> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://efreedirectory.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Chatwoot's Free Tier Is a Real Help Desk With a 30-Day Memory - URL: https://efreedirectory.com/chatwoot-free-plan-limits/ - Published: 2026-10-20T08:39:39.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-20T08:39:39.000Z - Description: Two agents, five hundred conversations, thirty days of history, and an open source escape hatch that no other tool in this category offers. - Author: Alpesh Gevariya - Tags: tool, Customer Support **Chatwoot's free Hacker tier allows two agents, 500 conversations per month, live chat as the only channel, and 30 days of data retention. Captain AI, the help centre, teams, automation rules, SSO and audit logs are all excluded. Paid tiers begin at $19 per agent per month, and the open source edition can be self-hosted without those limits.**[1](#sources) Five hundred conversations is the largest free allowance in this category after tawk.to's unlimited tier. The exclusions are what shape it. No help centre, no automation, no teams, and a memory that forgets anything older than a month. ## What you actually get | | Hacker (free) | Startups | | ---------------- | --------------- | ---------------- | | Price | $0 | $19/agent/mo | | Agents | Up to 2 | Unlimited agents | | Conversations | 500/mo | Unlimited | | Channels | Live chat | All channels | | Data retention | 30 days | Unlimited | | Captain AI | No | Yes | | Help centre | No | Yes | | Teams | No | Yes | | Automation rules | No | Yes | | Self-hosting | Yes, separately | Yes, separately | The ladder continues at $39 and $99 per agent monthly for larger tiers, all built on the same open source core. ## Five hundred conversations is a real business At roughly sixteen conversations a day, this covers a working support operation rather than a sample of one. Only tawk.to offers more, and its unlimited tier comes with a plainer product. Among platforms with modern interfaces, Chatwoot's free volume is unmatched. Two agents is the binding limit for most teams. The third person forces an upgrade before the conversation cap does, which inverts the usual freemium logic of selling on volume. ## Thirty days of retention is the sharp edge Conversation history disappears after 30 days on free. Not archived, not hidden behind a paywall, gone. For a business with any reason to look back further than a month, whether warranty, dispute or account history, that decides the plan on its own. It is also the limit most people miss when comparing the headline numbers, because it is listed as a row in a feature table rather than in the plan description. ## Self-hosting is the real free tier Chatwoot is open source. The self-hosted edition runs on your own server and does not carry the Hacker tier's agent, conversation or retention limits. That is the same arrangement n8n uses: give away the software and sell the hosting. Anyone comfortable with Docker gets a full help desk at the cost of a server. For a technical team this makes the cloud free tier almost irrelevant. For everyone else, the hosted Hacker tier is the entry point. The trade is the same one that makes n8n attractive in automation: no per-seat arithmetic, no conversation counting, and a maintenance obligation that a hosted plan exists to remove. Budget a server and an afternoon, not a subscription. ## How it compares [tawk.to](https://efreedirectory.com/tawkto-free-plan-limits/) has no conversation cap and no retention limit, but a plainer interface. [Tidio](https://efreedirectory.com/tidio-free-plan-limits/) allows 50 conversations and ten seats, which trades volume for headcount. [Crisp](https://efreedirectory.com/crisp-free-plan-limits/) offers unlimited conversations with two seats and polish approaching Chatwoot's. Chatwoot wins on raw volume and loses on memory, which is an unusual trade to be offered. ## When it is enough A two-person support team handling live chat at moderate volume, who do not need a help centre or automation, and who are content to keep their own records alongside it. A technical team that intends to self-host from the start and treat the cloud tier as a staging environment. An open source project, which Chatwoot's own page says can get the Startups plan free of charge. ## When it stops being enough The thirty-first day, when the first month of history falls off. The third agent, or the first time you need automation rules or a help centre. When a second channel such as email or WhatsApp is required, since free covers live chat only. ## Frequently asked questions **How many agents does Chatwoot free allow?** Up to two agents on the Hacker tier. **How many conversations are included?** 500 conversations per month. **How long is data retained on free?** 30 days. Unlimited retention requires a paid plan. **Which channels work on the free tier?** Live chat only. Voice, email and messaging channels require a paid plan. **Is Chatwoot open source?** Yes. The self-hosted edition has no agent, conversation or retention limits. **How much is Chatwoot after free?** Startups at $19 per agent a month, then $39 and $99 tiers. *Agent limit, conversation allowance, retention window and feature exclusions verified against Chatwoot's pricing page on 20 October 2026\. The open source and nonprofit discount notes also come from that page.* ## Sources 1. Chatwoot pricing: [www.chatwoot.com/pricing](https://www.chatwoot.com/pricing/?ref=efreedirectory.com). Used for: Hacker tier: 2 agents, 500 conversations, 30-day retention. *All sources are the vendor's own plan or documentation pages, checked on 20 October 2026\. Plan terms change without notice, so confirm current limits before you rely on them.*