ChatwootZendeskChatwoot vs Zendesk

Chatwoot vs Zendesk: $190 or $550 for ten people

An open-source customer support platform against a help desk suite: Chatwoot is $180 a month cheaper for five people. Where Chatwoot and Zendesk split, and a third option for small teams.

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 Zendesk if your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage. For five people, Chatwoot is $180 a month cheaper than Zendesk ($95 a month on Chatwoot against $275 on Zendesk), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45, comes in $50 below Chatwoot. Chatwoot and Zendesk both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Chatwoot has WhatsApp and Telegram. Between them Chatwoot and Zendesk cover every channel Sellio ships. For a team of two to ten weighing Chatwoot against Zendesk, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceChatwootChatwootZendeskZendesk
Built aroundOne inbox, self-hostable · open sourceTickets and a queue · messaging came later
Entry plan$19/agent/mo · Startups, yearly$19/agent/mo · Support Team: email and tickets
Chat in the price$0 · Hacker: 2 agents, website only$55/agent/mo · Suite Team
AI agent$20 per 1,000 credits · Captain, after the plan's allowancePer automated resolution · rate quoted, not printed
Copilot for agentsIn Captain · credits$50/agent/mo
Free planYes · 2 agents, 500 conversationsNone · 14-day trial

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. Zendesk raises a ticket where Chatwoot keeps a conversation.

    ZendeskZendesk

    As a ticket. Every channel, chat included, becomes a ticket with a status, a priority and an SLA clock. Chatwoot has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  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 $275 on Zendesk.

    ZendeskZendesk

    $19 buys email and tickets. Live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and AI agents start at Suite Team, $55. $275 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. Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats as well.

    ZendeskZendesk

    AI agents are priced per automated resolution on top of seats, and the rate comes from your quote. 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. WhatsApp and Telegram are here and not on Zendesk.

    ZendeskZendesk

    Email, chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and voice on Suite plans; WhatsApp conversation fees still apply. Chatwoot adds WhatsApp and Telegram, which Zendesk 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. Zendesk is a help desk suite instead.

    ZendeskZendesk

    A contact center: voice, workforce management, QA, and a marketplace of over a thousand apps. 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. Zendesk is a project.

    ZendeskZendesk

    A project. Queue, SLAs, routing and macros are set up before the first ticket is answered. Chatwoot is an afternoon on the cloud.

Sources: Chatwoot pricing · Zendesk 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 Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields
ZendeskZendesk. The Zendesk Agent Workspace: a ticket view with the customer, the thread and the fields

What your team would pay

Move the sliders. Yearly-billing rates from each vendor’s pricing page, next to Sellio’s plan for the same number of seats.

5 people who answer customers

50

300 Captain credits on Chatwoot, automated resolutions on Zendesk

3000+
ChatwootChatwoot

$95/mo

All channels, 300 Captain credits a month.

5 × $19 seats
$95
0 Captain credits × $0.02
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. $20 per 1,000 Captain credits beyond the plan's allowance; a reply uses at least one credit. Rates recorded on 2026-09-13.

ZendeskZendesk

$725/mo

Adds messaging, live chat, voice and AI agents.

5 × $55 seats
$275
300 automated resolutions × $1.5
$450
Copilot, 5 × $50
$0

Yearly billing; monthly costs more. Zendesk's pricing page says AI agents are priced per automated resolution and does not print the rate. $1.50 is the figure Zendesk has quoted publicly; change it to what your quote says. Rates recorded on 2026-09-06.

Sellio · Mini

$55/mo

One price for the workspace: 3 channels, 2 AI agents, $5 AI credit a month.

Workspace, 5 of 5 seats
$45
AI past 100 included conversations
$10
Copilot for agents
Included

About $0.05 per AI conversation past the credit, with a daily and monthly cap you set. Yearly billing takes 20% off. See every plan.

Pricing references: Chatwoot pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13); Zendesk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06). Calculator uses yearly-billing rates. Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

5 people, website chat plus 2 more channels, 2 AI agents: $45 a month. Start free, no card.

Start freeSee every plan

Chatwoot, Zendesk 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.

FeatureChatwootChatwootZendeskZendeskSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per agent; AI by credits
Per agent; AI per resolution; add-ons extra
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
2 agents, 500 conversations, website chat
None; 14-day trial
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
All plans
Suite plans
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Startups and up
All plans
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Startups and up
Suite plans, plus conversation fees
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Startups and up
Suite plans
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Startups and up
Third-party apps only
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack integration
Slack notifications and side conversations
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Captain, on credits
All plans, trained on the help center
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
Credits by plan, then $20 per 1,000
Per automated resolution, on top of seats
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Hands to an agent
Escalates to agents
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Conversations with statuses
Ticket-first
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Automation rules
Triggers and automations, form-based
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and CSAT
Explore; advanced on higher plans
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile
Browser and mobile only
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.
  • Five people cost $180 a month less than on Zendesk ($95 against $275), before AI.
  • You need WhatsApp and Telegram in the price, which Zendesk does not include outright.

Pick Zendesk if

  • Your support is ticket-first and email-heavy, with SLAs and a queue to manage.
  • You need phone support and a contact center in the same tool.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Chatwoot does not have.
  • Time to the first reply is a project here and an afternoon on the cloud on Chatwoot.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $95 a month on Chatwoot against $275 on Zendesk for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Chatwoot meters AI ($20 per 1,000 credits) above the seats, Zendesk meters AI (per automated resolution) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Chatwoot nor Zendesk 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. Zendesk on Suite Team: $110, $275 and $550 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $50 less than Chatwoot and $230 less than Zendesk for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $95 under Chatwoot and $455 under Zendesk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform built around one inbox, self-hostable; Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue. Only Chatwoot has a free plan (2 agents, 500 conversations); Zendesk offers a 14-day trial of Suite Professional. Chatwoot and Zendesk both include website chat, email and Instagram in the price; only Chatwoot has WhatsApp and Telegram. Between them Chatwoot and Zendesk cover every channel Sellio ships. Chatwoot ($20 per 1,000 credits) and Zendesk (per automated resolution) both meter AI above the seats. Zendesk has tickets and Chatwoot does not, and neither Chatwoot nor Zendesk ships a desktop app. Chatwoot is an afternoon on the cloud; Zendesk is a project.

What each price leaves out

Chatwoot: Captain AI credits included by plan (300, 500, 800), then $20 per 1,000 credits. Zendesk: AI agents are billed per automated resolution on top of the seat price; the Copilot add-on is $50 per agent per month. Beside Chatwoot's $20 per 1,000 credits and Zendesk's per automated resolution, 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
    ZendeskZendeskAssumed $1.5$720
    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
    ZendeskZendesk · 14-day trial of Suite Professional
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Chatwoot vs Zendesk: the questions people ask

Chatwoot is an open-source customer support platform built around one inbox, self-hostable; Zendesk is a help desk suite built around tickets and a queue. Zendesk has tickets and Chatwoot does not, and neither Chatwoot nor Zendesk ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Chatwoot $19/agent/mo (Startups, yearly); Zendesk $19/agent/mo (Support Team: email and tickets).
  • Chat in the price: Chatwoot $0 (Hacker: 2 agents, website only); Zendesk $55/agent/mo (Suite Team).
  • Sellio: one inbox for every channel: all five channels on every paid plan, where Chatwoot and Zendesk each include only some.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Chatwoot and Zendesk on the same rows.

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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