// LIVE CHAT & SUPPORT
Intercom vs Chatwoot
Intercom charges per seat and adds usage-based fees on top — the bill climbs as your support grows. Chatwoot is a self-hosted shared inbox and live chat with unlimited agents and no usage metering.
RENTED
Intercom
From ~$39/seat/mo + usage
OWNED
Chatwoot
Free + your hosting
// AT A GLANCE
How they compare
Intercom
Chatwoot
Pricing model
Per-seat + usage fees
Free, open-source license
Per-agent fees
Every agent is billable
Unlimited agents included
Who owns the data
Intercom's cloud
Your server, your conversations
Shared inbox & chat
Yes (tier-gated)
Yes, fully featured
Lock-in
Proprietary platform
Open data, leave anytime
* Pricing is illustrative of published list rates and scales with seats/usage; open-source figures reflect license cost only.
// THE CATCH
Where Intercom starts to hurt
X
Per-seat + usage
You pay for agents and again for resolutions — costs scale with success.
X
Surprise overages
Usage-based add-ons make the monthly bill hard to predict.
X
Conversations in their cloud
Every customer chat lives on Intercom's servers, not yours.
// THE ALTERNATIVE
Chatwoot does the same job — and you own it
Chatwoot is an open-source customer support suite — live chat, a shared team inbox, multi-channel conversations, and automations — self-hosted with unlimited agents.
Unlimited agents, no seat fees
Live chat widget for your site
Shared inbox across email and social
Canned responses and automations
All customer conversations on your server
// THE MATH
What it costs over three years
Intercom · 3-YEAR LICENSE
$2,800+
Based on 2 seats on an entry plan before resolution and add-on fees; real support orgs see this climb quickly.
Chatwoot · LICENSE FEES
$0
No per-seat or usage fees ever. You pay only for the hosting you already run — plus our flat build & maintenance.
// WHY BUILTSTEAD, NOT DIY
Open-source is only free if your time is.
Chatwoot is capable and free — but it still needs hosting, securing, and connecting to your channels to run smoothly. We install it, secure it, move your data over, connect it to the rest of your tools, and keep it running — all set up in your name. You get the savings of open-source without becoming your own IT department.
01
We host it for you
Deployed on reliable infrastructure, configured, secured, and monitored — no servers for you to babysit.
02
We migrate your data
Your existing records, contacts, and history moved over cleanly, so nothing is lost in the switch.
03
We connect your stack
Wired into your other tools so data flows automatically instead of being re-entered by hand.
04
We maintain & update
Updates, backups, and security patches handled on an ongoing basis — it just keeps working.
05
Set up in your name
Everything is titled to your company on your domain. No lock-in, no markup — the keys are yours.
06
Real people to call
When something needs attention, you reach us directly — not a ticket queue in another time zone.
Ready to drop Intercom?
Get a free audit. We'll price out your switch to Chatwoot, map the migration, and show you the three-year savings — no obligation.
// MORE COMPARISONS
// GROWTH
// FINANCE
// OPERATIONS