Chatwoot

Chatwoot is an open-source customer engagement platform backed by Y Combinator (W21) with over 22,000 GitHub stars and a 4.5/5 rating on G2 from 15 reviews (G2, March 2026). The company claims 15,000+ organizations use the platform worldwide (chatwoot.com, 2026). Chatwoot supports live chat, email, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok, Line, SMS, and an API channel. The distinguishing factor is the self-hosted Community Edition — an MIT-licensed open-source version that teams can deploy on their own infrastructure at no licensing cost. Cloud-hosted plans run from $0 (Hacker, 2 agents, live chat only) to $99/agent/month (Enterprise), all billed annually. Captain AI, Chatwoot's AI assistant for reply suggestions, summaries, and automated responses, uses a credit-based system with overages charged at $20 per 1,000 credits (chatwoot.com/pricing, 2026).

Converge is a cloud-only messaging inbox at $49/month flat for up to 15 team members, covering WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram, Zalo, Messenger, Gmail, email, and an embeddable chat widget with visitor tracking, UTM attribution, and lead capture. The core difference: Chatwoot offers open-source self-hosting and a wider range of channels (TikTok, Line, SMS); Converge offers flat pricing, AI reply suggestions without credit limits, and native support for Discord and Zalo — channels Chatwoot does not cover.

Chatwoot's feature set is broad for an open-source platform. The shared inbox centralizes live chat, email, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok, Line, SMS, and a custom API channel. Canned responses, private notes, @mentions, keyboard shortcuts, and a command bar are available on all plans including the free tier. The help center (knowledge base) ships on Startups ($19/agent/mo) and above. CSAT surveys, downloadable reports, custom views, business hours, and auto-responders are also Startups-tier features. G2 reviewers consistently highlight the platform's ease of deployment and multi-channel consolidation, though several note the UI could be more intuitive for new users (G2, 2026). One reviewer called Chatwoot "the best Intercom alternative" and praised the pricing model for scaling needs (G2, Luca P., October 2024).

Feature gating across tiers is notable. Teams and automation rules — two features most growing support teams need — require the Business plan at $39/agent/month (chatwoot.com/pricing, 2026). Custom attributes, pre-chat forms, SLA policies, and CSAT review notes are also gated behind Business or Enterprise. SSO and audit logs are Enterprise-only ($99/agent/month). Captain AI ships with each paid plan at different credit allotments: 300 (Startups), 500 (Business), 800 (Enterprise). These credits cover reply suggestions, conversation summaries, a customer-facing AI assistant chatbot, and a content gap analyzer for the help center. Once credits are exhausted, additional usage costs $20 per 1,000 credits — a variable cost that is hard to forecast for teams with fluctuating support volume (chatwoot.com/captain, 2026).

Converge includes all channels at $49/month with no tier gating: WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram, Zalo, Messenger, Gmail, and email. AI reply suggestions with tone configuration (professional/friendly/casual) and quick reply matching are included without a credit system — teams can also bring their own API key for AI features. The chat widget provides visitor tracking with beacon data (device, location, referrer), UTM attribution, session persistence, FAQ self-service, suggested messages, and CSAT collection. Converge includes auto-routing (round-robin or load-balanced), SLA policies, auto-reply with A/B testing, and customer lifecycle tracking at the base price. Converge does not offer a knowledge base, TikTok DMs, Line, SMS, Slack integration, or self-hosting. For teams that need an all-in-one help desk with knowledge base and chatbot builder, Chatwoot covers more ground. For teams focused on messaging inbox efficiency with website visitor intelligence, Converge delivers more at a lower price.

Chatwoot cloud pricing (billed annually, per agent/month) from chatwoot.com/pricing (March 2026):

• Hacker (Free): $0 — up to 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, live chat only, no AI credits, 30-day data retention
• Startups: $19/agent/month — unlimited conversations (fair use), all channels, 300 Captain AI credits/month, help center, 1-year data retention. No teams, no automation rules, no custom attributes
• Business: $39/agent/month — 500 AI credits, teams, automation rules, custom attributes, pre-chat forms, SLA policies, WhatsApp/SMS campaigns, 2-year retention
• Enterprise: $99/agent/month — 800 AI credits, SSO/SAML, audit logs, branding removal, 3-year retention. Dedicated account manager for 20+ agent subscriptions

Self-hosted pricing (chatwoot.com/pricing/self-hosted-plans, 2026):

• Community Edition (Free): MIT license, no agent limits, no licensing fees. Requires Linux server (minimum 4GB RAM, 2 CPU cores), PostgreSQL, Redis, and S3-compatible storage. No official support
• Premium: $19/agent/month — premium support, all Pro features on your own infrastructure
• Enterprise: $99/agent/month — advanced access controls, SLA, dedicated account manager, phone support

Additional costs to consider: Captain AI overages at $20 per 1,000 credits; WhatsApp Business API per-conversation fees charged by Meta through your BSP; SMS delivery fees through Twilio or equivalent; infrastructure costs for self-hosted deployments ($20–$100+/month for server, database backups, and monitoring). The Hacker plan's 30-day data retention and 500-conversation cap make it unsuitable for production use — most teams start at Startups, where a 5-agent team costs $95/month and a 10-agent team costs $190/month without automation or teams.

Converge: $49/month flat for up to 15 team members, all channels, AI reply suggestions with no credit system, 14-day free trial (no credit card). A 5-agent team on Chatwoot Startups pays $95/month without automation; on Business (with automation), $195/month. A 10-agent Business team pays $390/month. Converge includes automation (auto-routing, auto-reply), SLA policies, and AI suggestions at $49/month — a 75–92% cost reduction compared to equivalent Chatwoot cloud configurations.

Choose Chatwoot if:

• You have DevOps resources and want to self-host for data sovereignty — the MIT-licensed Community Edition has no agent limits on your own infrastructure
• You need TikTok DMs, Line, or SMS support — channels Converge does not cover
• You want an open-source codebase you can fork and modify for custom workflows
• You need a built-in knowledge base (help center) tightly integrated with an AI chatbot assistant
• Your organization requires SSO/SAML and audit logs (Enterprise plan, $99/agent/month)
• You operate in a regulated environment where controlling the server stack and data residency is non-negotiable

Choose Converge if:

• You want all channels and AI reply suggestions at $49/month flat — no per-seat scaling, no AI credit caps
• You need native Discord or Zalo support (Chatwoot does not offer either channel)
• Your team is 5–15 agents, where Chatwoot's per-agent pricing reaches $195–$1,485/month on cloud plans
• You need a chat widget with visitor tracking, UTM attribution, beacon data, and lead capture built in
• You want auto-routing, SLA policies, and auto-reply with A/B testing included without upgrading to a higher tier
• You prefer managed infrastructure with zero server maintenance over self-hosted control
• Predictable monthly billing matters — no credit overages, no per-agent multiplication, no annual lock-in surprises