Yes, you can run a chatbot on your own server, but the label covers different licence deals. Some tools are plainly open source, some keep enterprise features in a separate licence, and some are source-available, free to use but barred from being resold as a rival service. Check the licence file, then pick by what you can host.
Can you run a chatbot on your own server, under your own control, without renting one from a cloud provider? You can. The harder question is what "open source" means on each project's homepage, because in this group of eight it means four different things.
Two of the eight aren't open source in the strict sense at all. They're source-available, and they're here because you can read the code and host them yourself, which is what most people searching for an open source chatbot want. Each tool is labelled honestly below, and the list runs in no particular order.
Four licence deals hiding behind one label
Read this before the tools, because it changes which ones you can use for what.
- Open licence, actively developed. Tiledesk, Langflow and AnythingLLM ship under the MIT licence. You can use, change and host them, including for clients.
- Open licence, but frozen. Rasa Open Source is Apache-2.0, but its own README says it's in maintenance mode and the company's attention has moved to a newer platform. Fine to run, risky to start a new build on.
- Open core with conditions. Chatwoot is MIT except for its enterprise folder, which carries a separate licence, so the premium features aren't in the free code. Dify uses a modified Apache licence: commercial use is allowed, but running it as a multi-tenant service, one workspace per customer, needs a commercial licence unless the company agrees otherwise in writing.
- Source-available. Typebot uses the Functional Source License and Hexabot the Fair Core License. Both are free for any use except running them as a competing commercial service, and each release becomes Apache 2.0 after two years. Useful, but not open source by the usual definition.
If you're an agency planning to host bots for several clients from one install, the third and fourth groups are where you'll get caught. Read the LICENSE file in each repository, not the homepage, before you promise a client anything.
What you'll be running on your own server
Website chat with a person behind it
The two support-inbox tools give you a chat widget for your site and an inbox where people pick up the conversations a bot can't handle. They're the closest thing here to a drop-in product, and both offer Docker-based self-hosting routes.
Visual builders that still need assembly
The flow builders let you design conversations or AI pipelines on a canvas. Don't mistake that for a finished widget. The low-code AI builders in particular expect you to wire up your own front end and pick your own language model, and that's developer work.
Developer frameworks
The framework and the agent builder in this group assume a developer with Node.js or Python and a server. If you're choosing a language model to run behind any of them, our guide to open source language models is the place to start.
Chat over your own documents
The document-chat app runs on a desktop for private use, but its website widget only comes with the Docker version, so plan for a server if visitors need to use it.
Licence and type in plain words
| Tool | Type and licence | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| AnythingLLM | Doc chat and widget, MIT | Chatting with your own files, plus a site widget |
| Chatwoot | Support inbox, MIT outside enterprise code | Website chat with a human support inbox |
| Dify | AI app platform, modified Apache | Document-backed assistants and AI workflows |
| Hexabot | Agent builder, source-available | Agents that trigger actions across channels |
| Langflow | AI flow builder, MIT | Prototyping agents and retrieval apps visually |
| Rasa Open Source | Developer framework, Apache-2.0, maintenance mode | Existing Python assistant projects |
| Tiledesk | Live chat and bot studio, MIT | Live chat plus a visual bot design studio |
| Typebot | Visual bot builder, source-available | Conversational forms and chat flows, no code |
Eight platforms, in no particular order
AnythingLLM
Best for: Private chat over your own documents, on a desktop or in Docker. Its README says the embeddable website widget works with the Docker version only.
Chatwoot
Best for: Support teams wanting a website chat widget, a shared inbox and an AI agent called Captain, with a published guide to self-hosting it.
Dify
Best for: Building AI apps such as assistants backed by your own documents, workflows and agents, with a Community Edition the vendor says you self-deploy with Docker.
Hexabot
Best for: Developers wanting AI agents and workflows that turn conversations into actions across channels, set up with Node.js and a CLI on their own servers.
Langflow
Best for: Designing AI agents and retrieval apps on a low-code canvas and testing them in a chat playground. You'll still build the website front end yourself.
Rasa Open Source
Best for: Python teams already running assistants on it. Its README says the project is in maintenance mode, with new work moving to the company's newer platform.
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Tiledesk
Best for: Live chat with built-in chatbots and a visual design studio for web and messaging, which the vendor says starts with Docker or Kubernetes.
Typebot
Best for: No-code chat flows and forms you embed on a site or run on WhatsApp, with a self-hosting guide covering Docker and Vercel.
My advice if there's no developer on your team
Self-hosting a chatbot without a developer is possible, but only with the tools that arrive as a finished product. For a small business with no technical help, look first at the two support inboxes, which give you a widget and a human handover, or at the no-code form-style builder on its makers' hosted service, keeping in mind that it's source-available rather than open source.
Leave the AI flow builders, the frameworks and the agent platform until you've got someone who can run a server and debug it. And if all you want is a bot on your site within days, a hosted builder will get you there faster; our list of hosted chatbot builders covers those.
Before you promise a client a self-hosted bot
- Open the LICENSE file. Check whether it's MIT, Apache, a modified Apache or a source-available licence, and whether an enterprise folder sits outside it.
- Check the project is alive. Look at when the repository was last updated and whether the README calls it maintenance mode.
- Count the moving parts. A widget, an inbox, a language model, a vector database and a server are five things to keep running, not one.
- Decide who answers when the bot can't. Without a human inbox, a confused visitor just leaves.
- Know where the chats are stored. Self-hosting keeps conversations on your server, which also makes protecting them your job.
Do you make an open source or self-hosted chatbot platform? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a fully open source chatbot I can self-host?
Yes. Several platforms here use the MIT or Apache-2.0 licence and can be self-hosted, including a live chat tool with a built-in bot studio. Check the repository's LICENSE file, since some projects keep enterprise features under a separate licence.
What does source-available mean for a chatbot?
You can read, run and change the code, but the licence bars certain uses, usually running it as a competing commercial service. In this list, each source-available release turns into Apache 2.0 after two years.
Can an agency host chatbots for clients on open source software?
Often, but check first. A permissive licence such as MIT allows it. A modified Apache licence may need a commercial licence for multi-tenant hosting, and a source-available licence may bar competing services.
Do I need a developer to run a self-hosted chatbot?
For most of these, yes. Support inbox tools with Docker installs are the most approachable. Visual AI builders and frameworks need someone to build the front end, connect a language model and keep a server running.
What's the difference between a chatbot builder and an AI agent framework?
A builder gives you a canvas to design conversations and often a widget to embed. A framework gives developers code libraries to build an assistant from scratch, with more control and more work.
Can a self-hosted chatbot work on WhatsApp?
Some can connect to messaging apps, including WhatsApp, but setup varies by project. Hosted builders made for that channel are usually quicker to get running.
