GLPI vs Tiledesk
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
Tiledesk
Open-source conversational customer support platform
| Feature | GLPI | Tiledesk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 58 · Fair |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Mustache |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,378 | ★ 322 |
| First released | 2003 | 2020 |
| Replaces | ServiceNow, Zendesk | Zendesk, Intercom |
What are GLPI and Tiledesk?
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
Tiledesk
Tiledesk is an open-source customer support platform that combines live chat, chatbots, and a ticketing system. It routes conversations from multiple channels into a unified agent workspace with ticket tracking.
- Live chat and chatbots
- Omnichannel ticketing
- Unified agent workspace
- Conversation routing
GLPI vs Tiledesk: key differences
GLPI is written in PHP, while Tiledesk is built with Mustache. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for GLPI versus MIT for Tiledesk. GLPI is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Tiledesk. GLPI is the more established project (first released 2003), while Tiledesk arrived in 2020. GLPI has the considerably larger community, at 6,378 GitHub stars versus 322.
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 Tiledesk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Written in Mustache
Frequently asked questions
Is GLPI or Tiledesk 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 Tiledesk free and open-source?
Yes. GLPI is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Tiledesk under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GLPI and Tiledesk with Docker?
GLPI: yes. Tiledesk: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, GLPI or Tiledesk?
GLPI has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Tiledesk. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.