6 self-hosted options
Open-source alternatives to Freshdesk
The best open-source alternatives to Freshdesk are Zammad, FreeScout and Frappe Helpdesk.
About Freshdesk: Freshworks' customer support software with ticketing, a help center and an omnichannel inbox.
Every option below is free to self-host and ranked by GitHub stars, so you can move off Freshdesk without giving up the features you rely on.
Top picks
- Rank 1:
Zammad
zammad/zammad
Easy to use but powerful support and ticketing system.
Helpdesk & TicketingRuby - Rank 2:
FreeScout
freescout-help-desk/freescout
Email-based customer support application, help desk and shared mailbox (alternative to Zendesk and Help Scout).
Helpdesk & TicketingPHPDocker - Rank 3:
Frappe Helpdesk
frappe/helpdesk
Helpdesk software which helps you streamline your company's support, offers an easy setup, clean user interface, and automation tools to resolve customer queries efficiently.
Helpdesk & TicketingVueDocker
Why switch
Why teams move off Freshdesk
Self-hosting is not only about saving money. These are the reasons people make the switch.
Own your data
Your data lives on a server you control, not on Freshdesk's infrastructure. No surprise policy changes and no lock-in.
No per-seat pricing
Open-source alternatives to Freshdesk are free to run for as many users as your server can handle. A small VPS often costs less than a single subscription.
Customize and extend
Read the code, add plugins, connect it to your own tools and automate it through open APIs. When you need a feature, you can build it or fund it.
Full ranking
All 6 Freshdesk alternatives
Ranked by GitHub stars. Open any app for live stats, license details and a deploy option.
- 1
Zammad
Easy to use but powerful support and ticketing system.
Helpdesk & Ticketing - 2
FreeScout
Email-based customer support application, help desk and shared mailbox (alternative to Zendesk and Help Scout).
Helpdesk & TicketingDocker - 3
Frappe Helpdesk
Helpdesk software which helps you streamline your company's support, offers an easy setup, clean user interface, and automation tools to resolve customer queries efficiently.
Helpdesk & TicketingDocker - 4
Chatwoot
Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).
Team ChatDocker - 5
UVDesk
UVDesk community is a service oriented, event driven extensible opensource helpdesk system that can be used by your organization to provide efficient support to your clients effortlessly whichever…
Project Management - 6
Libredesk
Modern omnichannel customer support desk. Live chat, email, and more in a single binary.
Helpdesk & TicketingDocker
What is the best open-source alternative to Freshdesk?
Zammad is the most popular open-source alternative to Freshdesk, with 5,981 GitHub stars. FreeScout and Frappe Helpdesk are also strong choices. Compare features, license and recent activity to find the best fit for your team.
Is there a free alternative to Freshdesk?
Yes. All 6 apps on this page are open source and free to self-host, so you can run a Freshdesk replacement without per-user fees. You only pay for the server, and a small VPS is usually enough for personal use or a small team.
Can I self-host an alternative to Freshdesk?
Yes. FreeScout, Frappe Helpdesk and Chatwoot ship a Docker image, so you can run them on a home server or VPS with Docker Compose in a few minutes. Your data then stays on hardware you control.
How do I migrate from Freshdesk?
Start by exporting your data from Freshdesk, then check the import options of the app you pick, since many projects ship importers for popular formats. Run both side by side for a week before you switch so nothing is lost.