Chatwoot vs Zammad

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?
FeatureChatwootZammad
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageRubyRuby
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 35,596★ 5,834
First released20192016
ReplacesIntercom, Zendesk, DriftZendesk, Freshdesk

Why pick each one

Choose Chatwoot if…

  • Polished customer support workflow
  • Active development
Chatwoot details

Choose Zammad if…

  • Mature support workflow
  • Good integrations
Zammad details

Frequently asked questions

Is Chatwoot or Zammad 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 Chatwoot and Zammad free and open-source?

Yes. Chatwoot is licensed under MIT and Zammad under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Chatwoot and Zammad with Docker?

Chatwoot: yes. Zammad: yes.

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