Intercom, Drift, Crisp and LiveChat rent the widget and the transcript. Chatwoot's code outside its enterprise directory is MIT, and that is the tree we deploy. The transcript then lives on the client's host, not in the vendor's account.
What about WhatsApp Business?
WhatsApp Business is Meta's product. No open-source package replaces the WhatsApp network. A client who must talk to customers there still uses Meta's channel, and can keep the rest of the inbox in Chatwoot if the connector is worth the maintenance.
What does owned chat not include?
It does not include Drift's marketing sequences or Intercom's in-app product tours. Those are campaigns, not a chat transport. If the campaign is the product, the subscription may still be the right tool.
When is a rented widget the right call?
When chat is a side channel, volume is low, and standing up a host would cost more than the seat fee. Own it when the transcript is a customer record you cannot leave behind.
What do we hand over?
We select the system, deploy it on infrastructure you control, connect it to the tools you keep, and write the runbook so your own team can operate it. Support after handover is optional. The rest of the map is in software you can stop renting; the engagement behind it is open-source business systems.
Name one process that still needs a person. We will tell you what a one-time build takes.
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