How to Migrate from Intercom to Chatwoot

Intercom's pricing starts at $39/seat/month for the cheapest plan and scales to $139/seat for Pro. For a 10-seat team, that's $4,680-16,680/year. Chatwoot provides live chat, helpdesk, and omnichannel support — self-hosted, no per-seat fees.

What Maps

Intercom Feature	Chatwoot Equivalent
✅ Messenger (live chat)	Website inbox (widget)
✅ Inbox (helpdesk)	Conversations
✅ Email support	Email inbox
✅ Social channels	Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram
✅ Canned responses	Canned responses
✅ Team assignment	Team assignment
✅ Labels/Tags	Labels
⚠️ Custom bots	Basic bot (limited)
⚠️ Product tours	Not available
❌ Outbound campaigns	Not available (use email tool)
❌ Help center/articles	Not available (use separate wiki)
❌ Series (automation flows)	Basic automation rules

Step 1: Deploy Chatwoot

git clone https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot.git
cd chatwoot
cp .env.example .env
# Configure FRONTEND_URL, SECRET_KEY_BASE, database, Redis
docker compose up -d

Step 2: Replace the Chat Widget

Remove Intercom:

<!-- DELETE THIS -->
<script>
  window.intercomSettings = { api_base: "...", app_id: "YOUR_ID" };
</script>

Add Chatwoot:

<script>
  window.chatwootSettings = { position: "right", type: "standard" };
  (function(d,t) {
    var g=d.createElement(t),s=d.getElementsByTagName(t)[0];
    g.src="https://support.yourdomain.com/packs/js/sdk.js";
    g.defer=true; g.async=true;
    s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s);
    g.onload=function(){
      window.chatwootSDK.run({
        websiteToken: 'YOUR_TOKEN',
        baseUrl: 'https://support.yourdomain.com'
      })
    }
  })(document,"script");
</script>

Identify users (like Intercom):

window.$chatwoot.setUser('user-id', {
  email: 'user@example.com',
  name: 'Jane Doe',
  avatar_url: 'https://...',
  company_name: 'Acme Inc',
});

Step 3: Export Intercom Contacts

1. Intercom → Contacts → Export
2. Download CSV
3. Import into Chatwoot via API:

# Batch import contacts
for contact in contacts; do
  curl -X POST https://support.yourdomain.com/api/v1/accounts/1/contacts \
    -H "api_access_token: TOKEN" \
    -d "{\"name\": \"$name\", \"email\": \"$email\"}"
done

Step 4: Set Up Canned Responses

Recreate Intercom saved replies:

1. Settings → Canned Responses
2. Create responses with shortcodes
3. Agents type /shortcode in conversations to insert

Step 5: Configure Automations

Replace Intercom's basic automation:

1. Settings → Automation
2. Create rules for routing, labeling, and assignment
3. Examples:
   • "If message contains 'billing'" → assign to Billing team
   • "If new conversation" → auto-assign to available agent
   • "If no response in 30 min" → send canned response

What You'll Lose (and Alternatives)

Intercom Feature	Alternative
Help center/articles	BookStack, Outline, or Docusaurus
Product tours	Shepherd.js (open source)
Outbound campaigns	Listmonk or Mautic
Custom bots (Fin)	Chatwoot bot (basic) or custom integration
User event tracking	PostHog or custom analytics

Cost Comparison

Seats	Intercom Starter	Chatwoot Self-Hosted	Savings
5	$195/month	$15/month	$2,160/year
10	$390/month	$30/month	$4,320/year
25	$975/month	$50/month	$11,100/year

Migration Timeline

Week	Task
Week 1	Deploy Chatwoot, set up channels, swap widget
Week 2	Import contacts, create canned responses
Week 3	Run both for live conversations
Week 4	Full cutover, cancel Intercom

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