GLPI vs ITFlow
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
ITFlow
Open-source ITSM, documentation and ticketing for MSPs
| Feature | GLPI | ITFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| 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 | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,382 | ★ 1,007 |
| First released | 2003 | 2021 |
| Replaces | ServiceNow, Zendesk | ServiceNow, Jira Service Management |
What are GLPI and ITFlow?
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
ITFlow
ITFlow is a self-hosted application for IT service providers that combines client documentation, asset tracking, and a ticketing system. It handles support tickets with categorization and priorities alongside a knowledge base.
- Incident and request tickets
- Built-in knowledge base
- Asset linkage
- Priority and category routing
GLPI vs ITFlow: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for GLPI versus MIT for ITFlow. GLPI is the more established project (first released 2003), while ITFlow arrived in 2021. GLPI has the considerably larger community, at 6,382 GitHub stars versus 1,007.
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 ITFlow if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is GLPI or ITFlow 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 ITFlow free and open-source?
Yes. GLPI is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ITFlow under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GLPI and ITFlow with Docker?
GLPI: yes. ITFlow: yes.