Compare / Chatwoot vs Zammad
Chatwoot vs Zammad
Pick Chatwoot if you want live chat plus a help center (the published c17 stack). Pick Zammad if the job is email-first tickets and SLAs.
Facts checked 17 Oct 2026. License, language, and GitHub activity come from the catalog or the project's own repo. "Not in the catalog row" means the public catalog dump does not store that number.
Chatwoot in the catalog Zammad in the catalogStart on Railway
How they compare
| Chatwoot | Zammad | |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT Expat for community code; enterprise/ is a separate license source | AGPL-3.0 source |
| Language | Ruby (chatwoot/chatwoot) source | Ruby (zammad/zammad) source |
| GitHub activity | 37,887 stars, pushed 17 Oct 2026 (not in the catalog row) source | 6,015 stars, pushed 16 Oct 2026 (not in the catalog row) source |
| Self-host | Published as /stacks/chatwoot-support. Shared inbox + help center. | Email-first ticket desk. Catalog row is the product site; repo is zammad/zammad. |
| Best for | A shared inbox and a help center you host. | Email tickets rather than a chat widget. |
Self-hosting and resource needs
Chatwoot is the Medium support stack: shared inbox, live chat, help center, SMTP on Resend. Zammad is the classic ticket desk already in the catalog — expect email channels and a heavier ops box than a chat widget. Both are Ruby. Neither has a one-click c17 Railway template yet; the CTA starts a Railway project.
FAQ
- Which one is the c17 default?
- Chatwoot. /stacks/chatwoot-support and /best/helpdesk lead with it. Zammad is the ticket-desk pick on that roundup.
- Is Chatwoot fully MIT?
- Community code is MIT Expat. The enterprise/ directory has its own license. Skip that tree if you want OSS-only.
- Do I need Onyx too?
- No. Ship Chatwoot first. Add Onyx when the same questions clog the inbox — that is the helpdesk stack FAQ.
- Are these free?
- Licenses as listed. You pay hosting. Template users never pay c17.
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