Chatwoottawk.toChatwoot vs tawk.to

Chatwoot vs tawk.to: five seats for $95 or $58

An open-source customer support platform against a free live chat: tawk.to is $37 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Chatwoot if you want to self-host and own the data, and have someone to run it. Pick tawk.to if budget is zero and you can live with the tawk.to branding or pay $29 to remove it. For five people, tawk.to is $37 a month cheaper than Chatwoot ($95 a month on Chatwoot against $58 or more on tawk.to), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $13 under tawk.to. Chatwoot and tawk.to both include website chat in the price; only Chatwoot has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them Chatwoot and tawk.to cover every channel Sellio ships. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Chatwoot and tawk.to sell here at one price.

At a glanceChatwootChatwoottawk.totawk.to
Built aroundOne inbox, self-hostable · open sourceFree chat for unlimited agents · paid add-ons per feature
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Startups, yearly$0 · unlimited agents
Chat in the price$0 · Hacker: 2 agents, website only$0 · $29/mo to remove branding
AI agent$20 per 1,000 credits · Captain, after the plan's allowanceAI Assist from $29/mo · small free tier
Copilot for agentsIn Captain · creditsIn AI Assist
Free planYes · 2 agents, 500 conversationsYes · the core product is free

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    ChatwootChatwoot

    As a conversation in one inbox, whatever the channel, with labels and assignment rather than a ticket. tawk.to has no ticket queue either.

    tawk.totawk.to

    As a chat in the free dashboard; tickets are emails converted into a simple queue. Chatwoot has no ticket queue either.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    ChatwootChatwoot

    $19 buys every channel on Startups; the Hacker plan is free for two agents on website chat only. $95 for five people, against $58 on tawk.to.

    tawk.totawk.to

    Seats are free and unlimited. The money goes on add-ons: branding removal, AI Assist, video, hired agents. $58 for five people, against $95 on Chatwoot.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    ChatwootChatwoot

    Captain, the AI agent, runs on credits: 300 a month on Startups, 500 on Business, then $20 per 1,000. tawk.to meters AI (AI Assist from $29/mo) above the seats as well.

    tawk.totawk.to

    AI Assist from $29 a month with a small free tier; it drafts and answers from your knowledge base. Chatwoot meters AI ($20 per 1,000 credits) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    ChatwootChatwoot

    Website, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, SMS, Messenger, TikTok and Line on the paid plans. email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram are here and not on tawk.to.

    tawk.totawk.to

    Website chat and email tickets; no native WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram. Chatwoot adds email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which tawk.to lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    ChatwootChatwoot

    Self-hosting on your own servers, an open API and a help center; no campaigns or contact center. tawk.to is a free live chat instead.

    tawk.totawk.to

    A knowledge base, a CRM, and human agents for hire at $1 an hour. Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    ChatwootChatwoot

    An afternoon on the cloud; a day or two self-hosted. tawk.to is minutes.

    tawk.totawk.to

    Minutes: paste the widget and start chatting. Chatwoot is an afternoon on the cloud.

Sources: Chatwoot pricing · tawk.to pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Chatwoot inbox: the conversation list with channel icons and the contact panel
ChatwootChatwoot. The Chatwoot inbox: the conversation list with channel icons and the contact panel
The tawk.to dashboard: the visitor list, the chat and the ticket queue
tawk.totawk.to. The tawk.to dashboard: the visitor list, the chat and the ticket queue

Pricing references: Chatwoot pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); tawk.to pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Chatwoot, tawk.to and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureChatwootChatwoottawk.totawk.toSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI by credits
Free chat; add-ons per feature.
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
2 agents, 500 conversations, website chat
Unlimited agents.
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
All plans
The product.
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Startups and up
Ticketing by email on the free plan.
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Startups and up
Messaging channels in beta.
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Startups and up
Messaging channels in beta.
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Startups and up
Beta.
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack integration
Not offered.
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Captain, on credits
AI Assist from $29/mo, trained on the knowledge base.
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Credits by plan, then $20 per 1,000
Add-on subscription.
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to an agent
Hands to agents.
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Conversations with statuses
Basic email tickets.
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Automation rules
Triggers.
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Basic reporting.
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile
Desktop apps.
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Chatwoot if

  • You want to self-host and own the data, and have someone to run it.
  • Telegram and WhatsApp must be native, at a per-agent price.
  • You need email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram in the price, which tawk.to does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is an afternoon on the cloud here and minutes on tawk.to.

Pick tawk.to if

  • Budget is zero and you can live with the tawk.to branding or pay $29 to remove it.
  • You want to hire human chat agents by the hour.
  • Five people cost $37 a month less than on Chatwoot ($58 against $95), before AI.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Chatwoot does not ship.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Chatwoot or tawk.to who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $95 a month on Chatwoot against $58 or more on tawk.to for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Chatwoot meters AI ($20 per 1,000 credits) above the seats, tawk.to meters AI (AI Assist from $29/mo) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need tickets raised from a chat, which neither Chatwoot nor tawk.to includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Chatwoot on Startups: $38, $95 and $190 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. tawk.to: $58+ a month for five ($0 for chat, $29 to remove branding, $29+ for AI Assist); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $50 less than Chatwoot and $13 less than tawk.to for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $95 under Chatwoot.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform built around one inbox, self-hostable; tawk.to is a free live chat built around free chat for unlimited agents. Both have a free plan: Chatwoot's is 2 agents, 500 conversations, tawk.to's is the core product is free. Chatwoot and tawk.to both include website chat in the price; only Chatwoot has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram. Between them Chatwoot and tawk.to cover every channel Sellio ships. Chatwoot ($20 per 1,000 credits) and tawk.to (AI Assist from $29/mo) both meter AI above the seats. Neither Chatwoot nor tawk.to has a ticket queue, and only tawk.to ships desktop apps. Chatwoot is an afternoon on the cloud; tawk.to is minutes.

What each price leaves out

Chatwoot: Captain AI credits included by plan (300, 500, 800), then $20 per 1,000 credits. tawk.to: AI Assist from $29 a month, with a small free tier. Beside Chatwoot's $20 per 1,000 credits and tawk.to's AI Assist from $29/mo, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    ChatwootChatwoot$0.02$4
    tawk.totawk.toSee vendorNot quoted
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    ChatwootChatwoot · 15-day trial
    tawk.totawk.to · Not applicable; the core is free
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Chatwoot vs tawk.to: the questions people ask

Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform built around one inbox, self-hostable; tawk.to is a free live chat built around free chat for unlimited agents. Neither Chatwoot nor tawk.to has a ticket queue, and only tawk.to ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Chatwoot $19/agent/mo (Startups, yearly); tawk.to $0 (unlimited agents).
  • Chat in the price: Chatwoot $0 (Hacker: 2 agents, website only); tawk.to $0 ($29/mo to remove branding).
  • Sellio: all five channels on every paid plan, where Chatwoot and tawk.to each include only some.

Sellio's side of the Chatwoot and tawk.to rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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