Alternatives to osTicket
The veteran open source ticket system
osTicket ranks #10 of 11 in Helpdesk software, with an Alt Score of 68. It is licensed under GPL-2.0, open source with paid hosting from $12/agent/mo and available on the web. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Support teams and IT/help desks at small-to-midsize organizations across sectors (education, healthcare, government, nonprofits, business) who need to manage customer or internal support requests without paying for a commercial help desk platform.
A self-hosted (or hosted) open-source ticketing system that consolidates inquiries from email, web forms, and the API into a single queue. Includes ticket routing to departments via configurable help topics, SLAs with business-hour rules, a customer self-service portal, and dashboard reporting on help desk performance.
Customers submit requests by email, a web form, or the API; each request becomes a ticket in a shared queue. Agents work tickets from a web-based dashboard, with routing rules and SLAs directing tickets to the right department and tracking response times.
Where osTicket stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave osTicket
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Helpdesk software checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Helpdesk software checklist | osTicket | Chatwoot | Zammad | Help Scout | Freshdesk | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Shared inbox | ||||||
| Live chat widget | ||||||
| Knowledge base | ||||||
| Automations & SLAs | ||||||
| AI answers / copilot | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Free tier limits | ||||||
| Multi-channel (email, chat, social) | ||||||
| Reporting | ||||||
| Per-seat price |
Every fact and feature listed for osTicket is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model OSS + paid hosting verified 2026-07-11
Starting at $12/agent/mo
https://osticket.com/editions/ -
Starts at $12/agent/mo verified 2026-07-11
Starting at $12/agent/mo
https://osticket.com/editions/ -
License GPL-2.0 verified 2026-07-11
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991
https://github.com/osTicket/osTicket/blob/develop/LICENSE.txt -
Platforms Web verified 2026-07-11
osTicket is a platform-independent web-based application
https://osticket.com/faq/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
security: Latest Patches 06/2026
https://github.com/osTicket/osTicket/releases -
Shared inbox Yes verified 2026-07-11
Since tickets are routed through Departments in the help desk, there are many settings that can be set for each Department.
https://docs.osticket.com/en/latest/Admin/Agents/Departments.html -
Live chat widget No verified 2026-07-11
It seamlessly integrates inquiries created via email, phone and web-based forms into a simple easy-to-use multi-user web interface.
https://github.com/osTicket/osTicket -
Knowledge base Yes verified 2026-07-11
Allows your Users self-service access to your public knowledgebase articles.
https://docs.osticket.com/en/latest/Admin/Settings/Knowledgebase.html -
Automations & SLAs Yes verified 2026-07-11
SLA Plans or Service Level Agreements, are unlimited in osTicket.
https://docs.osticket.com/en/latest/Admin/Manage/SLA%20Plans.html -
Self-hostable Yes verified 2026-07-11
Open Source Free Download
https://osticket.com/editions/ -
Free tier limits Yes verified 2026-07-11
Open Source Free Download
https://osticket.com/editions/ -
Multi-channel (email, chat, social) Partial verified 2026-07-11
It seamlessly integrates inquiries created via email, phone and web-based forms into a simple easy-to-use multi-user web interface.
https://github.com/osTicket/osTicket -
Reporting Yes verified 2026-07-11
Meant to be a historical marker of the metadata in your help desk, the Dashboard will give you an overview of tickets in your help desk.
https://docs.osticket.com/en/latest/Agent/Dashboard/Dashboard.html -
Per-seat price No verified 2026-07-11
Open Source Free Download
https://osticket.com/editions/
FAQ
Yes. Freshdesk, Crisp and Tidio have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Chatwoot, Zammad and FreeScout — every license claim links its source.