Customer Support · head to head
Missive vs Chatwoot
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Missive each plan caps users rather than only pricing them, at 5 on Starter and 50 on Productive; Chatwoot free plan limited to 2 agents and 500 conversations per month
- They diverge on capability: Missive covers Shared inbox, Chatwoot covers Live chat.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Missive and Chatwoot actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Missive
- Shared inbox
- Team chat
- Tasks
- Calendar
- SMS
- Asana
- Trello
Only in Chatwoot
- Live chat
- Email inbox
- Social channels
- Knowledge base
- Chatbots
- Reports
- Slack
- Telegram
Both cover
- GDPR
- SSL
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Missive
- Shared team inbox across email, SMS and social messagesnot Chatwoot
- Collaborating on customer conversations with internal comments and tasksnot Chatwoot
Chatwoot
- Self-hosted supportnot Missive
- Privacy-first chatnot Missive
- Multi-channel supportnot Missive
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Missive
- Each plan caps users rather than only pricing them, at 5 on Starter and 50 on Productive
- Integrations, automation rules and API access all require the Productive plan at $24 per user per month
- Rules are capped at 1,000 per workspace even on the paid tiers
- SAML SSO and IP restriction are Business only at $36 per user per month
- AI features need either Missive AI credits or a bring your own key arrangement rather than being included
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
Missive
Free- FreeFree
- 3 users
- Basic features
- Email & chat
- Starter$14/month
- Unlimited users
- Shared inboxes
- Rules & automation
- Productive$18/month
- Starter + Calendars
- SMS
- Business$26/month
- Productive + API
- SAML SSO
- Priority support
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 Missive if
- You need shared inbox.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android, Mac, Windows.
- You also want team chat.
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 Missive or Chatwoot better?
- Neither clearly leads. Missive starts at Free and Chatwoot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Missive or Chatwoot?
- Missive starts at Free and Chatwoot at Free.
- Does Missive or Chatwoot run on more platforms?
- Missive runs on Web, Ios, Android, Mac, Windows. Chatwoot runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted.
- Can I use Missive for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Missive best used for?
- Missive is most often used for shared team inbox across email, sms and social messages, collaborating on customer conversations with internal comments and tasks. Of those, shared team inbox across email, sms and social messages and collaborating on customer conversations with internal comments and tasks are not what Chatwoot is typically brought in for.
- What can Missive do that Chatwoot cannot?
- Missive covers Shared inbox, Team chat, Email, Tasks. Chatwoot covers Live chat, Email inbox, Social channels, Knowledge base. Both handle WhatsApp, GDPR, SSL, Web 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