GLPI vs UVdesk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | GLPI | UVdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 55 · Fair |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | CSS |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,382 | ★ 19,612 |
| First released | 2003 | 2018 |
| Replaces | ServiceNow, Zendesk | Zendesk, Freshdesk |
What are GLPI and UVdesk?
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
UVdesk
UVdesk is an open-source helpdesk system built on the Symfony framework. It offers ticket management, a knowledge base, email piping, and a customizable workflow engine.
- Email piping to tickets
- Workflow automation
- Knowledge base module
- Extensible app marketplace
GLPI vs UVdesk: key differences
GLPI is written in PHP, while UVdesk is built with CSS. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for GLPI versus MIT for UVdesk. GLPI is the more established project (first released 2003), while UVdesk arrived in 2018. UVdesk has the considerably larger community, at 19,612 GitHub stars versus 6,382.
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 UVdesk if…
- Full ticketing workflow
- Knowledge base included
- Email piping support
Watch out for
- PHP MySQL stack required
- Slower development pace
Frequently asked questions
Is GLPI or UVdesk better?
Neither is universally better. UVdesk has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are GLPI and UVdesk free and open-source?
Yes. GLPI is licensed under GPL-3.0 and UVdesk under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GLPI and UVdesk with Docker?
GLPI: yes. UVdesk: yes.