Alternatives to
9 Best Zammad Alternatives in 2026
The best Zammad alternatives depend on whether you prioritize cost, control, or a different workflow.
- Reviewed
- Sep 2026
- Open source
- 4
- Self-hosted
- 5
What you are leaving
Zammad at a glance
- Pricing model
- Free self-hosted edition; hosted from 7 EUR/agent/mo for Starter v2, 16 EUR Professional v2, 25 EUR Plus v2
- Deployment
- Self-hosted on your own servers, or hosted in ISO 27001-certified German data centres
- Licensing
- Open source self-hosted edition; commercial hosted plans
- Channels
- Email, web form and SMS on Starter; chat, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp on higher tiers
- SLAs
- Service Level Agreements, individual roles and custom ticket objects on Professional and above
- Knowledge base
- Monolingual on Professional; multilingual on Plus
- AI
- Optional AI features billed at 0.03 EUR per AI call on top of the plan
- Agent limits
- Starter caps at 5 agents, Professional at 35, Plus is unlimited
- Main gripe
- Useful features like SLAs and the knowledge base start on the mid tier, and AI is metered separately
- Best for
- Support and IT service teams that need SLAs, multi-channel ticketing and a self-hosted option with European data residency
Compare at a glance
Zammad alternatives compared
Short facts side by side. Filter by what matters to your team, then open any row for the full decision brief.
| # | Product | Overlap | Substitutability | Free? | Starting price | Self-host | Open source | Migration | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | osTicket | Ticketing, email-to-ticket and custom fields | Partial replacement | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 02 | FreeScout | Shared inbox, ticketing and omnichannel messaging | Mostly replaces | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 03 | Faveo Helpdesk | Ticketing, shared inbox and knowledge base | Mostly replaces | Yes | $7.20/agent/mo | Yes | No | Moderate | |
| 04 | UVdesk | Ticketing, forms and knowledge base | Mostly replaces | Yes | $8/agent/mo | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 05 | Chatwoot | Shared inbox, live chat and support tickets | Partial replacement | Yes | $19/agent/mo | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 06 | Zoho Desk | Ticketing, SLAs, knowledge base and multi-channel support | Mostly replaces | Yes | $19/user/mo | No | No | Moderate | |
| 07 | Freshdesk | Ticketing, SLAs, knowledge base and multi-channel support | Mostly replaces | Yes | $19/agent/mo | No | No | Moderate | |
| 08 | Zendesk | Ticketing, help centre and multi-channel support | Mostly replaces | No | $19/agent/mo | No | No | Hard | |
| 09 | Help Scout | Shared inbox, knowledge base and live chat | Partial replacement | Yes | $25/user/mo | No | No | Moderate |
Community signal
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Frequently asked
Zammad alternatives FAQ
- Is Zammad free?
- Yes, Zammad can be self-hosted for free. The self-hosted edition is open source and costs nothing in licence fees, though you take on the server, updates and backups yourself. Zammad also sells hosted plans starting at 7 euros per agent per month for Starter v2 on annual billing, hosted in ISO 27001-certified German data centres.
- How much does Zammad cost?
- Hosted Zammad Starter v2 is 7 euros per agent per month and caps at 5 agents. Professional v2 is 16 euros per agent per month and caps at 35 agents. Plus v2 is 25 euros per agent per month with unlimited agents. Annual billing saves 10%. All prices exclude VAT, and AI features are optional at an additional 0.03 euros per AI call.
- What is the best free alternative to Zammad?
- osTicket is the most widely deployed free open source ticketing system and supports unlimited agents. FreeScout is the closest like-for-like shared inbox with unlimited agents and a modern Laravel codebase. Faveo Helpdesk and UVdesk both offer free self-hosted editions with commercial cloud plans on top, and Chatwoot is the strongest option if you need live chat and social messaging channels.
- Does Zammad include SLAs and a knowledge base?
- Yes, but not on the entry plan. Service Level Agreements, individual roles, individual ticket objects and a monolingual knowledge base start on Professional v2 at 16 euros per agent per month. Plus v2 adds a multilingual knowledge base, core workflows, GitHub and GitLab integration, and deeper reporting. Starter v2 covers email, web form and SMS only.
- Can I migrate from Zammad to another helpdesk?
- Migration is possible but rarely automatic. Zammad stores tickets, users and attachments in a PostgreSQL database, and most replacements do not ship a Zammad importer. In practice you export tickets to CSV and re-import them, then rebuild SLAs, roles, ticket objects, triggers and knowledge base articles in the new tool. Budget for a medium to hard migration rather than a one-click switch.
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