With over 3,200 GitHub stars, 900 forks, and backing from the team behind ERPNext, Frappe Helpdesk delivers a modern, streamlined alternative to Zendesk and Freshdesk with unlimited agents, no per-seat pricing, and full source code access under the AGPL-3.0 license. Built on the Frappe Framework with a Python backend and Vue 3 frontend using Frappe UI, the application collects customer inquiries from email, web forms, and the customer portal into a centralized ticketing queue with complete conversation history and threaded replies. Customizable SLA rules define response and resolution timelines by ticket type or team, triggering automatic alerts and escalations when deadlines approach or are missed. Assignment rules route incoming tickets to the appropriate agents based on priority, issue type, or workload balancing, while manual reassignment and transfer between teams remains available at any time. The customer self-service portal lets users submit tickets, track status, and search a knowledge base of published help articles that reduce repetitive support requests. Agents access saved reply templates for consistent, rapid responses to common queries. Custom fields, configurable workflows, and saved views adapt the interface to match each organization's support process. Real-time updates via WebSocket push ticket changes instantly to all connected agents. The PWA-compatible interface provides mobile access without a native app. Frappe Framework compatibility spans versions 15 and 16. Running on a dedicated VPS on RepoCloud with guaranteed CPU, RAM, and SSD, full root SSH access, and a browser serial console. AGPL-3.0 licensed.

With nearly 3,900 GitHub stars, over 1,800 forks, and continuous development since 2013 culminating in the v1.18.4 release in June 2026, osTicket remains one of the most deployed open-source help desk systems worldwide, trusted by organizations from small businesses to universities and government agencies. The PHP backend on Apache or IIS with MySQL stores every ticket, response, and attachment while the web interface provides separate agent and customer portal views with role-based access control across departments, teams, and individual agents. Customers submit tickets through web forms, email piping, or phone-entry by agents, and configurable ticket filters automatically route incoming requests to the correct department, assign agents or teams, set priority levels, apply SLA plans, and trigger canned responses based on matching criteria including custom field values. Agent collision avoidance locks tickets during response composition to prevent duplicate replies, while SLA plans with business hour schedules track due dates and escalate overdue tickets automatically. Custom forms and fields let organizations capture structured data specific to each help topic — from IT asset tags to billing account numbers — with configurable required and internal-only visibility. The advanced search system with saved queries and CSV export enables reporting across all ticket metadata and custom fields. The customer portal provides ticket tracking, profile management, and knowledge base access. OAuth2 plugin support enables modern email authentication with Microsoft 365 and Google. Running on a dedicated VPS on RepoCloud with guaranteed CPU, RAM, and SSD, full root SSH access, and a browser serial console. GPL-2.0 licensed.

A deliberately simple ticketing system standing in for both Zendesk and Jira: Peppermint handles internal staff requests and external customer support alike. The stack is modern full-stack TypeScript: Next.js and React over Prisma and PostgreSQL, which makes it light to run and approachable for developers extending it. Ticket creation is straightforward - a markdown editor with file uploads, assignment, status tracking, and a logical workflow that new agents grasp without a manual. Mailbox integration converts email into tickets automatically: configure SMTP/IMAP per mailbox and incoming messages become trackable tickets. Each client accumulates an interaction history, giving agents context on every past request before replying. Two touches distinguish it from bare-bones ticketing: a built-in markdown notebook with todo lists for internal documentation and knowledge sharing, and OIDC authentication so agents sign in through your existing identity provider - Keycloak, Okta, Authentik, or Azure AD. Configurable webhooks and email notifications push ticket events to third-party services. The UI is responsive from mobile to 4K, and everything works fully offline in air-gapped environments. Docker-native and scalable via Kubernetes, with an active community of 3,000+ GitHub stargazers.

Unlimited agents, unlimited tickets, unlimited mailboxes, forever, on a $4 VPS - FreeScout's pricing inversion is why it became the most popular self-hosted Help Scout alternative, a PHP/Laravel help desk and shared inbox developed from scratch over eight years. The inbox deliberately behaves like Gmail or Outlook, so new support agents need close to zero training. The email-support core is genuinely complete: seamless IMAP/SMTP integration including modern Microsoft Exchange authentication, collision detection that warns when two agents open the same conversation, canned responses, auto-replies, internal notes, open tracking, starring, forwarding, merging, and moving conversations between mailboxes, phone-call logging, push notifications, and an auto-refreshing conversation list - plus screenshot pasting straight from the clipboard into replies. It's 100% mobile-friendly, fully screen-reader accessible, and translated into 28 languages. Beyond the core, an ecosystem of 100+ modules (mostly one-time $12-20 purchases) adds knowledge base, workflows with Gmail-filter-style automation rules, satisfaction ratings, time tracking, tags, custom fields, LDAP, Slack, WhatsApp and Telegram channels, and an API with webhooks - pay only for what your team needs. Web installer and updater included. AGPL-licensed.

LibreDesk unifies live chat, email, and future channel integrations into a single agent inbox where every customer conversation converges regardless of origin, replacing per-seat-priced tools like Zendesk, Intercom, and Freshdesk with a zero-cost alternative that has surpassed 2,000 GitHub stars. Built on a Go backend with a Vue.js 3 and ShadcN UI frontend, it ships as a single binary requiring only PostgreSQL and Redis. The embeddable live chat widget drops onto any website with a snippet, while the AI assistant handles initial customer queries using answers grounded in your knowledge base before escalating to human agents when needed. Agent copilot drafts replies, summarizes conversation threads, and rewrites messages for tone adjustment directly within the inbox interface. Automation rules trigger on conversation events to tag, assign, and route tickets based on configurable conditions, while auto-assignment distributes workload by agent capacity or custom criteria. SLA management tracks response and resolution time targets with breach notifications, and automated CSAT surveys measure satisfaction after conversation closure. Macros save frequently sent responses as reusable templates that simultaneously set tags and assign conversations. Role-based access control provides granular per-action permissions for teams and individual agents, and SSO supports Google, Microsoft, and any OIDC provider. The HTTP/JSON API and webhook system enable custom integrations with external tools. Running on a dedicated VPS on RepoCloud with guaranteed CPU, RAM, and SSD, full root SSH access, and a browser serial console. AGPL-3.0 licensed.