Self-hosted alternatives to Intercom
Want live chat for websites without handing your data to Intercom? These 8 open-source apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot direct | Actively maintained | 38.8k | ⊘ Proprietary | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Tiledesk direct | Maintained | 326 | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| FreeScout | Actively maintained | 4.6k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Erxes | Actively maintained | 4.1k | AGPL-3.0, Commons-Clause | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Frappe Helpdesk | Actively maintained | 3.5k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Libredesk | Actively maintained | 3.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Live Helper Chat | Actively maintained | 2.3k | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| OTOBO | Actively maintained | 340 | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Chatwoot
Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-04. Latest release v4.19.1 (2026-10-24). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Tiledesk
All-in-one customer engagement platform from lead-gen to post-sales, from WhatsApp to your website. With omni-channel live agents and AI-powered chatbots (alternative to Intercom, Zendesk, Tawk.to).
Maintained Last activity 2026-10-28. Latest release 1.2 (2021-11-29). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. FreeScout
Email-based customer support application, help desk and shared mailbox (alternative to Zendesk and Help Scout).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-31. Latest release 1.8.249 (2026-10-31). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Erxes
Marketing, sales, and customer service platform designed to help businesses attract more engaged customers.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release loyalty_api@1.0.1 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Frappe Helpdesk
Helpdesk software which helps you streamline your company's support, offers an easy setup, clean user interface, and automation tools to resolve customer queries efficiently.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.31.1 (2026-10-29). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. Libredesk
Modern omnichannel customer support desk. Live chat, email, and more in a single binary.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v2.9.2 (2026-10-31). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Live Helper Chat
Live Support chat for your website.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-31. Latest release 4.97v (2026-10-23). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. OTOBO
Flexible web-based ticketing system used for customer service, help desk, IT service management.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Intercom?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Actively maintained and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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Other alternatives guides
Intercom is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.