# Chatwoot vs Zammad (2026)

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 23, 2026.

> **Verdict:** Choose Chatwoot if you want a chat-first omnichannel inbox with a free hosted plan, Captain AI credits included in paid plans, and SSO on Enterprise, all under the MIT license. Choose Zammad if you want a ticketing helpdesk with a Germany-hosted, GDPR-compliant cloud from 7 EUR/agent/month billed annually, or a free AGPLv3 self-hosted install backed by optional support contracts. The deciding factor is support style: Chatwoot puts live chat first and includes it free, while Zammad starts from email, web form, and SMS tickets and adds chat from its Professional tier.

**Choose Chatwoot if:** You want a free hosted plan to start: Chatwoot Hacker covers 2 agents and 500 conversations a month; You want live chat, email, and social channels in one inbox from $19/agent/month billed annually; You want AI auto-replies included in the plan, with 300 to 800 Captain AI credits depending on tier; You need SSO/SAML and audit logs on a hosted plan (Enterprise, $99/agent/month billed annually); You run an open-source project or nonprofit and want the Startups plan free on request

**Choose Zammad if:** You want hosted helpdesk data in a Germany-based, GDPR-compliant cloud; You want a low paid entry price: 7 EUR/agent/month billed annually for up to 5 agents (Starter), against $19/agent/month for Chatwoot Startups; You self-host and want a vendor support contract, from 2,999 EUR/year for email support with a 6-hour response time; You run ticket-based support across email, web forms, and SMS with SLAs, macros, and triggers; You want a helpdesk used by more than 2,000 organizations, including Amnesty International and Nextcloud

## At a glance

|  | Chatwoot | Zammad |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing | Free tier · paid from $19/mo | Free |
| License | Open source | Open source |
| Best for | teams wanting a self-hostable, MIT-licensed alternative to Intercom or Zendesk with full ownership of customer conversation data | organizations that want a fully-featured, self-hostable open-source helpdesk under AGPLv3, or a GDPR-compliant hosted alternative to Zendesk priced per agent |
| Ratings | Product Hunt 4.7/5 (6 reviews) | Capterra 4.6/5 (7 reviews) |

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Chatwoot | Zammad |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starting price | Yes (free plan; Startups from $19/agent/mo (billed annually)) | Yes (free self-hosted; hosted from 7 EUR/agent/mo (Starter, billed annually)) |
| Free hosted plan | Partial (Hacker: 2 agents, 500 conversations/mo, live chat only) | No (free only when self-hosted) |
| Self-hosting | Yes (full codebase on GitHub) | Yes (full codebase, no feature paywall) |
| License | Yes (open source, MIT) | Yes (open source, GNU AGPLv3) |
| Platforms | Yes (web) | Yes (web) |
| Hosted cloud location | Unknown | Yes (Germany-based, GDPR-compliant) |
| Live chat | Yes (included on the free plan) | Yes (from 16 EUR/agent/mo (Professional, billed annually)) |
| Channels on entry paid plan | Yes (all channels except voice (Startups)) | Partial (email, web form, SMS (Starter)) |
| Messaging and social channels | Yes (social channels from $19/agent/mo (Startups)) | Yes (Telegram on Professional; Facebook, WhatsApp on Plus) |
| Voice and phone | Yes (voice channel from $39/agent/mo (Business)) | Yes (phone support on Plus (25 EUR/agent/mo, billed annually)) |
| AI assistant | Yes (Captain AI credits included; $20 per 1,000 extra) | Partial (optional, about 0.03 EUR per interaction (Professional)) |
| Knowledge base | Yes (help center portal) | Yes (from Professional) |
| SLAs | Unknown | Yes (from Professional) |
| SSO and audit logs | Yes (from $99/agent/mo (Enterprise)) | Unknown |
| Agent limits on hosted plans | Partial (2 agents on the free plan) | Partial (5 (Starter), 35 (Professional), unlimited (Plus)) |
| Vendor support for self-hosted | Unknown | Yes (contracts from 2,999 EUR/year (6-hour email response)) |
| External rating | Yes (4.7/5 from 6 reviews (Product Hunt)) | Yes (4.6/5 from 7 reviews (Capterra)) |

## Chatwoot vs Zammad pricing: which costs less?

Chatwoot and Zammad are both free to self-host, and on hosted plans Zammad lists the lower entry price at 7 EUR/agent/month billed annually for Starter against $19/agent/month for Chatwoot Startups, though only Chatwoot has a free hosted plan.

Chatwoot's free Hacker plan covers 2 agents, 500 conversations a month, and live chat only. Chatwoot's paid plans run $19 (Startups), $39 (Business), and $99 (Enterprise) per agent per month billed annually, with Captain AI credits included and $20 per 1,000 extra credits. Zammad's hosted plans run 7, 16, and 25 EUR per agent per month billed annually (9, 18, and 27 EUR monthly), capped at 5, 35, and unlimited agents, with optional AI at about 0.03 EUR per interaction. Chatwoot gives the Startups plan free to qualifying open-source projects and nonprofits.

## Which is better for live chat, Chatwoot or Zammad?

Chatwoot is the stronger chat-first option, with live chat on its free plan and every channel except voice from $19/agent/month, while Zammad starts with email, web form, and SMS and adds chat from its Professional tier at 16 EUR/agent/month billed annually.

Zammad adds Telegram on Professional and reserves Facebook, WhatsApp, and phone support for its Plus tier. Chatwoot adds voice channels, teams, and automation on Business at $39/agent/month and integrates with Slack and Shopify. Zammad's strengths sit on the ticketing side: macros, triggers, and business hours from Starter, plus SLAs and a knowledge base from Professional.

## Which is more open, Chatwoot or Zammad?

Chatwoot and Zammad are both fully open source and self-hostable, with Chatwoot publishing its entire codebase under the MIT license and Zammad publishing its helpdesk under the GNU AGPLv3 with no feature paywall between community and paid editions.

Zammad's paid tiers exist only for hosted SaaS convenience or optional support contracts, which run 2,999 to 9,999 EUR per year for self-hosted deployments. Chatwoot's code is on GitHub, and self-hosting the full feature set, including voice and SSO, is free but requires ongoing server maintenance and updates. The same upkeep applies to a self-hosted Zammad server.

## Which suits larger organizations, Chatwoot or Zammad?

Zammad has the larger documented footprint, with more than 2,000 organizations and 50,000 users including De'Longhi, Amnesty International, and Nextcloud, while Chatwoot lists SSO/SAML and audit logs on its $99/agent/month Enterprise plan.

Zammad's Plus tier removes the agent cap and adds GitHub and GitLab integration, and its Germany-hosted cloud is positioned for GDPR compliance. Chatwoot Enterprise adds 3-year data retention and 800 Captain AI credits. Both carry small review bases: Chatwoot holds 4.7/5 from 6 Product Hunt reviews and Zammad 4.6/5 from 7 Capterra reviews, so neither rating says much about large-scale use.

## Strengths and weaknesses

### Chatwoot

- Pro: Fully open-source (MIT license) and self-hostable for complete control over customer conversation data.
- Pro: Built-in Captain AI agent is included in plan pricing rather than a separate paid add-on.
- Pro: Free Startups-tier access for qualifying open-source projects and nonprofits.
- Pro: Unifies live chat, email, and social channels into one omnichannel inbox.
- Con: Free Hacker plan is capped at 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, and live chat only.
- Con: Voice channel support requires the pricier Business tier or above.
- Con: Captain AI credit overages cost $20 per 1,000 credits on top of the per-agent subscription.
- Con: Self-hosting the full feature set still requires ongoing server maintenance and updates.

### Zammad

- Pro: AGPLv3 source is free to self-host with no feature paywall separating community and paid editions.
- Pro: GDPR-compliant hosted SaaS option available for teams that don't want to manage their own infrastructure.
- Pro: Wide channel coverage on higher tiers: email, web form, SMS, chat, Telegram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
- Pro: Used at scale by organizations like Amnesty International and Nextcloud, evidence of production readiness.
- Con: AI features are billed per interaction (~0.03 EUR each) on top of the per-agent subscription on hosted plans.
- Con: Phone support requires the top Plus tier, an unlimited-agent plan priced above the Starter tier's per-agent cost.
- Con: Self-hosting requires the organization to manage its own server infrastructure and updates.
- Con: Small review base (7 on Capterra) makes broad sentiment harder to judge than for larger helpdesk vendors.

## Which fits your use case?

| Use case | Pick | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Small startup that wants free live chat on its website | Chatwoot | Chatwoot's Hacker plan is free for 2 agents and 500 conversations a month; Zammad has no free hosted plan and adds chat from Professional. |
| European organization that wants hosted helpdesk data in Germany | Zammad | Zammad's SaaS runs from a Germany-based cloud with GDPR-compliant positioning; the Chatwoot data names no hosting location. |
| Team that wants AI auto-replies included in the subscription | Chatwoot | Every paid Chatwoot plan includes Captain AI credits, while Zammad bills AI at about 0.03 EUR per interaction on top of the agent fee. |
| Self-hosting organization that wants a vendor support contract | Zammad | Zammad sells support contracts for self-hosted installs from 2,999 EUR/year with a 6-hour email response time. |
| Company that needs SSO/SAML and audit logs on a hosted plan | Chatwoot | Chatwoot Enterprise includes SSO/SAML and audit logs at $99/agent/month billed annually; the Zammad data does not list either. |
| Engineering-led team that wants full source access and its own servers | Tie | Both publish the full product on GitHub for free self-hosting, Chatwoot under MIT and Zammad under GNU AGPLv3. |

## Migration FAQ

### Should I use Chatwoot or Zammad?

Use Chatwoot if you want a chat-first omnichannel inbox with a free hosted plan and Captain AI included in paid plans; use Zammad if you want ticket-based email, web form, and SMS support with a Germany-hosted, GDPR-compliant cloud from 7 EUR/agent/month billed annually.

### Is Chatwoot cheaper than Zammad?

Not at entry level — Chatwoot Startups costs $19/agent/month billed annually, while Zammad Starter costs 7 EUR/agent/month billed annually for up to 5 agents. Zammad Starter has no chat channel, which starts on Professional at 16 EUR/agent/month, and Chatwoot also offers a free hosted plan for 2 agents; both are free to self-host.

### Can Zammad replace Chatwoot?

Yes for ticket-based support, since Zammad covers email, web form, and SMS from Starter and adds chat and Telegram on Professional and Facebook and WhatsApp on Plus. Zammad has no free hosted plan and bills AI per interaction, while Chatwoot includes Captain AI credits in every paid plan.

### Is Chatwoot open source?

Yes — Chatwoot's entire codebase is published on GitHub under the MIT license and can be self-hosted. Zammad is open source too, under the GNU AGPLv3.

### Does Zammad have AI features?

Yes, from the hosted Professional tier — Zammad's optional AI features cost roughly 0.03 euros per AI interaction on top of the per-agent fee. Chatwoot includes 300 to 800 Captain AI credits depending on plan and charges $20 per 1,000 credits beyond that.

## Neither a match?

- 5 alternatives to Chatwoot: https://findalternative.to/chatwoot
- 4 alternatives to Zammad: https://findalternative.to/zammad

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Markdown mirror of https://findalternative.to/compare/chatwoot-vs-zammad — findalternative.to, honestly ranked software alternatives. AI info: https://findalternative.to/ai