Self-hosted alternatives to Intercom
Want live chat for websites without handing your data to Intercom? These 8 self-hosted apps run on your own server (most are open source; licenses are listed below). Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
About Intercom: Customer messaging and support platform.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot direct | Active | 39.9k | ⊘ Proprietary | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Tiledesk direct | Active | 328 | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| FreeScout | Active | 4.7k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Erxes | Active | 4.1k | AGPL-3.0, Commons-Clause | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Frappe Helpdesk | Active | 3.5k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Libredesk | Active | 3.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Live Helper Chat | Active | 2.3k | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| OTOBO | Active | 341 | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Chatwoot
Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. 10+ releases in the past year. 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).
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 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).
Active Last commit 2026-11-07. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 1.8.250 (2026-11-07). 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 3.4.17 (2026-11-09). 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v16.1.0 (2026-11-04). 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-08. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 4.99v (2026-11-05). 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 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 Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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Intercom is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.