vioscaleAI
Comparison

Chatwoot vs Zendesk

No clear leader: Zendesk (68.2) and Chatwoot (66.4) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Chatwoot full profile →Zendesk full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Chatwoot66
Zendesk68
Score
vioscaleAI score
Chatwoot66 / 100medium · 74%
Zendesk68 / 100medium · 69%
Pricing
Free tier
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Model
Chatwootfreemium
Zendeskfreemium
Price level
Chatwootmid
Zendesklow
Starting price
Chatwoot$19
Zendesk–
Transparent
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✗
Integrations
Count
Chatwoot18
Zendesk1,800
Security
Certifications
ChatwootSOC 2 Type II
Zendesk–
Disclosure policy
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Fedramp
Chatwoot–
Zendesk✓
Gdpr
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk–
Hipaa
Chatwoot–
Zendesk✓
Iso27001
Chatwoot–
Zendesk✓
Pci
Chatwoot–
Zendesk✓
Soc2
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Trust center
Reliability
Status page
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Chatwoot7 items
Zendesk5 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for customer support. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Ticket / case management
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Channels
Live chat
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Shared inbox
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk-
Omnichannel (email+chat+social+voice)
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Voice / telephony
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Self-service
Self-service knowledge base
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Automation
SLAs, triggers & routing
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk-
Automation / macros
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
AI
AI agent / copilot
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Insight
Reporting & dashboards
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Deployment
Hosting
ChatwootCloud + self-hosted
ZendeskCloud only
Enterprise
SSO / SCIM
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk-
Extensibility
Public API
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk-
Pricing
Free tier
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Chatwoot

Consolidates customer conversations from email, chat, social media, and phone into one dashboard, with AI-powered reply suggestions, automated workflows, and a self-service knowledge base to help teams respond faster.

Independently observed

Zendesk

A cloud platform that deploys AI agents to handle customer and employee service requests. Agents improve with each interaction, manage high volumes autonomously, and operate across voice and digital channels without requiring technical configuration.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Chatwoot

from $19/agent/moSubscriptionFree tier15-day trial

From free to $99/agent/month. 15-day free trial. Paid plans include Captain AI credits.

  • HackerFree
    • Live chat
    • Voice
    • Email
    • WhatsApp
    • Facebook Messenger
    • +5 more
  • Startups$19/agent/month
    • All channels
    • Captain AI
    • Automation rules
    • Teams
    • SSO/SAML
    • +5 more
  • Business$39/agent/month, 2-year data retention
    • All channels
    • Captain AI
    • Automation rules
    • Teams
    • SSO/SAML
    • +6 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • All channels
    • Captain AI
    • Automation rules
    • Teams
    • SSO/SAML
    • +7 more
as of verify ↗

Zendesk

Free tier
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
iOS
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✗
Android
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✗
CLI
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✓
Self-hosted
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✗
On-premise
Chatwoot✓
Zendesk✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Chatwoot

26 total
  • Slack
  • Webhooks
  • Dialogflow
  • Rasa
  • Twilio
  • WhatsApp Business
  • Facebook Messenger
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Telegram
  • LINE
  • X/Twitter
  • Email (IMAP/SMTP)
  • WhatsApp
  • SMS
  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Shopify
  • Linear
  • Google Translate
  • Cloudflare RealtimeKit
  • REST API
  • Facebook
  • X (Twitter)
  • +2 more
Independently observed

Zendesk

Not documented yet.

Still deciding?

Chatwoot or Zendesk: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.