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TalkingDot vs Chatwoot

TalkingDot vs Chatwoot

Looking for a free Chatwoot alternative? Here is a fair, side-by-side look at pricing and features — including when Chatwoot may be the better choice for you.

Plans checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Chatwoot pricing page

TalkingDot

Live chat software with a shared inbox, chatbots, AI, a help center, proactive messages and reports. Free plan with every feature, unlimited teammates and 300 conversations a month (3 months of history). Starter is $19 a month per workspace: unlimited conversations, 3 teammates and light branding. Pro is $29 a month: unlimited conversations and teammates, unlimited of history and no branding.

Price: Every feature, 300 conversations / mo; $19 or $29 / mo per workspace — not per seat
3 agents: $0 on Free (300 conversations/mo) · $19/mo on Starter (unlimited)
Teammates: unlimited
AI: an assistant that reads your website, plus live translation — with your own key
Channels: website chat, hosted chat page, email, WhatsApp and Telegram

CChatwoot

An open-source customer support platform (shared inbox, live chat, help center, Captain AI) offered as a cloud service per agent or self-hosted for free.

Free plan: Yes, 2 agents (cloud) or self-host
Pricing: Per agent, from $19 / mo
3 agents: $57 (Startups) or $0 self-hosted / mo
Free trial: 15 days

Chatwoot pricing

Cloud "Hacker" plan: free for up to 2 agents, 500 conversations a month, live chat only, 30-day data retention. The self-hosted Community Edition is free forever (no Captain AI, voice or custom branding).

Startups$19 / agent / moCloud. Unlimited conversations (fair use), all channels, help center, 300 Captain AI credits, 1-year retention.

Business$39 / agent / moCloud. Voice, teams, automation rules, 500 credits, 2-year retention.

Enterprise$99 / agent / moCloud. SSO/SAML, audit logs, 800 credits, 3-year retention.

Self-hosted Premium Support$19 / agent / moYour servers. Captain AI, voice calls, custom branding, priority support.

AI & automation: Captain AI credits included each month (300 / 500 / 800 on cloud paid plans); extra credits $20 per 1,000. Self-hosted Captain AI needs Premium Support or Enterprise.

Cloud runs on AWS in the US. The Startups plan is free for open-source projects. Self-hosting needs Linux, PostgreSQL and Redis (4 GB RAM / 2 CPU suggested).

Channels: Website live chat, email, WhatsApp Business API, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, LINE, SMS (Twilio and others) and voice; X "coming soon". Free cloud plan: live chat only.

Prices in USD as listed on chatwoot.com/pricing/, checked October 2026. Taxes may apply; prices can differ by region and change at any time.

Feature comparison

	TalkingDot	Chatwoot
Free plan	Yes — every feature, 300 conversations / mo	Yes — 2 agents, 500 conversations / mo (cloud); unlimited self-hosted
Teammates on the free plan	Unlimited	2 agents (cloud)
Paid pricing basis	$19 or $29 / mo per workspace — not per seat	Per agent per month (cloud or self-hosted support)
Shared inbox, assignment & teams	Yes, with macros, notes, tags, snooze and saved replies	Yes, shared inbox on all plans
Chatbot flows	Yes, included	Automation rules on Business+; Captain AI agent from Startups
AI / automation pricing	Chatbots, answer bot and an AI assistant that reads your website — with your own AI key, so no per-answer fees	Captain AI credits included; extra $20 per 1,000
Help center / knowledge base	Yes, included	Help center on Startups and up
Proactive / targeted messages	Yes, plus popups and surveys — included	Unverified on the pricing page
REST API & webhooks	Yes, included	Yes — API channel and REST API (open source)
Remove "Powered by" branding	Lighter on Starter ($19/mo), removed on Pro ($29/mo)	Cloud: unverified; self-hosted: Premium Support ($19 / agent) and up
Channels	Website messenger, hosted chat page, email, WhatsApp and Telegram (your own accounts), REST API	Website live chat, email, WhatsApp Business API, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, LINE, SMS (Twilio and others) and voice; X "coming soon". Free cloud plan: live chat only.
Voice, video & screen sharing	Voice messages; no video calls or screen sharing yet	Voice and WhatsApp calling (Business and up); audio and video calls in chat through a Cloudflare RealtimeKit integration.
Mobile	Installable web app with push notifications for your team	iOS and Android apps.
Conversation history	3 months on Free, unlimited on paid plans	Cloud: Hacker 30 days, Startups 1 year, Business 2 years, Enterprise 3 years
Lifetime plan	Occasional lifetime deals	No paid lifetime deal; the self-hosted Community Edition is free forever
Self-hosting	Yes (plain PHP + MySQL)	Yes — free open-source Community Edition

Sources: chatwoot.com/pricing/ · chatwoot.com/pricing/self-hosted-plans · chatwoot.com/features

“Not verified” means we could not confirm it on Chatwoot's public pages. Spotted something out of date? Let us know and we'll fix it.

When TalkingDot is a good fit

You want every feature on a free plan — and one flat price for the whole team when you outgrow it ($19 or $29/mo), not a bill per seat.
You want website chat, email, WhatsApp and Telegram in one shared inbox, with live translation.
You want an AI assistant on your own API key: you pay the provider for what you use, no per-resolution fees.
You want a REST API, webhooks, popups and a help center without upgrading — and the option to self-host.

When Chatwoot may suit you better

You want open-source code you can self-host and modify.
You need many messaging channels (WhatsApp, Telegram, LINE, TikTok, SMS) in one inbox.
You want built-in voice and WhatsApp calling.

Switching from Chatwoot

1
Create a workspace
Sign up free and customize the messenger to match your brand.
2
Import your history
Settings → Import history brings your Chatwoot conversations, contacts, tags and ratings across — read-only on the Chatwoot side. How it works.
3
Swap the snippet
Replace the old chat snippet with yours. If you used a JavaScript API, see the JavaScript API.