WhosOn versus Chatwoot

WhosOn, by Parker Sofware, originally one of the first website visitor analytics tools, has been a major player in the live chat business since 2003.

WhosOn defines itself as a specialist for niche projects, while still offering a robust out of the box chat service. They have the possibility for cloud-based, on-premise, or hybrid deployment.

All their plans include a multitude of features and integration options. They also offer paid options like an AI chatbot, remote desktop control, and real-time, two-way translation in 100 languages.

Their most simple plan starts at $33 per month for one agent. A 30 days free trial is available.

Customers of WhosOn include First International Bank & Trust, Harvard University, and Thomas Cook.

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.