The Chatwoot alternative for teams done running their own server
Everything you self-hosted Chatwoot for, without the upgrades, the Postgres backups and the 2am restart. Unlimited agents, AI drafts and translation included, hosted in the EU.
Last updated August 20, 2026
There are two kinds of people searching for a "Chatwoot alternative." The first self-hosted it, got real value from it, and has slowly realised they are now running infrastructure they never wanted to run. The second is on Chatwoot Cloud and has hit the per-agent bill. This page is for both, and it is not going to pretend open source is a bad idea.
Who this is for#
You picked Chatwoot because it was open source, self-hostable and honest about what it does. That was a good call. But somewhere between the Docker upgrade that broke, the Postgres backup you are not certain is running, and the Redis instance nobody has looked at in months, the maths changed. Or you moved to their cloud and discovered you are paying per agent again.
Chatwoot vs. HelpStack, an honest comparison#
Chatwoot is a genuinely good open-source product. You can self-host it, read every line of it, modify it, and keep your data on hardware you control. For a team with the ops capability and a reason to own the stack, that is a real advantage no managed product can match, and we are not going to argue otherwise. Its channel coverage is broad and its community is active.
HelpStack is the opposite trade: you give up the ability to run it yourself, and in exchange nobody on your team ever thinks about it again.
| HelpStack | Chatwoot | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hostable | No | Yes, open source |
| Source code available | No | Yes |
| Server, upgrades and backups | Ours | Yours, if self-hosting |
| Yes | Yes, from Startups plan up | |
| Live chat (web widget) | Yes | Yes, all plans including free |
| Instagram DMs | Yes, unified inbox | Yes, from Startups plan up |
| Facebook Messenger | Yes, unified inbox | Yes, from Startups plan up |
| Yes | Yes, from Startups plan up | |
| AI reply drafting (human-in-the-loop) | Built-in on every channel | Captain AI, credit-based by plan |
| Auto-translation (40+ languages) | Built-in, two-way | Not natively built-in |
| Live Shopify and WooCommerce order data in conversations | Yes, built-in AI tools | Via integration or custom work |
| Pricing model | Per organisation | Per agent, per month (cloud) |
| Free plan | Yes, unlimited agents, all channels | Hacker, $0, live chat only |
| Entry paid plan | €29/month, any number of agents | $19/agent/month (Startups, billed yearly) |
| Higher tiers | €79 (Growth), €199 (Scale) | $39/agent (Business), $99/agent (Enterprise) |
| Cost for a 5-agent team | €29/month | $95/month (Startups), $195/month (Business) |
| EU data residency | Yes, EU-based and EU-hosted | Yours if self-hosted; check cloud region |
Chatwoot figures verified against chatwoot.com/pricing on 20 August 2026. Prices shown are the annual-billing rate. Plans change, so confirm on their site before deciding.
The free tier difference is worth reading twice. Chatwoot's free Hacker plan is live chat only. Email, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp start at the Startups plan, $19 per agent per month. HelpStack's free plan includes every channel and does not limit agents. If you are evaluating both on the free tier, you are not comparing like with like.
What HelpStack does well#
Nothing to run. No Docker upgrade path, no Postgres backup you hope is working, no Sidekiq queue backing up on a Sunday. If you have ever spent a weekend on a self-hosted support tool instead of on support, you already know what this is worth.
Unlimited agents on every plan. Five agents is €29/month here against $95/month on Chatwoot Startups. Ten is still €29.
AI that drafts, not decides. AI reply suggestions propose an answer from your knowledge base and conversation history; your agent reviews, edits and sends. Included in your plan's credits rather than a separate line.
Two-way translation on every channel. Auto-translation covers 40+ languages in both directions across email, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and chat.
Live store data in the conversation. For Shopify and WooCommerce stores, the AI looks up real orders, tracking and customer details mid-thread. On Chatwoot this is integration or custom work.
EU-hosted by default. Data stays in the EU without you provisioning anything to make that true.
Where Chatwoot is the better fit#
- You have a genuine requirement to own the data on your own infrastructure, whether regulatory or philosophical
- You have the ops capability, and running it is not a burden for you
- You want to read, fork or modify the source
- You need to customise behaviour beyond what a managed product will ever expose
- Your budget is engineering time rather than software spend
- Your volume is small and self-hosted at near-zero marginal cost genuinely beats any subscription
Open source is a legitimate choice and self-hosting is the right answer for plenty of teams. If the list above describes you, stay where you are.
Making the switch#
Connect your support email, add Instagram, Messenger and Facebook with OAuth, and drop a script tag for the widget. Most teams are live in under an hour, which is usually less time than the last upgrade took. Invite every agent, since seats cost nothing, then turn on AI reply suggestions and auto-translation.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I self-host HelpStack like Chatwoot?
- No. HelpStack is a managed service only, and that is a real difference rather than a detail. If self-hosting is a requirement for you, whether for regulatory reasons or because you want to own the stack, Chatwoot is the right choice and we are not a substitute for it.
- Is Chatwoot free?
- Self-hosting the open-source edition is free apart from the servers and the time you spend running it. Chatwoot Cloud has a free Hacker plan, but it is live chat only. Email, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp start on the Startups plan at $19 per agent per month billed yearly. HelpStack’s free plan includes every channel with no agent limit.
- How much does HelpStack cost compared to Chatwoot Cloud?
- HelpStack charges per organisation, so €29/month on Starter covers any number of agents. Chatwoot Cloud charges per agent: a five-person team is $95/month on Startups or $195/month on Business, both at annual rates. The gap grows with every agent.
- What do I lose by moving off self-hosted Chatwoot?
- Control, honestly. You lose the ability to read and modify the source, to keep data on your own hardware, and to customise behaviour past what our product exposes. What you gain is that upgrades, backups, scaling and uptime stop being your problem. Whether that trade is worth it depends entirely on whether running it has been costing you real time.
- Where is customer data stored?
- HelpStack is EU-based and stores all customer data within the EU by default, with no infrastructure work needed on your side to make that true. Self-hosted Chatwoot stores data wherever you run it, which is an advantage if you want that control and an obligation if you do not.