s automation is simpler than Intercom’s, and most teams use it for support led by people.

Is it really free?

Yes, the app is free. To run them you need Cloudgate and a server. Use hosted Cloudgate, which can also provide the server, or install Cloudgate on a server of your own for free. Cloudgate's plans and prices are at cloudgate.octabyte.io/pricing. One server can run several apps.

Do I need a developer?

No. Cloudgate installs the app on your server and gives it a secure web address. You use it in your browser.