Chatwoot vs Respond.io Comparison 2026
Both cover dm & comment automation. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Open-source inbox for every channel at once
One inbox for DMs across every messaging app
At a glance
- Chatwoot starts cheaper, at $19.
- Only Chatwoot has a free tier.
Side by side
Chatwoot | Respond.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $19 | From $79 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Paid subscription |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | 7 days |
| API | Yes |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Chatwoot
Open-source inbox for every channel at once
Chatwoot collects website chat, email, Instagram, WhatsApp and the rest into one queue, and it is open source, so the version you self-host costs nothing and keeps the conversation data on your own server. That is the reason most people arrive. The hosted plans are priced per agent for anybody who would rather not run it. Setting up the self-hosted route is a real infrastructure job and the docs do not pretend otherwise.
Our note
Be honest about whether you have somebody who will keep a self-hosted deployment patched, because the free version is only free if that person already exists. If not, the hosted tier at $19 an agent is competitive on its own terms and the open source part is a nice fallback rather than the plan.
Only on this side
- Covers community platforms
Respond.io
One inbox for DMs across every messaging app
Respond.io pulls Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and the rest into a single queue, so a brand deal conversation does not get lost because it started on the wrong app. Routing and automation sit on top, and a person can take over from the bot mid-thread. Pricing counts the contacts you talk to each month, which punishes a big audience of light senders.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.