Ferdium vs Zammad
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Ferdium
All-in-one messenger that combines chat services
VS
Zammad
Web-based helpdesk and customer support system
| Feature | Ferdium | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,478 | ★ 5,834 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Rambox, Station | Zendesk, Freshdesk |
Why pick each one
Choose Ferdium if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Ferdium or Zammad better?
Neither is universally better. Zammad has the larger community, while Ferdium is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ferdium and Zammad free and open-source?
Yes. Ferdium is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Zammad under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ferdium and Zammad with Docker?
Ferdium: yes. Zammad: yes.