Chatmail Relay vs Chatwoot

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureChatmail RelayChatwoot
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMPL-2.0MIT
LanguagePythonRuby
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 476★ 35,596
First released20232019
ReplacesWhatsApp, SignalIntercom, Zendesk, Drift

Why pick each one

Choose Chatmail Relay if…

  • Uses open email standards
  • Hard to censor
Chatmail Relay details

Choose Chatwoot if…

  • Polished customer support workflow
  • Active development
Chatwoot details

Frequently asked questions

Is Chatmail Relay or Chatwoot better?

Neither is universally better. Chatwoot has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Chatmail Relay and Chatwoot free and open-source?

Yes. Chatmail Relay is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Chatwoot under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Chatmail Relay and Chatwoot with Docker?

Chatmail Relay: yes. Chatwoot: yes.

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