The 7 best open source Freshdesk alternatives for 2025

So, you're looking for a Freshdesk alternative. Maybe you’ve hit a ceiling with their per-agent pricing, feel a bit hemmed in by the features, or you just want more say over your own customer data. It’s a familiar story. As a team grows, the tools that were once a perfect fit can start to feel a little tight around the collar.

I'm looking for a self hosted alternative to Freshdesk. Essentially I'm looking for a ticket system, that can be answered via a web interface and via email.

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That's where open source software often enters the picture. It’s a popular route for teams who are after more flexibility, control, and, let's be honest, a way to manage costs. But jumping into the world of open source can feel like a lot. Which tools are actually being updated? Which ones have the features your team can't live without?

That's exactly why we put this list together. We’re going to walk through seven of the top open source and modern alternatives to Freshdesk, breaking down what they’re good at, where they fall short, and who they’re for. By the end, you should have a much clearer picture of what might work for you.

What is an open source help desk system?

At its heart, an open source help desk is a customer support platform where the source code is out in the open for anyone to see. This means you can look at it, change it, and, this is the key part, host it on your own servers. Think of it like owning your house instead of renting. You've got the freedom to knock down walls and renovate whenever you want.

This freedom brings some pretty compelling benefits that tempt teams away from closed-off software like Freshdesk:

First up is full data ownership. All your customer information stays on your infrastructure. This is a massive plus for privacy and makes complying with regulations like GDPR much simpler. You’re not just handing over your most critical data to another company.

Then there's deep customization. Got a specific workflow that no standard tool seems to handle? With open source, you can get under the hood and tweak the software to match how your team actually works, rather than being stuck with a vendor's one-size-fits-all approach.

And the one that gets everyone's attention: no more per-agent fees. Instead of your bill climbing every time you hire a new support agent, your main costs are for hosting and maintenance. This makes your budget predictable and stops penalizing you for growing your team.

Of course, it isn't a total free lunch. The flip side of all that freedom is responsibility. You'll need some technical skills (or someone on your team who has them) to handle the initial setup, ongoing updates, and general upkeep. Support typically comes from community forums rather than a dedicated 24/7 help line.

Our criteria for selecting these tools

To make this list genuinely useful, we didn't just pick random names. We sized up each platform based on a few things that really matter when you're making this kind of switch.

We looked at core functionality, does it handle the basics like ticketing, automation, and reporting without any fuss? We considered how big of a headache it is to get up and running, and how easy it is to mold the tool to your team's specific workflows. A healthy, active community is also a huge factor, since that’s your primary source of support and a sign that the project is alive and well. Finally, we kept an eye out for modern touches, like a clean user interface and smart capabilities that meet today's support demands.

The top 7 open source Freshdesk alternatives in 2025

Ready to dig in? We'll be looking at a mix of tools. Some, like Chatwoot and Zammad, are full-blown, self-hosted help desks. Others, like FreeScout, are perfect for teams on a tight budget. And then there's a different approach entirely with eesel AI, which adds a layer of intelligence on top of the tools you already use.

Let's get into the details.

1. eesel AI

Instead of asking you to rip out and replace your entire help desk, eesel AI is an intelligent platform that plugs right into tools like Freshdesk, Zendesk, or Intercom. It’s a completely different way of thinking about the problem. It learns from your past tickets, help docs, and other company knowledge to automate frontline support, draft replies for your agents, and sort incoming tickets for you.

Why it's on the list

It gives you the best parts of the open source philosophy, like control, custom workflows, and predictable pricing, without the headaches of server maintenance. You can set up powerful, custom-fit AI workflows yourself in minutes, not months. It's a great middle ground for teams that want the benefits of modern AI without the pain of a full-scale migration.

It connects to your current help desk in one click, so there's no need to retrain your whole team on a new system. You get total control over the workflow through a simple prompt editor, letting you decide exactly which tickets the AI handles, define its tone of voice, and specify what actions it can take. It also pulls knowledge from all over your company, whether it's buried in Confluence, Google Docs, or your ticket history, to give accurate answers. Best of all, you can simulate its performance on thousands of your old tickets before it ever talks to a customer, giving you a clear forecast of how it will perform.

eesel AI can learn from your past tickets to provide accurate, context-aware responses, a key feature for any Freshdesk alternative open source.

Pricing

eesel AI has transparent plans based on AI interactions, so you won't get hit with surprise bills.

• Team Plan: $299/month ($239/month if billed annually) for up to 1,000 AI interactions and 3 bots.

• Business Plan: $799/month ($639/month if billed annually) for up to 3,000 AI interactions, unlimited bots, and advanced features like training on past tickets.

• Custom Plan: Available for teams needing a more tailored setup with unlimited interactions and custom integrations.

eesel AI offers transparent, interaction-based pricing, making it a predictable Freshdesk alternative open source.

2. Chatwoot

Chatwoot is a great-looking open source platform for customer engagement. Its biggest selling point is a unified, omnichannel inbox. This lets you manage conversations from your website chat, email, WhatsApp, and social media, all from one dashboard.

Why it's on the list

With its clean interface and sharp focus on omnichannel support, Chatwoot is a fantastic pick for teams wanting to bring all their customer communication channels under one self-hosted roof. It feels modern and has an active community behind it. It offers a shared inbox, live chat, customizable workflows, and integrates with tools like Slack and Calendly.

Pricing

Chatwoot gives you the choice between self-hosted and cloud options.

• Hacker (Cloud): Free for up to 2 agents, but it's limited to website live chat and 500 conversations a month.

• Startups (Cloud): $19/agent/month for all channels and unlimited conversations.

• Business (Cloud): $39/agent/month, which adds automation and SLA management.

• Enterprise (Cloud): $99/agent/month for advanced features like agent capacity limits and audit logs.

• Self-Hosted: The community edition is free and open source, with paid plans available if you need commercial features.

3. Zammad

Zammad is a powerful, web-based help desk system that's absolutely loaded with features. It was designed to be a free open source alternative to big, enterprise-level tools, and it definitely feels like it.

Why it's on the list

If you need a tool that can do just about anything and you have the technical resources to manage it, Zammad is a top-tier option. It offers an incredible amount of functionality, covering everything from multi-channel ticketing and a knowledge base to time tracking and detailed reporting. It includes full-text search, customizable fields, triggers, schedulers, and SLA management.

Pricing

Zammad provides a free, self-hosted community edition, along with managed cloud hosting and enterprise support contracts.

• Starter (Cloud): €7/agent/month for up to 5 agents.

• Professional (Cloud): €17/agent/month for up to 35 agents, adding a knowledge base and SLAs.

• Plus (Cloud): €26/agent/month for unlimited agents, plus core workflows, reporting, and more channels like WhatsApp.

• Self-Hosted Support Contracts: Start at €2,999/year for basic support.

4. FreeScout

As the name suggests, FreeScout is a free and lightweight open source help desk. It bills itself as a free alternative to tools like Help Scout, with a focus on delivering a simple and efficient shared inbox experience.

Why it's on the list

It’s the perfect entry point for small teams or startups that just need a solid ticketing system without the hefty price tag. It's easy to set up and handles the basics beautifully. As your needs grow, you can add more functionality through its marketplace of paid modules. The core product gives you unlimited mailboxes and users, collision detection to see if another agent is looking at a ticket, internal notes, and simple automation.

Pricing

The core software is completely free. You can buy optional modules to extend its capabilities, which usually come with a one-time fee for features like a knowledge base or satisfaction ratings.

5. osTicket

osTicket is one of the originals in the open source help desk world. It's a highly stable and widely used platform that has been trusted by thousands of companies over the years to manage their customer support.

Why it's on the list

It's a true workhorse. While it might not have the flashy interface of some of the newer tools, it’s incredibly reliable, free, and just gets the job done for core ticket management. If stability and a proven track record are your top priorities, osTicket is tough to beat. It comes with custom fields and forms, powerful ticket filters, an auto-responder, and a customer portal where users can check on their ticket status.

Pricing

osTicket is completely free to download and host yourself. They also offer a cloud-hosted version called SupportSystem, which comes with a free trial.

6. UVdesk

Built on the popular Symfony PHP framework, UVdesk is an enterprise-level open source helpdesk designed with developers and e-commerce businesses in mind. Its modular design makes it very adaptable.

Why it's on the list

Flexibility is its biggest strength. If you're running an e-commerce store on a platform like Magento or Shopify and need to pull in order data directly into your support tickets, UVdesk is an excellent choice. It offers multi-channel support, workflow automation, a built-in knowledge base, and a wide array of e-commerce integrations.

Pricing

UVdesk has a free open source Community Edition you can self-host, plus paid SaaS plans.

• Open Source: Free, with unlimited agents.

• Pro Plan (SaaS): Starts at $11/agent/month ($8/agent/month annually). Minimum of 2 agents.

• Enterprise Plan (SaaS): Starts at $18/agent/month ($15/agent/month annually). Minimum of 2 agents. Includes full portal customization.

7. Frappe Helpdesk

Frappe Helpdesk is a newer player on the scene, offering a 100% open source ticketing system with a noticeably clean and modern design. It's made by the same team behind the popular ERPNext platform.

Why it's on the list

It brings a modern, user-friendly feel to the open source space. For teams who value simplicity and a great user experience and don't need a million bells and whistles, Frappe Helpdesk is a breath of fresh air. Its features include a centralized ticket queue, SLA management to keep track of response times, a self-service customer portal, and canned responses for quick replies.

Pricing

Frappe Helpdesk is completely free and open source. Your only costs are related to hosting. You can either host it yourself or use their managed platform, Frappe Cloud, where plans are very affordable.

This video provides an overview of the best Freshdesk alternatives, covering options for businesses of all sizes looking for a change.

How to choose the right open source alternative

Picking a new help desk is a big decision, so it's worth taking a moment to think it through.

First, be honest about your team's technical capacity. Do you have someone who can confidently set up a server, manage security, apply updates, and troubleshoot when things go wrong? If not, a "free" tool can get expensive fast in terms of time and stress.

Next, make a list of what you absolutely need versus what would just be nice to have. If a simple shared inbox is all you're after, a tool like FreeScout is a great fit. If you need powerful AI automation and deep workflow customization, you'll need a more advanced solution. Finally, think about the total cost of ownership. Don't just look at the upfront price. Factor in hosting fees, any developer time needed for setup, and ongoing maintenance. Compare that number to the predictable monthly cost of a managed service.

Supercharge your support without switching your help desk

Let's be real: migrating from Freshdesk is a huge project. It disrupts your team's workflow, means hours of retraining, and always comes with the risk of losing important data. While open source tools give you more control, they also bring a whole new set of technical burdens.

But what if you could get the advanced functionality and workflow control you need without leaving the platform your team already knows?

eesel AI lets you do just that. By adding an intelligent AI layer on top of your current help desk, you can automate a huge chunk of your customer questions, give your agents AI-powered drafts to speed up their work, and get total control over your support process. All without the headache of migration.

You can see how much you could automate with a risk-free simulation on your own historical tickets. Get started with eesel AI for free.