Self-Hosted Live Chat vs Cloud: How to Choose

Buttr has reached the fork in the road. Both roads contain configuration.

Choose self-hosted live chat when code ownership, infrastructure control, and a zero-dollar vendor plan matter more than automatic operations. Choose managed Cloud when your team would rather pay a predictable fee for hosting, updates, visual configuration, and business account management. The visitor-facing goal can stay the same on either path.

Krispy is open-source (MIT) live chat with AI replies and human handoff to Telegram — self-host free on Cloudflare, or Krispy Cloud at $19/mo flat, no per-seat pricing. The open-source core is the widget, edge Worker, and CLI; Cloud adds the managed business product around that core.

What is the practical difference between self-hosted and Cloud?

The practical difference is who owns the operational work. Self-hosting puts the code, Cloudflare resources, secrets, deploys, and update timing in your hands. Krispy Cloud runs the hosted service and adds dashboard pages for account, site, team, billing, forms, channels, and knowledge configuration.

Both paths should preserve the central loop: the AI answers from the knowledge you provide, and a person takes over when the question needs judgment. Telegram is the available human lane today. Cloud includes the configuration dashboard and hosted service operations; the Buttr owner app is planned for Cloud but is not yet available to download.

Which 6 tradeoffs should you compare?

Compare control, maintenance, setup time, operator experience, cost shape, and mobile availability. Those six tradeoffs expose the real work behind each option more clearly than a long feature checklist.

Use the table as a filter, then examine the rows that could become expensive. If nobody owns updates, “free” self-hosting can create a neglected service.

When should you self-host Krispy?

Self-host Krispy when you want the public MIT code in your own Cloudflare account and are comfortable owning secrets, deployments, monitoring, and updates. It is especially sensible for small teams that already use Cloudflare and want Telegram as the operator inbox.

Use Krispy self-hosted when you:

• Need to inspect or modify the widget and edge Worker.
• Want conversation infrastructure under your Cloudflare account.
• Prefer Telegram for human takeover.
• Can assign one person to review releases and deploy updates.
• Accept that the business configuration dashboard belongs to Cloud.

The current quickstart begins with the public repository and a local test:

git clone https://github.com/krispyhq/krispyai
cd krispyai
bun install
bun test
bun run dev:edge

Going live also requires a KV namespace, Worker secrets, a Telegram bot and forum-enabled supergroup, and a Worker deploy. The self-hosted Cloudflare guide walks through the longer path. Read it before treating the five-line local start as the entire production job.

When should you choose Krispy Cloud?

Choose Krispy Cloud when hosted operations, visual configuration, and business account management are worth more than controlling every deploy. It is the better fit when the person responsible for setup should use dashboard pages instead of editing configuration and running Wrangler.

Cloud’s web dashboard configures sites, team access, forms and channels, knowledge, billing, and the widget. It is not a live support inbox. Human handoff uses Telegram today. Buttr is intended to add an iOS and Android owner inbox for handoffs, replies, resolution, and knowledge review as part of Cloud.

Buttr is not yet available to download. Use Telegram for mobile handoff today, and check the Krispy changelog for a future availability announcement.

Cloud billing uses Dodo and a flat plan: $19 monthly or $190 annually, with a 14-day no-card trial. There is no separate Buttr subscription.

What do you give up with each option?

With self-hosting, you give up managed operations and the Cloud-only business surfaces. With Cloud, you give up direct ownership of the deployed service and the ability to choose exactly when every infrastructure change occurs.

What self-hosters give up:

• The managed web dashboard and Cloud account workflow.
• The future Buttr mobile owner app.
• Automatic hosted updates and a vendor-operated runtime.
• A single party responsible for the whole service.

What Cloud customers give up:

• Direct control of the private hosted stack and its deploy schedule.
• The ability to modify every layer of the managed product.
• A zero-dollar Krispy subscription.
• Infrastructure that sits entirely inside their own Cloudflare account.

Neither list is a moral judgment. Ownership is valuable when you will exercise it. Managed service is valuable when it removes work your team would otherwise perform reliably.

How can you estimate the real cost?

Estimate the real cost by adding subscription or infrastructure spend to the hours required for setup, updates, and incident response. Use your own labor cost and traffic.

A simple monthly comparison looks like this:

For a founder comfortable with Cloudflare, self-hosting may be worthwhile. For a team with no operator, one interrupted afternoon can exceed months of Cloud fees.

When should you choose a different product?

Choose a different product when you need a mature multi-agent help desk, SLA automation, audited routing, deep CRM workflows, or native Slack, Jira, and n8n connectors today. Krispy’s current strength is a focused AI-to-human conversation loop for founders and small teams.

Also look elsewhere if Telegram is unacceptable and you need a dedicated mobile inbox today. Buttr is not yet available to download, so a product with an established mobile app is the safer operational choice for that requirement.

If your priority is understanding the ownership case first, read why Krispy stays open source. The comparison becomes easier once you decide which parts of customer communication must remain under your control.

FAQ

Is self-hosted Krispy the same product as Krispy Cloud?

No. The public MIT project contains the self-hostable widget, edge Worker, and CLI. Krispy Cloud is the managed business product with hosted operations, accounts, configuration dashboard, billing, and the planned Buttr owner app around the public core.

Does self-hosted Krispy include a native mobile app?

No. Self-hosted Krispy uses Telegram for live human handoff. Buttr is planned as an iOS and Android owner app for Krispy Cloud, but it is not yet available to download. Use Telegram for mobile handoff today.

How much does Krispy cost?

The open-source Krispy software has no platform fee, while the Cloudflare account owner pays any infrastructure usage beyond applicable free allowances. Krispy Cloud is documented at $19 per month or $190 per year with no per-seat pricing and a 14-day no-card trial.

Can I move from self-hosted Krispy to Cloud later?

Treat migration as a planned project rather than an automatic switch. The two paths share the product idea, but Cloud also has account, dashboard, and billing systems. Check the changelog for available import or migration tools before promising a date.

Does Krispy integrate natively with Slack, Jira, or n8n?

No native Slack, Jira, or n8n connector is part of the documented current workflow. Self-hosted human handoff uses Telegram, lead delivery can use Telegram or email, and other supported connector types are visitor-facing actions. Choose another product or build and verify an integration if those systems are mandatory.

Which option is better for a solo founder?

Self-hosting is often a good fit for a solo founder who already uses Cloudflare and is happy to answer handoffs in Telegram. Krispy Cloud is often a better fit when that founder wants managed hosting and a business dashboard, and values saved operating time more than the monthly fee.