Handesk vs osTicket
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Handesk
Laravel help desk and lead management application
VS
osTicket
Widely used open-source support ticket system
| Feature | Handesk | osTicket |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,450 | ★ 3,871 |
| First released | 2018 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Freshdesk | Zendesk, Freshdesk |
Why pick each one
Choose Handesk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Handesk or osTicket better?
Neither is universally better. osTicket has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Handesk and osTicket free and open-source?
Yes. Handesk is licensed under MIT and osTicket under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Handesk and osTicket with Docker?
Handesk: check the project docs for container support. osTicket: yes.