wacrm vs Chatwoot: an honest open-source comparison
Chatwoot is the best-known open-source customer-support platform, and the first name most people find when they search for a self-hosted WhatsApp inbox. wacrm is an open-source WhatsApp CRM. Both are MIT-licensed, both run on the official WhatsApp Business API, and both can be self-hosted for free, so the usual "open source vs SaaS" argument doesn't apply here.
The real difference is what each tool is for. Chatwoot is a support desk that treats WhatsApp as one channel among many. wacrm is a sales CRM built around WhatsApp, with deal pipelines in the box. This comparison is about which of those two shapes fits your team.
TL;DR — which should you pick?
- Pick wacrm if WhatsApp is your main channel and your conversations turn into deals: you want a shared inbox and a kanban pipeline in one app, on a light stack (Next.js and Supabase), with no per-agent bill.
- Pick Chatwoot if you run customer support across several channels (live chat, email, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, SMS and WhatsApp), want a help center and mobile apps, and don't need deal pipelines — or are happy to pair it with a separate CRM.
wacrm vs Chatwoot at a glance
| wacrm | Chatwoot | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | WhatsApp sales CRM | Omnichannel support desk |
| License | MIT | MIT core; enterprise/ folder licensed separately |
| Self-hosted cost | Free, no per-agent fee | Free (Community Edition), no per-agent fee |
| Hosted cloud | No — you host it | $19 / $39 / $99 per agent/mo |
| Channels | WhatsApp (focused) | Live chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, SMS and more |
| Sales pipelines | Yes (kanban deals) | No native deal pipelines |
| Shared inbox | Yes | Yes |
| WhatsApp broadcasts | Yes | Yes (campaigns, Business plan and up on Cloud) |
| No-code automations | Yes, plus branching flows | Yes (Business plan and up on Cloud) |
| AI | Bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic key, at cost | Captain AI, with credits per plan |
| Help center / knowledge base | No | Yes |
| Mobile apps | No (responsive web) | Yes (iOS and Android) |
| Self-host stack | Next.js + Supabase (Postgres) | Rails + PostgreSQL + Redis + Sidekiq |
| Maturity | Young, fast-moving | Since 2017, 37,000+ GitHub stars |
Chatwoot Cloud prices are from its pricing page in October 2026 and change over time — check the current plans before you commit. Meta's WhatsApp Business API messaging fees apply to both tools and are billed by Meta.
Comparing hosted tools too? See wacrm vs Trengo for a hosted support desk, and the full open-source WhatsApp CRM roundup.
Why teams compare wacrm and Chatwoot
Most teams that land here started with Chatwoot, connected their WhatsApp number, and then hit one of two walls.
There is nowhere to put the deal. Chatwoot is excellent at answering conversations: assignment, labels, canned responses, internal notes, reports. But it has no deal pipeline, so once a WhatsApp chat turns into a quote, an order or a booking, the sales side lives somewhere else. The common fix in 2026 is to pair Chatwoot with a separate open-source CRM such as Twenty, which works but means two apps, two databases and an integration to keep in sync.
The stack is heavier than the job. Self-hosting Chatwoot means running a Rails app, PostgreSQL, Redis and a Sidekiq background worker. That is a real server with real upkeep, which is the right trade for a support team running seven channels and less obviously right for a small team that only uses WhatsApp.
wacrm exists for the second shape: WhatsApp-first teams whose conversations end in a sale.
wacrm vs Chatwoot, feature by feature
Pricing
Self-hosted, both are free: no license fee and no per-agent charge. You pay for hosting and for Meta's messaging either way. The difference only appears if you want someone else to run it. Chatwoot Cloud is billed per agent — $19 on Startups, $39 on Business (where automations, teams and WhatsApp campaigns unlock) and $99 on Enterprise — so five agents on Business is $195 a month. wacrm has no hosted edition, but it runs comfortably on a managed Node.js plan with one flat price for the whole team.
Sales pipelines and contacts
This is wacrm's clearest win. Pipelines are kanban boards of deals with your own stages, deal values, and total pipeline value and won % at a glance, and every deal is one click from its WhatsApp thread. Contacts carry tags, custom fields and CSV import. Chatwoot has contacts with custom attributes, but no deals and no pipeline view.
Channels
This is Chatwoot's clearest win. It brings live chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, SMS and more into one inbox, with a website chat widget and a help center on top. wacrm is WhatsApp-only and does not pull in other channels. If your customers reach you everywhere, Chatwoot fits better.
Inbox and automations
Both have a shared team inbox with assignment and internal notes. wacrm adds WhatsApp-specific depth — templates managed in-app with Meta's approval status, reactions and quote-replies — plus automations and button-driven flows for no-code chatbots with human handoff. Chatwoot's automation rules and its WhatsApp campaigns are solid, and on Chatwoot Cloud both sit on the Business plan and above.
AI
Chatwoot ships Captain, its own AI agent, with a monthly allowance of credits on each Cloud plan and extra credits at $20 per 1,000. wacrm's AI assistant uses your own OpenAI or Anthropic key: it drafts replies, can run an auto-reply bot with handoff, and answers from your own knowledge base, and you pay the provider at cost. See free AI WhatsApp CRM for how that model works.
Self-hosting and customisation
wacrm runs on Next.js with a Supabase project as its database and auth, so the moving parts are one Node app and one managed Postgres. Chatwoot needs more pieces but rewards you with a mature, heavily deployed codebase. Both are MIT, so both can be forked; wacrm is small enough that forking it to rebrand per client is a normal way to use it.
Where Chatwoot is still the better choice
- You need many channels in one inbox — live chat, email, social and SMS, not just WhatsApp.
- You run a support desk, with a help center, CSAT and reporting built for support teams rather than sales.
- You want mobile apps for agents on the move.
- You value maturity: Chatwoot has been in production since 2017, with a large community and a long record of fixes.
- You want it hosted for you without managing any infrastructure — Chatwoot Cloud is an option wacrm does not offer.
If that describes your team, Chatwoot is the better choice. wacrm is for the team that lives in WhatsApp and needs the inbox and the pipeline in one place.
Running both, or moving from Chatwoot to wacrm
Some teams keep Chatwoot for support across channels and run wacrm for the WhatsApp sales number. If you are moving entirely:
- Export your contacts from Chatwoot as a CSV.
- Fork and deploy wacrm — see Getting started and Deploy on Hostinger.
- Import the CSV into wacrm's contact hub and set up your pipeline stages.
- Point your WhatsApp Business API number at wacrm — see WhatsApp setup. Pointing the webhook at wacrm moves incoming messages over, so plan the switch for a quiet hour.
Conversation history does not transfer between the two systems. You carry your contacts and templates (templates live in your Meta account, not in either app) and start fresh on threads.
Frequently asked questions
Is wacrm an alternative to Chatwoot?
For WhatsApp-first sales teams, yes. Both are MIT-licensed, open source, free to self-host and built on the official WhatsApp Business API. Chatwoot is an omnichannel support desk; wacrm is a WhatsApp CRM with a shared inbox and kanban deal pipelines. If you need many channels and a help center, Chatwoot is the better fit.
Does Chatwoot have sales pipelines?
No. Chatwoot has contacts with custom attributes, labels and reports, but no native deals or pipeline view. Teams that need one usually pair it with a separate CRM such as Twenty. wacrm has kanban pipelines built in, with every deal one click from its WhatsApp thread.
How much does Chatwoot cost compared to wacrm?
Self-hosted, both are free, with no license fee and no per-agent charge. Chatwoot Cloud costs $19 (Startups), $39 (Business) or $99 (Enterprise) per agent per month on its October 2026 pricing, and automations and WhatsApp campaigns start on Business. wacrm has no hosted edition; you pay only for your own hosting and Meta's messaging, which applies to Chatwoot too.
Is wacrm easier to self-host than Chatwoot?
It has fewer moving parts. wacrm is a Next.js app with a Supabase project for the database and auth. Chatwoot needs a Rails app, PostgreSQL, Redis and a Sidekiq worker. Chatwoot is far more mature, though, with production use since 2017.
Can I move from Chatwoot to wacrm?
Contacts, yes: export them from Chatwoot as CSV and import them into wacrm. Message templates live in your Meta account, so they carry over. Conversation history does not transfer between the two systems, so you start fresh on threads after pointing your WhatsApp number at wacrm.
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Run your own WhatsApp CRM
Fork it, self-host it, own your data. No per-agent pricing — you only ever pay Meta for messaging. The fastest route is Managed Node.js Hosting: connect your fork and it builds and deploys itself.