Handesk vs Zammad
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Handesk
Laravel help desk and lead management application
VS
Zammad
Web-based helpdesk and customer support system
| Feature | Handesk | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Chat & Communication |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,450 | ★ 5,834 |
| First released | 2018 | 2016 |
| 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 Zammad better?
Neither is universally better. Zammad has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Handesk and Zammad free and open-source?
Yes. Handesk is licensed under MIT and Zammad under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Handesk and Zammad with Docker?
Handesk: check the project docs for container support. Zammad: yes.