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Chatwoot vs Zendesk
Chatwoot is open-source and self-hosted, providing basic ticketing and live chat without the extensive AI suite Zendesk provides.
Which to pick
Pick Chatwoot if you want…
- Omnichannel support with AI agent
- Open-source live-chat support
- Open-source code (chatwoot/chatwoot on GitHub)
- Integrations with Outlook, Gmail or IMAP/SMTP (on Chatwoot's list, not Zendesk's)
Pick Zendesk if you want…
- AI-powered customer service platform
- Integrations with Email or Live chat (on Zendesk's list, not Chatwoot's)
Side by side
- What it is
- Chatwoot:Open-source platform for omnichannel customer support with live chat, email, WhatsApp, voice and AI assistance.
- Zendesk:Zendesk is an AI-first customer service platform that automates up to 80% of support interactions with self-learning AI agents.
- Best for
- Chatwoot:Omnichannel support with AI agent
- Zendesk:AI-powered customer service platform
- Who it’s for
- Chatwoot:Support teams and businesses that need unified, multi-channel customer service.
- Zendesk:Support teams and businesses that need scalable, multichannel customer service.
- Pricing
- Chatwoot:Freemium
- Zendesk:Freemium
- Plans
- Chatwoot:Hacker $0 per agent per month · Startups $19 per agent per month · Business $39 per agent per month · Enterprise $99 per agent per month
- Zendesk:Support Team $19 per agent per month paid yearl · Suite Team $55 per agent per month paid yearl · Suite Professional $115 per agent per month paid yearl
- Open source
- Chatwoot:Yes, 37,610 GitHub stars
- Zendesk:—
- Works with
- Chatwoot:Outlook, Gmail, IMAP/SMTP, Twilio, WhatsApp Business, Instagram, Messenger, API
- Zendesk:Email, Live chat
Chatwoot features
- Unified Inbox. All conversations from web chat, email, social and messaging channels appear in a single threaded view.
- AI Agent Captain. Automates routine replies, suggests FAQs, translates messages and drafts responses.
- Voice Calls. Inbound/outbound calls via Twilio or WhatsApp are logged in the same inbox with transcription.
- Help Center. Self-service knowledge base with multi-language articles and AI-powered search.
- Automation & Macros. Rule-based actions, playbooks and macros run automatically or with one click.
- Open API & Webhooks. Send messages, create channels and listen to events to integrate with any stack.
Zendesk features
- AI agents. Autonomous agents resolve complex issues across any channel and continuously improve.
- Omnichannel routing. Automatically directs tickets to the right agent based on skill, status and priority.
- Copilot AI assistant. Proactive AI assistant that suggests actions and drafts responses for agents.
- Action Builder & App Builder. Low-code tools and pre-built connectors to automate multi-step workflows across systems.
- Analytics & Reporting. Pre-built dashboards and conversational reporting generate insights from ticket data.
- Security & Governance. Enterprise-grade security, AI governance and sandbox environments for safe testing.
Chatwoot vs Zendesk FAQ
Is Chatwoot or Zendesk free?+
Chatwoot has a free plan (Hacker) and paid plans. Zendesk has a free plan and paid plans.
Is Chatwoot or Zendesk open source?+
Chatwoot is open source (chatwoot/chatwoot on GitHub). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for Zendesk.
Do Chatwoot and Zendesk integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: Chatwoot lists Outlook, Gmail, IMAP/SMTP, Twilio and 5 more; Zendesk lists Email and Live chat.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.