Top 5 Open-Source Helpdesk Software Options in 2025

You’ll come across several cost-effective solutions when you’re seeking helpdesk software, but many free, open-source solutions come with trade-offs.

This article will help you explore the best open-source software and assess it based on its features, requirements, and user popularity. Beyond open-source tools, you’ll also discover affordable and proven customer service software that you can trust for your helpdesk needs.

If you have a smaller budget, Nextiva will be more than enough to power your small business’s contact center needs without adding maintenance and management costs.

Let’s explore which solution would be the most suitable for your helpdesk.

Pros and Cons of Open-Source Helpdesk Tools

Check out some notable pros and cons of open-source helpdesk tools.

Pros	Cons
Open-source helpdesk tools are generally free to use.	Open-source solutions often need in-house technical skills to maintain the software.
Open-source software offers high flexibility, as you can modify the source code.	Open-source tools vendors do not offer official support, making it tricky for a nontechnical team to manage the software.
Open-source tools usually have strong community support, but it becomes tricky if the community isn’t active.	Open-source projects may not be regularly updated, potentially exposing you to security vulnerabilities.
Open-source software allows you to audit the code to ensure security and understand the system’s operation.	Open-source software takes longer to customize and set up than other commercial, cloud-based software.
Open-source solutions are suitable for starting out, but they might create scalability issues later.	Open-source software requires additional development work to create the advanced features you’ll need for daily use.

Although an open-source helpdesk platform offers some benefits, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you don’t have strong development support with high availability.

Top Open-Source IT Helpdesk Solutions: A Comparison

Below are some of the leading IT helpdesk solutions and open-source ticketing systems in 2025.

1. osTicket

osTicket is an open-source helpdesk tool and ticketing system that streamlines task management and customer support operations for users. It’s essentially a low-code platform where you can design custom forms and workflows. This offers flexibility for external customers and internal teams, like an HR or IT ticketing system.

Source: osTicket

osTicket is free, and you can deploy it on virtually any server. It offers reliable control over support and task management processes without having to invest much. osTicket meets the needs of small or large companies seeking a scalable helpdesk solution they can easily customize.

osTicket key features

Below are some of the critical features of osTicket that users frequently discuss:

• Export agents: osTicket allows you to know the departments each agent can access on the helpdesk software, so you don’t need to look this up for each agent. Instead, you can export agents’ access in a CSV file, which will include their basic information, primary department, and access privileges.
• Helpdesk threads: osTicket lets support agents open a new ticket rather than having a continuous thread with multiple questions, making it easier to follow.
• Release assignment: osTicket allows an agent with the correct permissions to release ticket assignments instead of assigning it to another agent or team.

osTicket requirements

Here are some requirements for installing osTicket:

• Apache/LiteSpeed/IIS web server (with the URL rewrite module)
• PHP 8.1 – 8.2. PHP 8.2 is recommended
• MSQL 5.0 or better
• MySQL database with a valid user, password, and hostname

osTicket popularity

osTicket has a large, active community that engages in discussions to offer support to other users.

2. FreeScout

The power of FreeScout’s helpdesk comes from modules that cost money, but the free system does have email capabilities, and you can sort out users who can see specific lists and get assigned particular requests.

Source: FreeScout

FreeScout key features

FreeScout’s helpdesk tool provides the following features to improve users’ efficiency and their experience:

• Conversations: FreeScout’s platform lets you forward conversations with ease. You can send new conversations to multiple recipients while users see the conversations in real time.
• Unlimited agents and mailboxes: Freescout’s helpdesk provides several agents and mailboxes without any restrictions. It’s mobile-friendly, so users can access their inboxes freely on iOS or Android mobile apps.
• Modular design: FreeScout facilitates customization with various plugins to suit your needs and requirements better.

FreeScout requirements

FreesScout is a pure PHP/MySQL application, making it easy to deploy on any shared hosting. Here are some of its prerequisites:

• Nginx, Apache, or IIS web server
• PHP 7.1 – 8.X
• MySQL 5.0+/PostgreSQL/MariaDB 5.0+

There’s no minimum system requirement for CPU or RAM, and it can run on any system.

FreeScout popularity

FreeScout’s open-source helpdesk software is gaining traction with small and medium-sized businesses.

3. Zammad

Zammad is a modern, web-based helpdesk solution that focuses on user experience and integration. It helps manage customer communications via chat, email, telephone, or social media.

Source: Zammad

Zammad is distributed under version 3 of the GNU Affero General Public License.

Zammad key features

Below are some of Zammad’s key features:

• Audit-proof tracking: Tracks who made which changes and at what time, which is one reason banks prefer using it.
• Multilingual capabilities: Supports more than 40 languages. You can simply select your interface language and avoid any possible misunderstandings.
• Immediate changes: Prevents duplicate work by displaying changes to objects immediately. It also keeps your colleagues informed about recent changes.
• Dashboard display: Shows messages, assigned tickets, or any missed calls that need your attention.
• VIP highlighting: Displays important customers or organizations and highlights them. It lets you trigger notifications whenever there’s an update from them.

Zammad requirements

Below are some requirements for deploying Zammad:

• Minimum of two CPU cores or 6 GB of RAM
• Extra 4 GB RAM if you’re running Elasticsearch on the same server
• Firefox 78+, Chrome 83+, Opera 69+, Safari 14.1+
• Ruby programming language (2.4.4 -3.2.4)
• PostgreSQL 10+
• Node.js for asset compiling
• Reverse proxies like Nginx 1.3+ and Apache 2.2+
• Redis for real-time communication via web socket

Zammad popularity

Zammad is popular among companies seeking a modern interface with robust helpdesk features. Its community is fairly active.

4. UVdesk

UVdesk helps businesses manage their service efficiently by centralizing customer queries from social media and emails. It offers automation tools to help you set up workflows to assign tickets and send automatic replies.

Source: UVdesk

UVdesk allows you to create a knowledge base that facilitates self-service, and it integrates with popular e-commerce websites, social media networks, and CRMs.

UVdesk key features

Here’s a breakdown of UVdesk’s key features that users like:

• Workflow automation: Allows you to automate actions based on specific events, reducing manual work and ensuring timely responses.
• Progressive web app: Provides fast and responsive actions with a web application that functions like a native app.
• E-commerce multi-channel integration: Manages data from different channels within the ticket system, making it easier to manage orders and customer inquiries.

UVdesk requirements

On Ubuntu, there are a few hardware and software requirements for installing UVdesk:

• 1.60 GHz or higher processor
• 3GB or more RAM
• PHP 7.3 or higher (PHP 8)
• Apache server
• MySQL database

UVdesk’s popularity

UVdesk is well-suited for e-commerce businesses, and it’s moderately popular on the market.

5. Faveo Helpdesk

Faveo Helpdesk integrates with email, phone services, and social media apps, allowing end users to connect with you through multiple platforms. It has options to create categories in the knowledge base, where you can write articles. End users of the support portal can see all tickets (open or closed) and read through the whole conversation in a timeline view.

Source: Faveo Helpdesk

Faveo Helpdesk segregates tickets by department. For example, you can see the ticket raised for human resources if you’re from an HR department. Favio offers both a free community version and a paid plan.

Faveo Helpdesk key features

Below are some common features of Faveo:

• Ticket management: Organizes and manages customer requests efficiently with a simple ticketing solution.
• Customizable workflows: Streamlines support processes by creating custom workflows for unique business needs.
• Self-service portal: Reduces the need for agent intervention.

Faveo Helpdesk requirements

Here’s a breakdown of requirements for using Faveo’s helpdesk software:

• 4vCPU with 8GB RAM and 40GB storage
• PHP 8.1.X with PHP-curl, PHP-gd, PHP-mbstring, and various other extensions
• Apache (with mod_rewrite enabled) or Nginx or IIS
• MySQL 8.0.X or Maria DB 10.6.X
• Redis
• Supervisor

Faveo Helpdesk popularity

Startups and SMEs use Faveo for their helpdesk software. However, its community edition is less actively maintained.

Why You May Want to Consider Nextiva

The benefits of open-source solutions are tied to cost savings and flexibility, but they’re not easy to maintain and manage. You end up compromising on must-have features and required customizations to make savings in software costs.

When you’re seeking more streamlined and reliable software, Nextiva stands out for several reasons.

A unified customer care platform

Nextiva provides a comprehensive solution for the needs of internal and external helpdesks. It easily integrates helpdesk functionality with voice, video, chat, and other channels.

A success story from one of Nextiva’s customers proves the point.

Nextiva’s unified platform automatically makes communication seamless, helping you deliver a great customer experience while improving the support process for internal teams.

Ease of use

Unlike open-source solutions, Nextiva’s software doesn’t require extensive technical expertise to set up, and it’s easy to deploy immediately. Users can quickly set up accounts, add users, and configure communication settings.

Nextiva’s online dashboard simplifies complex features like call flows and voicemail changes.

Essential and advanced features

Nextiva goes beyond basic ticketing to offer several must-have features, like advanced analytics and AI-driven automation. There are deep CRM integrations, and most importantly, they all come with a promise of 99.999% uptime and 24/7 monitoring.

Open-source helpdesk tools might lack these features, and there’s a consistent need for maintenance.

Reliability and support

In addition to uptime and monitoring, Nextiva supports its customers with continuous system updates, ensuring that your service desk operations run smoothly. Based on your plan, you’ll have support from a dedicated service manager, who will help you with any customized modifications and adjustments you wish to make to the software.

Too Much Work Managing Open Source? Check Out Nextiva

Today’s cost savings might add to your technical debt later, especially if you mainly use multiple tools in your support ecosystem. Open-source solutions are cost-effective, but they need extensive resources to manage, connect (via APIs), or sync with other applications in your tech stack.

When seeking the best helpdesk software for your business, you should ideally reduce the development effort required to manage it. Nextiva is an excellent package to consider, as it offers a unified solution on the support side to deliver experiences that customers remember and cherish.

Tour Nextiva’s Unified-CXM platform to elevate your customers’ experience.