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Customer Support · head to head

Chatwoot vs Exotel

Chatwoot logo

Chatwoot

Customer Support

Open-source customer engagement platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Exotel logo

Exotel

Telecommunications

Indian cloud telephony and contact centre platform sold as prepaid credit bundles

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Chatwoot has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Chatwoot free plan limited to 2 agents and 500 conversations per month; Exotel bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.
  • They diverge on capability: Chatwoot covers Live chat, Exotel covers Exophones.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chatwoot and Exotel actually diverge.

Attributes where Chatwoot and Exotel differ
AttributeChatwootExotel
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownPrepaid credit bundle with a fixed validity period
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android, API
CategoryCustomer SupportTelecommunications
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Chatwoot

  • Live chat
  • Email inbox
  • Social channels
  • Knowledge base
  • Chatbots
  • Reports
  • Slack
  • WhatsApp

Only in Exotel

  • Exophones
  • IVR and call flows
  • Number masking
  • Contact centre
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Call recording and quality
  • CRM integrations
  • Communication APIs

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Chatwoot

  • Self-hosted supportnot Exotel
  • Privacy-first chatnot Exotel
  • Multi-channel supportnot Exotel

Exotel

  • An Indian delivery or marketplace platform that must connect customers and riders without exposing either phone numbernot Chatwoot
  • A lending or insurance business running outbound collections that needs recorded, monitored calls from Indian numbers with DLT compliance handlednot Chatwoot
  • A healthcare aggregator routing patient calls to the right clinic by IVR with fallback to a queue outside working hoursnot Chatwoot
  • A product team that wants to trigger verification calls and SMS from its own application over a REST API rather than buy an agent productnot Chatwoot

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Chatwoot

  • Free plan limited to 2 agents and 500 conversations per month
  • Self-hosted option requires managing infrastructure, updates, and external messaging costs
  • Smaller ecosystem and community compared to Zendesk or Intercom
  • AI features require credit consumption and additional configuration

Exotel

  • Bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.
  • Voice, SMS and WhatsApp draw from one shared credit pool, which means a marketing SMS burst can consume the credits your support line needs and force an unplanned top-up.
  • Per-minute billing runs on a pulse of 30 or 60 seconds, so a 61 second call is charged as two full minutes; on high call volumes this materially inflates the effective rate against a per-second competitor.
  • Coverage and pricing are built around India, with a smaller footprint in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, so a business calling mainly North America or Europe gets worse rates and less carrier depth than a global CPaaS provider.
  • The enterprise contact centre tier publishes no pricing at all, so the transparent bundle prices only apply to the small end and larger buyers are back in an opaque sales process.

Pricing, plan by plan

Chatwoot

Free
  • HackerFree
    • 2 agents
    • 500 conversations per month
    • 1 live chat channel
  • Startups$19/month
    • Unlimited agents
    • Unlimited conversations

Exotel

On request
  • Dabbler$9999/year
    • Validity is five months, not twelve
    • Rental component of 4,999 rupees included in the price
    • 5,000 shared credits across calls, SMS and WhatsApp
  • Believer$19999/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 9,500 shared credits
  • Influencer$49499/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 39,000 shared credits
  • Enterprise Contact Centre$undefined/year
    • Full contact centre with supervisor tooling and AI agents
    • Custom credit and agent volumes
    • Pricing quoted, not published

Which should you pick?

Choose Chatwoot if

  • You need live chat.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted.
  • You also want email inbox.
Chatwoot review

Choose Exotel if

  • You need exophones.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want ivr and call flows.
Exotel review

Questions people ask

Is Chatwoot or Exotel better?
Neither clearly leads. Chatwoot starts at Free and Exotel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chatwoot or Exotel?
Chatwoot has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Chatwoot and On request for Exotel.
Does Chatwoot or Exotel run on more platforms?
Chatwoot runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted. Exotel runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
Can I use Chatwoot for free?
Yes. Chatwoot has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Exotel starts at On request.
What is Chatwoot best used for?
Chatwoot is most often used for self-hosted support, privacy-first chat, multi-channel support. Of those, self-hosted support and privacy-first chat are not what Exotel is typically brought in for.
What can Chatwoot do that Exotel cannot?
Chatwoot covers Live chat, Email inbox, Social channels, Knowledge base. Exotel covers Exophones, IVR and call flows, Number masking, Contact centre.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chatwoot: Does Chatwoot offer a self-hosted option?

Yes. Chatwoot provides both cloud-hosted and self-hosted versions. Self-hosting is free with the open-source version, though you handle infrastructure, maintenance, and external messaging costs.

Source
Exotel: Does Exotel publish prices?

Yes for its business phone system bundles: 9,999 rupees for Dabbler, 19,999 for Believer and 49,499 for Influencer. The enterprise contact centre is quoted.

Chatwoot: What communication channels does Chatwoot support?

Chatwoot supports email, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media channels consolidated into a single inbox.

Source
Exotel: Do unused credits roll over?

No. Credits are tied to the bundles validity period, five months on Dabbler and eleven months on the higher packs, and expire at the end of it.

Chatwoot: Is there a free plan for Chatwoot?

Yes. Chatwoot offers a free Hacker plan supporting up to 2 agents, 500 conversations per month, and one live chat channel.

Source
Exotel: Can I use Exotel outside India?

Exotel operates in Southeast Asia and the Middle East as well, but India is where it holds licences, handles DLT registration and has the best rates and carrier relationships.

Chatwoot: What AI features does Chatwoot include?

Chatwoot includes Captain AI agent for automated responses, Copilot for smart reply suggestions, and live translation features.

Source
Exotel: Is there a free trial?

Yes, a seven-day trial with 500 rupees of credit and no commitment.

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