Best open source help desk: Zendesk & Help Scout alternative

Features

FreeScout is the perfect help desk solution for those who need to provide a professional customer support, but who can not afford to pay for Zendesk or Help Scout. FreeScout is a pure open source PHP/MySQL application, so it can be easily deployed even on a shared hosting.

Omnichannel — FreeScout centralizes in one place all customer conversations received by email, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Slack, Live Chat and more.
AI-powered and super efficient.
Unlimited support agents, tickets, mailboxes, etc.
Secure by design.
Mobile-friendly.
Multilingual (translated into 33 languages).
Seamless email integration (via SMTP, IMAP, POP3, etc).
Modern OAuth authentication for Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace.
Fully supports screen readers (for visually impaired).
Web installer & updater.
Starred conversations.
Push notifications.
Following conversations.
Auto replies.
Internal notes.
Forwarding / Merging / Moving conversations.
Phone conversations.
Sending conversations to multiple recipients at once.
Collision detection – notice is shown when two agents open the same conversation.
Automatic refreshing of the conversations list without the need to reload the page.
Pasting screenshots from the clipboard into the reply area.
Flexible notifications for user agents.
Open tracking.
Powerful search.
Saved replies.
Email commands.
Satisfaction Ratings.
Tags.
Spam filter.
LDAP integration.
Kanban boards.
Keyboard shortcuts.
Mentions.
Slack integration.
WhatsApp integration.
Facebook Integration.
Telegram Integration.
Translating tickets.
End-User Portal.
Knowledge Base.
Live chat.
SMS tickets via Twilio.
Time tracking.
Custom fields.
White-labeling.
Custom folders.
Workflows & SLA.
Custom styles.
Custom email templates.
SMS notifications.
Telegram notifications.
Rocket.Chat Notifications.
Real-time reports.
CRM.
Customer Data Enrichment.
WooCommerce Integration.
Easy Digital Downloads Integration.
S/MIME & PGP.
GDPR ready.
API.
Webhooks.
Custom Homepage.
Export Conversations.
Out of Office.
SAML SSO.
User fields.
Jira Integration.
Auto login from email notificaitons.
Teams.
Snooze conversation.
Move or remove IMAP message.
Custom mailbox signatures.
Checklists.
Send reply & close ticket.
Embed images into outgoing emails.
Dark mode.
OAuth & social login for support agents.
Faster search using Meilisearch.
Mailbox icons.
Sticky notes.
IP restriction and reCAPTCHA.
Wallboards.
And more…

Connect FreeScout to anything using Zapier or Make.

Migrate to FreeScout from any help desk.

Mobile apps support the same functionality and modules as the web version of your FreeScout installation. Both support agents and administrators can use mobile apps.

MacOS Menu Bar App

Need anything else?

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I started with Chatwoot, then Zammad and now FreeScout. I really appreciate the simplicity of the software. And it’s super lightweight on server resources. Runs about 10 times less RAM at idle verse Zammad. I use the ticketing system concept as part of my sales funnel for an apparel business.

June 28, 2026

Best Open Source Helpdesk & Shared Mailbox

Free self-hosted Zendesk & Help Scout alternative – Omnichannel & AI-powered

FreeScout Help Desk

What People Say About FreeScout

John Lund

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