# Self-Hosting Chatwoot vs Zammad for 6–15 Agents: The Open-Core Seat Trap vs Elasticsearch RAM Math

When small teams look for an open-source replacement for Intercom or Zendesk, **Chatwoot** and **Zammad** almost always top the shortlist. Both say “free to self-host” on the tin—until you check the license fine print for agent roles or size the production VM.

Here is the exact cost, license, and hardware trade-off between the two based on their November 2026 documentation.

## 1. The Chatwoot `-ce` split: MIT core vs $19–$99/agent open-core gates

Chatwoot’s core (`-ce` Docker image tag) is **MIT-licensed** and genuinely $0 in software fees for unlimited agents on a modest Linux VM (minimum 2 vCPUs / 4 GB RAM; 4+ vCPUs / 8+ GB RAM recommended for production with PostgreSQL 12+ and Redis 6+).

The catch sits inside the `enterprise/` directory of the repository, which uses a proprietary Enterprise license:

- **Custom roles & permissions, custom branding, agent capacity, and Captain AI** are excluded from the Community edition. Unlocking them on your own server requires **Self-Hosted Premium Support at $19/agent/month** (billed annually).
- **SSO / SAML and SLA policies** require **Enterprise at $99/agent/month**.

![Chatwoot self-hosted vs cloud 6-agent bill breakdown](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/6af44cef808f797007000667/7f4bfa99-b170-47f2-89c9-a3f5dc4ec48d.jpg align="center")

For a **6-agent team needing roles and custom branding**, self-hosting Chatwoot is no longer $0—it costs **$114/month ($19 × 6) plus your Linux VM and SMTP provider**, compared to **$234/month** on Chatwoot Cloud Business (if you also need teams and automation rules). You can plug in your exact agent count and feature flags on the interactive [Chatwoot self-hosted vs Cloud cost calculator](https://dceniac.com/oss/chatwoot/#calculator).

## 2. Zammad’s trade-off: $0 seat gates under AGPL-3.0, but budget 10–12 GB RAM

Unlike open-core tools, [Zammad](https://dceniac.com/oss/zammad/) (stewarded by the independent Zammad Foundation) releases its full feature set—including granular roles, SLAs, ticket macros, and SSO—under **GNU AGPL-3.0** with zero per-seat feature paywalls when run unmodified.

Instead of license fees, you pay in **server memory**:

1. **Elasticsearch is effectively mandatory**: Zammad boots without it, but reporting and attachment full-text search depend on Elasticsearch (and Docker hosts must raise `vm.max_map_count` to `262144`).
2. **RAM baseline**: Official docs specify **2 cores + 6 GB RAM** for Zammad plus **4 GB RAM** if Elasticsearch runs on the same machine (**~10 GB RAM minimum**, or 6 cores + 12 GB RAM for up to 40 agents).

## 3-Step Rule of Thumb

1. **Live chat widget first, no custom roles needed** → Run Chatwoot `-ce` (MIT) on an 8 GB VM for $0 software cost.
2. **Email/ticket workflows + roles, SLAs, or SSO for 6+ agents** → Run Zammad on a 10–12 GB VM to avoid $114–$1,485/month in open-core seat fees.
3. **Comparing more self-hosted apps?** Check primary-source license rules and server sizing across 22 business tools at [BuilderStack](https://dceniac.com/).