Chatwoot versus AcornChat

Chatwoot is a Free Open Source Software and SaaS live chat platform. You can choose to have your live chat hosted by them or opt for self-hosting. The installation process of a self-hosted live chat has been simplified with their one-click install guides for cloud providers like AWS, DigitalOcean, and Heroku or with deployment options like Docker, Linux VM (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS), or the Chatwoot CTL.

Open Source

Chatwoot’s Community Edition is published under the MIT license. You can find SDK implementations, review the code or contribute to the projects in the Chatwoot repository. The Enterprise Edition is available under a proprietary license. You can still audit the source code. However, modification is not allowed.

AcornChat is a dedicated Live Chat integration for Slack. It is intended for companies with fewer than 15 employees. AcornChat does not have its own dashboard, all conversations are managed in your Slack workspace. If you are already a Slack power user this might be a perfect fit for you.

The app is straightforward and has one other functionality than routing all messages through Slack; you can enable the email capture function when you are not online to answer any incoming queries. Set up the chat widget and create a dedicated channel or select an existing one in Slack. A new thread is created for each visitor that contacts you, providing a clear overview.

Read more about the pros and cons of Acorn Chat in our analysis of the best live chats with Slack integration of 2023.