Chatwoot Self-Hosted in 2026: Docker or Coolify Setup

I lead ERPNext, Frappe and open-source deployments at MithTech, a team of Frappe specialists in Bengaluru. Chatwoot is the support inbox we use when a client wants shared conversation handling without sending every customer message to a foreign SaaS. We have deployed it both ways, plain Docker Compose and Coolify, for teams that run Frappe and ERPNext on the same infrastructure.

Honest take: Chatwoot is easy to stand up in an afternoon. Keeping it patched, backed up and reliable for years is the part teams underestimate.

What do you need before you self-host Chatwoot?

Three things: a Linux server, a domain name, and the email or messaging credentials for the channels you plan to connect. Chatwoot runs several services side by side (Postgres, Redis, a Rails web process and a Sidekiq worker), so a VPS with 2 CPU cores and about 4 GB RAM is the size we start a small support team on.

Point an A record from a subdomain such as support.yourcompany.com at the server's public IP before you start. The SSL certificate and Chatwoot's FRONTEND_URL both depend on that domain resolving. Open ports 22, 80 and 443 in your firewall and keep 80 and 443 for the reverse proxy; Chatwoot itself listens only on localhost port 3000.

How do you install Chatwoot with Docker Compose?

The official method pulls two files from the Chatwoot repository, an environment template and a production Compose file, then prepares the database and starts the stack. Work as a non-root user with Docker permissions, and keep everything in one project folder so backups and upgrades stay tidy.

How do you add SSL and a reverse proxy?

Chatwoot's containers bind to localhost only, so a reverse proxy terminates HTTPS and forwards traffic to port 3000. Nginx with a free Let's Encrypt certificate is the standard approach and takes a few minutes once the domain resolves.

Install Nginx and Certbot, then create a server block for your subdomain that proxies to 127.0.0.1:3000. Chatwoot needs one directive people miss: underscores_in_headers on;. Its API relies on headers with underscores, which Nginx drops by default. Forward the standard proxy headers so Chatwoot sees the real protocol and client IP:

server {
    server_name support.yourcompany.com;
    underscores_in_headers on;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

Then run certbot --nginx -d support.yourcompany.com to issue the certificate and set up renewal. The Upgrade and Connection headers matter because Chatwoot uses WebSockets for live agent updates; without them the dashboard lags or stops refreshing. Chatwoot's docs also suggest proxy_pass_header Authorization;, client_max_body_size 0; and a long proxy_read_timeout for attachments and long-lived connections.

Skimmable summary: Nginx proxies HTTPS to localhost:3000; add underscores_in_headers on, forward the WebSocket headers, and let Certbot issue the free certificate.

How do you configure channels in Chatwoot?

Once HTTPS is live, open your domain, create the super-admin account, and add channels from the inbox settings. Each channel is a source of conversations that lands in one shared agent view.

We usually start with the website widget and one email inbox, then add WhatsApp once Meta business verification is done. That order gets a team working without waiting on external approvals.

Is Coolify an easier way to self-host Chatwoot?

Yes. Coolify installs Chatwoot as a one-click service and sets up SSL and backups without hand-editing Nginx or Compose files. Coolify is an open-source (Apache 2.0) platform that runs on your own VPS and manages containers, certificates and scheduled backups from a web dashboard.

Docker Compose gives you full transparency and no extra moving parts, which we prefer for servers we manage long term. Coolify trades a little of that control for speed and a friendlier interface, which suits teams without an ops person. Either way the data stays on your infrastructure. The full walkthrough is in the guide to self-hosting any app with Coolify, and Coolify is one of the platforms we run in our managed hosting service.

How do you back up a self-hosted Chatwoot instance?

Back up three things: the Postgres database, the storage volume with uploaded files and attachments, and the .env file with its secrets. No one of them alone restores a working instance, so treat them as a unit and copy them off the server on a schedule.

Should you run Chatwoot yourself, or have it run for you?

Run it yourself if someone on your team will apply Chatwoot's releases, keep the server patched, and do the quarterly restore above; Chatwoot self-hosted is then a fair, low-cost inbox. Have it run for you if nobody owns that work, because a support inbox that goes quiet is noticed by your customers before your team.

Under managed hosting we run Chatwoot on one named server in your cloud account or ours: nightly backups copied off it, one restored on a schedule, every upgrade tried on a copy first, and the keys stay yours. It is a monthly fee for running it plus the server, quoted in writing after a call; the self-hosting cost comparator sets that against a per-seat helpdesk bill.

Frequently asked questions

If you would rather skip the server work, we set up Chatwoot alongside your ERPNext stack, connect the channels, and keep it patched and backed up under support and AMC, so your team just answers customers.