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Customer Support · head to head

Chatwoot vs Scratchpad

Chatwoot logo

Chatwoot

Customer Support

Open-source customer engagement platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Scratchpad logo

Scratchpad

CRM

Faster workspace over Salesforce for sales reps to update pipeline, take notes and manage deals

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Chatwoot free plan limited to 2 agents and 500 conversations per month; Scratchpad scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • They diverge on capability: Chatwoot covers Live chat, Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chatwoot and Scratchpad actually diverge.

Attributes where Chatwoot and Scratchpad differ
AttributeChatwootScratchpad
Pricing modelUnknownPer user per month
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, Self-hostedWeb, Chrome extension
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Scratchpad

  • Spreadsheet pipeline views
  • Call recorder and notetaker
  • AI field updates
  • Deal and account agent
  • Hygiene monitor
  • Notes linked to records
  • Custom prompts
  • Kanban and forecast views

What people use each for

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

Chatwoot

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

Scratchpad

  • A 60-rep Salesforce team whose forecast is unreliable because opportunity fields are updated once a week in a panic before the pipeline callnot Chatwoot
  • A rep who wants to update twenty opportunities in a grid rather than opening twenty Salesforce recordsnot Chatwoot
  • A sales manager wanting stale and incomplete pipeline records flagged automatically instead of chased by emailnot Chatwoot
  • A revenue operations lead trialling AI notetaking that writes back to CRM fields before committing budget, using the free tiernot 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

Scratchpad

  • Scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • AI credits are metered per user per month at 400 on Solo and 800 on Team, which means heavy notetaking use pushes teams towards Enterprise for capacity rather than for features.
  • There is no proper native mobile application, so representatives who wanted to update records from a car park between meetings are back in a mobile browser.
  • Sync with Salesforce and call processing can lag, and a pipeline view showing yesterday state during a forecast call undermines the exact meeting the tool was bought to improve.
  • It creates a second notes surface alongside native Salesforce notes, so organisations end up with deal history split across two places unless they explicitly ban one of them.

Pricing, plan by plan

Chatwoot

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

Scratchpad

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Workspace limited to 3 views
    • 10 hours a month of call recording and notetaking
    • AI field updates
  • Solo$19/month
    • Unlimited views with sheets and notes
    • Call recorder and notetaker
    • AI field updates
  • Team$49/month
    • Everything in Solo
    • 800 AI credits per user per month
    • Gong integration
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited AI credits
    • White-glove agent services included
    • Enterprise security and administration

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 Scratchpad if

  • You need spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome extension.
  • You also want call recorder and notetaker.
Scratchpad review

Questions people ask

Is Chatwoot or Scratchpad better?
Neither clearly leads. Chatwoot starts at Free and Scratchpad at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chatwoot or Scratchpad?
Chatwoot starts at Free and Scratchpad at Free.
Does Chatwoot or Scratchpad run on more platforms?
Chatwoot runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted. Scratchpad runs on Web, Chrome extension.
Can I use Chatwoot for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Scratchpad is typically brought in for.
What can Chatwoot do that Scratchpad cannot?
Chatwoot covers Live chat, Email inbox, Social channels, Knowledge base. Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views, Call recorder and notetaker, AI field updates, Deal and account agent.

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
Scratchpad: Does Scratchpad work with HubSpot?

No. It is Salesforce-only.

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
Scratchpad: Is the free plan usable in production?

Yes for an individual: full workspace with three views, 10 hours of recording and 100 AI credits a month. Teams outgrow it on views and credits.

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
Scratchpad: Does it replace Salesforce licences?

No. Every user still needs their own Salesforce licence; Scratchpad is an interface on top.

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
Scratchpad: What are AI credits spent on?

Notetaking, summarisation, field update suggestions and agent queries. Enterprise removes the cap.

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