Chaskiq is a self-hosted, open-source messaging platform designed for customer support, marketing, and sales teams seeking full control over their communication infrastructure. Built as a free alternative to proprietary tools like Intercom, Drift, and Crisp, it combines live web chat, video calls, conversational bots, help centers, and CRM integrations in a single unified system. The platform is ideal for companies that want to avoid vendor lock-in, ensure data privacy, and customize their customer engagement workflows without relying on third-party SaaS solutions. With a modern stack built on Ruby on Rails and React.js, Chaskiq provides both a robust backend API and an extensible frontend dashboard for enterprise-grade deployment.
Chaskiq supports real-time interactions through an embeddable web widget with rich media capabilities—including video recording, YouTube/Vimeo embedding, code highlighting, and GIF support—while also enabling automated workflows via triggers, webhooks, and multi-channel integrations like WhatsApp, Slack, Zoom, and Calendly. Its pluggable architecture allows teams to extend dashboards with custom data blocks, implement granular role-based permissions, and enforce GDPR compliance through configurable consent controls.
What You Get
- Embeddable Web Messenger - A rich-text chat widget with video recording, YouTube/Vimeo embedding, Oembed support for webpages, and code highlighting via Prism.js that can be embedded on any website.
- Video Calls - Native RTC-based video calling integrated directly into the chat interface, enabling face-to-face support without leaving the conversation.
- Conversational Bots - Triggerable chatbots that automate responses based on user behavior or keywords, reducing agent workload for common queries.
- Help Center / Knowledge Base - A built-in article editor to create a public-facing knowledge base that can be hosted on a custom domain or embedded within the webchat for self-service support.
- Multi-Channel Integrations - Native integrations with WhatsApp, Twitter DMs, Slack, Calendly, and Zoom to unify customer communications across platforms.
- CRM Integration (Pipedrive) - Synchronize customer data and conversation history with Pipedrive CRM for unified sales and support workflows.
- Dashboard Extensibility - Pluggable dashboard blocks that allow teams to add custom data visualizations or third-party analytics without modifying core code.
- GDPR Consent & Audits - Configurable data protection controls and full audit trails for access and record changes to meet compliance requirements.
- GraphQL API with OAuth - A fully documented GraphQL endpoint for programmatic access to chats, users, and campaigns with secure OAuth 2.0 authentication.
- Mailing Campaigns - Create and schedule email campaigns with customizable templates to re-engage visitors or nurture leads.
- Onboarding Tours - Interactive guided tours for new users to walk them through product features directly on your website.
Common Use Cases
- Building a multi-channel customer support portal - A SaaS company uses Chaskiq to unify web chat, email campaigns, and WhatsApp support into one dashboard, reducing tool fragmentation and improving response times.
- Creating a self-service knowledge base with live chat fallback - An e-commerce platform deploys Chaskiq’s help center on its support domain while embedding the web widget on product pages, reducing ticket volume by 40%.
- Problem: High support costs from repetitive queries → Solution: Chaskiq’s conversational bots - A fintech startup automates answers to FAQs about account verification using trigger-based bots, freeing agents for complex cases.
- DevOps teams managing compliance-sensitive support channels - A European health tech firm uses Chaskiq’s GDPR consent controls and audit logs to ensure all customer interactions are traceable and data-resident within the EU.
Under The Hood
Chaskiq is a full-stack customer communication platform that enables businesses to manage omnichannel conversations through a unified interface. It combines a Ruby on Rails backend with a React/TypeScript frontend, offering a flexible and extensible architecture for real-time messaging and third-party integrations.
Architecture
The system adopts a monolithic structure with clear frontend-backend separation, enabling modular development and component reuse.
- The backend is built on Ruby on Rails, serving as a GraphQL API for frontend consumption
- Frontend uses React and TypeScript with a component-based design for dynamic UIs
- Modules are organized to support feature isolation and maintainable code evolution
- ActionCable integration enables real-time communication between agents and users
Tech Stack
The tech stack reflects a modern web development approach with strong emphasis on JavaScript ecosystems and backend robustness.
- Ruby on Rails powers the backend API, while React/TypeScript drive the frontend experience
- Extensive use of the React ecosystem including react-router-dom, react-redux, and emotion for styling
- Build tools like esbuild, webpack, and rollup support efficient frontend compilation and bundling
- Comprehensive testing infrastructure includes Cypress, RSpec, and various linters for code quality assurance
Code Quality
The codebase shows a balanced mix of well-structured components and areas requiring improvement in consistency and testing.
- Test coverage is substantial, with dedicated test files for backend and frontend components
- Error handling practices are present but inconsistently applied across modules
- Code style is generally consistent, though some legacy patterns and overrides indicate technical debt
- Linting and formatting tools are configured to enforce style standards throughout the codebase
What Makes It Unique
Chaskiq stands out through its integration of real-time capabilities, flexible authentication, and extensible architecture for third-party services.
- Real-time communication is enabled via ActionCable with dedicated channels for agents, events, and presence tracking
- Authentication flexibility is achieved through custom Devise strategies and OAuth integrations with Auth0 and Doorkeeper
- GraphQL API layer allows flexible data fetching and mutation for frontend components
- Package architecture supports extensibility via webhook and iframe-based third-party integrations