Chatwoot offers an excellent open-source helpdesk with knowledge-based AI. Hay offers managed SaaS with action-executing AI. The right choice depends on your hosting preferences and automation requirements.
Hay vs Chatwoot comes down to AI capabilities. Chatwoot is an excellent open-source helpdesk, but Captain AI is read-only - it can't execute actions in your e-commerce platform or CRM. Hay's AI completes tasks, not just conversations. For teams needing true support automation, this is fundamental.
Understanding the true cost of self-hosted vs managed solutions
Self-hosting Chatwoot gives you full control but requires infrastructure, maintenance, and security updates. Teams with DevOps capacity often prefer this control. Cloud plans offer a managed alternative with per-agent pricing.
Fully managed SaaS. No DevOps, no infrastructure decisions, no 3am scaling emergencies. Predictable monthly cost.
Chatwoot Cost
$495/month (Cloud) or $200-800/month (Self-hosted + DevOps)
Cloud: $99/agent x 5. Self-hosted: Infrastructure + maintenance time
Hay Cost
$135/month
Starter plan, unlimited users
Save $60-660/month depending on hosting choice
Chatwoot
Captain AI is a conversational AI layer over your knowledge base. It answers questions, summarizes tickets, and drafts responses. For many teams, this knowledge-based approach handles a significant portion of support volume effectively.
Hay
Hay's AI executes actions in addition to answering questions. '@Shopify Process Refund' processes the refund and confirms to the customer. This allows end-to-end resolution without human intervention for routine tasks.
Teams primarily needing FAQ deflection may find Captain sufficient. Teams needing AI to complete transactions benefit from Hay's action execution.
Chatwoot
Chatwoot's open-source nature is a genuine advantage for teams with data sovereignty requirements or DevOps capacity. You control your data, can customize the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. But self-hosting means responsibility for uptime, security patches, scaling, and maintenance.
Hay
Managed SaaS simplicity. We handle infrastructure, security, updates, and scaling. You handle support automation. No on-call rotations, no capacity planning, no security patch scrambles. Trade control for convenience.
Teams without dedicated DevOps find Hay faster to deploy and maintain. Teams with strong DevOps who prioritize data control might prefer Chatwoot.
Chatwoot
Chatwoot integrations focus on communication channels (website, WhatsApp, Facebook, email) with strong multi-channel support. E-commerce integrations provide visibility into order data. The open API enables custom development for teams with technical resources.
Hay
E-commerce integrations with action capability. Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe with full read/write access. See the order AND process the refund. The trade-off is less flexibility for custom channel development.
Teams valuing channel flexibility and customization may prefer Chatwoot. Teams needing e-commerce action execution prefer Hay.
Chatwoot
Captain AI is configured through knowledge base content and some admin settings. It's relatively simple - point it at your docs and it answers questions. Limited customization of behavior or response style.
Hay
Plain English playbooks with conditional logic and @-mention actions. 'If customer asks for refund AND order is under 30 days, @Shopify Process Refund. Otherwise, escalate to human with reason.' Deep customization without coding.
Captain is easier to set up for simple Q&A. Hay is more powerful for complex automation workflows.
Chatwoot
Open source means free software with operational costs you control. Self-hosting requires servers, databases, and maintenance time - but you have full visibility and control. Cloud hosting charges per-agent for teams preferring managed infrastructure.
Hay
Flat monthly pricing based on usage, not seats. Unlimited agents included. Costs are predictable but you trade control for convenience.
Moving from Chatwoot to Hay is straightforward, especially if you're hitting the limits of Captain AI's read-only capabilities.
Export your Chatwoot help articles and FAQs. Upload to Hay as documents for RAG training.
Unlike Chatwoot's view-only integrations, Hay connects with full action capability. Enable refund processing, order management, etc.
Go beyond Q&A. Write playbooks that complete tasks: '@Shopify Process Refund if eligible' instead of just explaining refund policy.
Connect your chat widget, email, WhatsApp. Hay supports the same channels as Chatwoot.
Verify that AI actually completes tasks. Process a test refund, check a real order. This is the capability you didn't have before.
Timeframe: Most teams migrate from Chatwoot to Hay within 1-2 weeks, including knowledge transfer and playbook configuration.
As of early 2026, Captain AI's core capability is RAG-based question answering. It can summarize, draft responses, and answer from your knowledge base. But executing actions in external systems (processing refunds, creating tickets elsewhere) requires custom development or isn't available.
It depends on your team's resources and priorities. Self-hosting Chatwoot gives you control and customization but requires DevOps capacity. Hay trades that control for managed infrastructure and action-executing AI. Teams with strong DevOps often prefer Chatwoot's flexibility. Teams without DevOps capacity often prefer Hay's simplicity.
We're planning a self-hosted option for teams with compliance requirements. But our recommendation for most teams is managed SaaS - you get better uptime, automatic updates, and no DevOps burden.
Yes, the open source community is a genuine Chatwoot advantage. Custom modifications, community plugins, and transparent development are strengths we can't match (yet). If that ecosystem is valuable to you, it's a legitimate reason to choose Chatwoot.
If your support is purely answering questions from documentation, Chatwoot Captain might be sufficient. Where Hay shines is when you need AI to complete tasks - process refunds, check live order data, create tickets in other systems. If you need action, you need Hay.
Chatwoot is an excellent open-source helpdesk with strong community support and self-hosting flexibility. Captain AI handles knowledge-based Q&A well, and the open-source model gives teams full control over their data and customization.
Hay is a managed SaaS focused on AI that executes actions, not just answers questions. For teams needing e-commerce action execution without DevOps overhead, Hay addresses that need. For teams valuing open source, self-hosting control, or community customization, Chatwoot is worth serious consideration.
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