GLPI vs Handesk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
GLPI
IT asset management and service desk
VS
Handesk
Laravel help desk and lead management application
| Feature | GLPI | Handesk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 28 · At risk |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,382 | ★ 1,452 |
| First released | 2003 | 2018 |
| Replaces | ServiceNow, Zendesk | Zendesk, Freshdesk |
What are GLPI and Handesk?
GLPI
GLPI is a free IT service management software combining a helpdesk ticketing system with IT asset and inventory management. It is widely used by IT departments.
- ITIL-aligned service desk
- Asset and inventory management
- Self-service portal
- Large plugin ecosystem
Handesk
Handesk is an open-source help desk and lead management application built with Laravel. It converts emails into tickets, supports internal notes, escalation, merging, agent mentions, and includes an API for tickets and leads.
- Email-to-ticket conversion
- Lead management with API
- Ticket escalation and merging
- Slack and email notifications
GLPI vs Handesk: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for GLPI versus MIT for Handesk. GLPI is the more established project (first released 2003), while Handesk arrived in 2018. GLPI has the considerably larger community, at 6,382 GitHub stars versus 1,452. GLPI lists first-class Docker deployment; Handesk does not.
Why pick each one
Choose GLPI if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.4k GitHub stars
- Written in PHP
Choose Handesk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is GLPI or Handesk better?
Neither is universally better. GLPI has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are GLPI and Handesk free and open-source?
Yes. GLPI is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Handesk under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GLPI and Handesk with Docker?
GLPI: yes. Handesk: check the project docs for container support.