Top 5 Reasons to Migrate from Freshdesk to Chatwoot in 2026

Key Takeaways: Switching to Chatwoot provides full data ownership, up to 90% cost savings, native omnichannel support, and the freedom of open-source customisation.

If you're tossing up whether to stick it out with Freshdesk or finally make the leap to an open-source setup, you're definitely not alone.

I've spoken to so many founders and support leads lately who are hunting for a solid Freshdesk alternative.

Usually, they're fed up with rising costs, or they just want actual control over their own data.

Time and time again, Chatwoot keeps coming up as the crowd favorite.

Let me break down exactly why so many teams are deciding to migrate from Freshdesk to Chatwoot this year.

Full Data Ownership (Self-Hosting)

Let's be honest, having Freshdesk control your data on their servers is fine—until it isn't.

Chatwoot lets you self-host, meaning you get 100% ownership over every single conversation.

If you're stressed about GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2 compliance, this is a massive weight off your shoulders.

You pick the region, you pick the infrastructure (AWS, DigitalOcean, whatever works for you), and you call the shots.

Massive Cost Reduction

Freshdesk's pricing can creep up on you fast.

At $15 to $79 per agent every single month, a 20-person team could easily be burning over $19,000 a year just on helpdesk software.

Chatwoot’s self-hosted version? It's completely free.

You just pay for your servers. It's almost a no-brainer.

All your channels in one place

I love that Chatwoot natively handles WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, SMS, and Email in one unified inbox.

Freshdesk tends to put these behind paywalls or split them into different products.

It's incredibly refreshing to just have it work right out of the box.

Complete Customization

Because it's open-source, you aren't stuck waiting for a feature request to be approved by a corporate product team.

Want to modify the UI? Do it. Need a quirky custom bot? Build it.

You get full access to a REST API, so you can integrate it exactly how your team needs, without hitting arbitrary vendor limits.

A community that actually listens

When you use proprietary software, you're entirely at the mercy of their roadmap.

Chatwoot has thousands of passionate contributors. It moves fast, innovates in the open, and best of all, you aren't locked into a single company's vision.

The final rundown

• Control: You own the data (Chatwoot) vs. They own the data (Freshdesk)
• Price: Free to host (Chatwoot) vs. Expensive monthly per-agent fees (Freshdesk)
• Freedom: Open Source (Chatwoot) vs. Walled Garden (Freshdesk)

If the idea of moving years of tickets sounds terrifying, don't worry. That's exactly why we built MigrateFlow.

We move your history, your attachments, and keep the timestamps perfect. Come try your free migration today.