Open source ticketing system
Open source ticketing systems, compared honestly
osTicket, Zammad, FreeScout and UVdesk side by side: their licences, what they run on, how active they are and what they cost once you add hosting and the paid parts. Every figure was checked on 12 October 2026.
The four that matter
| Licence | Built with | Latest release | Hosted by the maker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| osTicket | GPL-2.0 | PHP, MySQL | v1.18.4, 17 Jun 2026 | From $12 per agent / month |
| Zammad | AGPL-3.0 | Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Redis | 7.2.2, 8 Oct 2026 | From €7 per agent / month |
| FreeScout | AGPL-3.0 | PHP (Laravel), MySQL or PostgreSQL | 1.8.247, 10 Oct 2026 | None; third-party hosts only |
| UVdesk | OSL-3.0 | PHP (Symfony), MySQL | v1.1.8, 19 Sep 2025 | From $8 per agent / month |
Licences and releases from each project’s GitHub repository; hosted prices from each maker’s pricing page, annual billing, read 12 October 2026. Zammad lists prices in euros only.
osTicket
The veteran. It has a customer portal where people log in to follow their tickets, a knowledge base, help topics and filters that route tickets to departments. It is slow-moving: the last commit was on 17 June 2026. Hosted plans run through SupportSystem at $12, $16 or $24 per agent a month, and paid support for self-hosters starts at $12,500 a year.
Zammad
The most complete out of the box: several mailboxes, a customer interface, a knowledge base and active development, with commits as recently as 12 October 2026. It is also the heaviest to run. It needs PostgreSQL 15 or newer and Redis, and Elasticsearch is strongly recommended. Hosted plans are €7, €16 or €25 per agent a month on annual billing.
FreeScout
A Help Scout look-alike that runs on ordinary PHP hosting, with unlimited agents, tickets and mailboxes in the free core. Much of what a team expects is a paid module, bought once per install: 71 of its 73 modules are paid, from $1.99 to $24. The knowledge base is $12 and the customer portal $12.99; buying every module comes to about $540. There is no hosted plan from the maker.
UVdesk
A Symfony-based desk with a customer portal and knowledge base, and a hosted version from $8 per agent a month with a two-agent minimum. Its last tagged release was in September 2025, so check the project’s pace before you commit to it.
Two to skip
Peppermint was archived on 17 July 2026 and is read-only. Faveo‘s last GitHub release was in October 2023, though the code still gets commits.
What “free” costs
- A server. FreeScout runs on shared hosting; Zammad wants a proper server with PostgreSQL, Redis and search.
- Your time. Installing, updating, backing up and fixing it when an upgrade goes wrong is now somebody’s job.
- The missing pieces. FreeScout’s portal and knowledge base, osTicket’s paid support, or a hosted plan priced per agent if you give up on hosting it yourself.
None of that makes open source a bad choice. It makes it a choice about who does the work.
Not open source
Where ReplaTicket fits, and where it does not
ReplaTicket is not open source. It is a paid licence that comes with its complete source code.
What you get
- The complete source code, which you may read and change for your own use.
- One payment of $299: no per-agent fee, and twelve months of updates.
- One command installs it on your own server, with HTTPS set up for you.
What it is built for
- Several stores or brands in one ticket list, each with its own mailbox, reply name and ticket code.
- Each person ticked for the stores they answer, and blind to the rest.
- Response targets, saved replies, a satisfaction score and reports per store and person.
What the licence does not allow
- Reselling it, publishing the code or running it as a service for others.
- Installing it for clients needs the $799 agency licence.
- If you need those freedoms, an open source licence is the right answer.
What it does not have yet
- No customer portal or knowledge base, unlike osTicket and Zammad.
- No attachments on replies, and no AI.
- Response targets are set at install, with no screen to edit them.
Questions
What is the best open source ticketing system?
For most small teams, FreeScout or Zammad. FreeScout is the lightest and runs on shared hosting, but its knowledge base, customer portal and many everyday features are paid modules. Zammad is fuller out of the box but needs PostgreSQL, Redis and ideally Elasticsearch. osTicket suits teams that want a customer portal and a long track record.
Is there a completely free help desk?
The software can be. osTicket, Zammad, FreeScout and UVdesk all have free, open source editions you can host yourself. You still pay for a server and for your own time to install, update and back it up, and some features cost extra.
Is ReplaTicket open source?
No. ReplaTicket is a paid licence that comes with its complete source code, which you may read and change for your own use. You may not resell it or publish the code. If you need an open source licence, choose one of the projects above.
What is the difference between self-hosted and open source?
Self-hosted means it runs on your own server. Open source means the licence lets anyone use, change and share the code. Every open source help desk here can be self-hosted, but a self-hosted help desk is not necessarily open source.
Which open source help desks have a hosted version?
osTicket (through SupportSystem), Zammad and UVdesk all sell hosted plans priced per agent. FreeScout has no hosted plan of its own; third-party hosts run it for you.
Self-hosted, with the source, and no meter.
If you want a desk you own without maintaining an open source project, ReplaTicket is $299 once.