Customer Support · head to head
Gladly vs Chatwoot
The short version
- Only Chatwoot has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Gladly no pricing is published at any level, and the pricing page states no per agent cost, per conversation rate, minimum commitment or feature tiers; Chatwoot free plan limited to 2 agents and 500 conversations per month
- They diverge on capability: Gladly covers Lifelong conversation, Chatwoot covers Live chat.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Gladly and Chatwoot actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Customer Support).
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 Gladly
- Lifelong conversation
- Omnichannel support
- Customer timeline
- Task management
- IVR
- Shopify
- Salesforce
- Magento
Only in Chatwoot
- Live chat
- Email inbox
- Social channels
- Chatbots
- Reports
- Slack
- Telegram
Both cover
- Knowledge base
- GDPR
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Gladly
- Customer service built around a single customer record rather than ticketsnot Chatwoot
- Handling support conversations across voice, messaging and emailnot Chatwoot
Chatwoot
- Self-hosted supportnot Gladly
- Privacy-first chatnot Gladly
- Multi-channel supportnot Gladly
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Gladly
- No pricing is published at any level, and the pricing page states no per agent cost, per conversation rate, minimum commitment or feature tiers
- The pricing page presents outcome statistics in place of any cost information
- Every route to a figure goes through a demo or sales conversation
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
Pricing, plan by plan
Gladly
$180/month- Hero$180/month
- All channels
- Customer timeline
- Knowledge base
- Superhero$210/month
- Everything in Hero
- Custom reporting
- Advanced rules
Chatwoot
Free- HackerFree
- 2 agents
- 500 conversations per month
- 1 live chat channel
- Startups$19/month
- Unlimited agents
- Unlimited conversations
Which should you pick?
Choose Gladly if
- You need lifelong conversation.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want omnichannel support.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Gladly or Chatwoot better?
- Neither clearly leads. Gladly starts at $180/month and Chatwoot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Gladly or Chatwoot?
- Chatwoot has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $180/month for Gladly and Free for Chatwoot.
- Does Gladly or Chatwoot run on more platforms?
- Gladly runs on Web, Ios, Android. Chatwoot runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted.
- Can I use Chatwoot for free?
- Yes. Chatwoot has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gladly starts at $180/month.
- What is Gladly best used for?
- Gladly is most often used for customer service built around a single customer record rather than tickets, handling support conversations across voice, messaging and email. Of those, customer service built around a single customer record rather than tickets and handling support conversations across voice, messaging and email are not what Chatwoot is typically brought in for.
- What can Gladly do that Chatwoot cannot?
- Gladly covers Lifelong conversation, Omnichannel support, Customer timeline, Task management. Chatwoot covers Live chat, Email inbox, Social channels, Chatbots. Both handle Knowledge base, GDPR, Web support, Ios support.
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.
SourceChatwoot: 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.
SourceChatwoot: 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.
SourceChatwoot: What AI features does Chatwoot include?
Chatwoot includes Captain AI agent for automated responses, Copilot for smart reply suggestions, and live translation features.
Source