Chatwoot review

Chatwoot brings customer conversations from website chat, email, social and messaging channels into a shared support inbox. Agents can reply in one threaded queue rather than switching between channel-specific inboxes. The product also includes Captain AI for answering routine questions, handing conversations to people and suggesting FAQs from your content; a help center; voice calling; and conversation automation.

For a team weighing a move from a larger support suite, the key distinction is the plan ladder: Chatwoot’s free Hacker plan is limited to live chat, while the paid plans add multichannel support and, at higher tiers, voice and automation. The pricing page lists Startups at $19 per agent per month, Business at $39 and Enterprise at $99. Those are monthly prices; annual prices are not published. There is also a 15-day free trial.

Chatwoot is most relevant if you want customer messaging and basic support workflows together, but should compare plan caps against your actual agent count, volume and feature needs before switching.

The clearest value is multichannel support at the $19-per-agent Startups tier. According to the pricing details, it includes all channels, a help center, 300 Captain AI credits and unlimited conversations subject to fair use. That makes the free plan a way to start with live chat, not a like-for-like free replacement for a multichannel help desk.

The shared inbox is the product’s center of gravity: website, email, social and messaging conversations appear in one threaded queue. Captain can answer routine questions, hand off to agents and suggest FAQs based on your content. Agents can also translate messages with Captain or Google Translate, and use macros manually or trigger them with rules.

Business adds voice through Twilio Voice or WhatsApp calling, teams and automation rules, alongside 500 Captain AI credits. That puts calling and rule-based workflows behind a clear price step, rather than implying they are included in the $19 plan. The help center supports multilingual articles, portal customization and AI-powered search.

There is at least some user interest in connecting Chatwoot to automation tools: one Reddit thread describes a Chatwoot-and-n8n setup with human intervention when an AI agent needs help. Treat that as a user example, not a guarantee of a supported integration.

The free Hacker plan is tightly capped: up to 2 agents, 500 conversations per month, live chat only and 30-day data retention. It does not include the multichannel coverage listed for Startups. Teams that need email or social support should budget from $19 per agent monthly, and those needing voice or automation rules from $39.

The higher tiers add meaningful costs as seats grow: Enterprise is $99 per agent per month and is the listed tier for SSO/SAML and audit logs. Startups includes 300 Captain AI credits, Business 500 and Enterprise 800; additional credits cost $20 per 1,000. The published pricing details do not say how quickly particular workflows consume credits, so estimate usage before relying on AI at scale. Conversation counts on paid plans are described as unlimited but subject to fair use.

Pricing is monthly per agent, and annual billing prices are not published. That makes long-term cost comparisons less precise. The 15-day trial gives a short evaluation window, but the plan details—not the trial—are what determine whether Chatwoot replaces your current stack without needing a tier upgrade.

Chatwoot has a free Hacker plan for up to 2 agents and 500 conversations a month, with live chat and 30-day data retention. Paid plans are priced per agent monthly: Startups is $19, Business is $39 and Enterprise is $99. The pricing page lists a 15-day free trial, but does not publish annual prices.

The main cost jump is from Startups to Business: $20 more per agent each month adds voice, teams, automation rules and 500 Captain AI credits instead of 300. Enterprise costs another $60 per agent monthly and adds SSO/SAML, audit logs and 800 credits. Startups includes all channels and a help center; conversations are unlimited on paid tiers, subject to fair use. Extra Captain AI credits cost $20 per 1,000. Budget by agent count, and don’t treat “unlimited conversations” as unlimited AI usage. Voice and automation aren’t included on the free plan.

The available materials don’t specify import tools, supported migration formats, export options or migration services, so we can’t confirm how much of your existing conversation history, contacts or help-center content can move. Before switching, ask Chatwoot for the import and export process, what data is included, and whether attachments and timestamps carry over. Test the handoff with a small sample before moving your whole team.

Lock-in may matter if you build workflows around Captain, automation rules, channels or the customizable help center; the sources don’t say whether those configurations can be exported for use elsewhere. Retention also varies by plan: 30 days on Hacker, one year on Startups, two years on Business and three years on Enterprise. We don’t have Reddit posts or comments in the published material, so we can’t responsibly attribute reasons for leaving to users there. Get the exit terms in writing before you commit.