Handesk 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 | Handesk | UVdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 28 · At risk | 55 · Fair |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | CSS |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,452 | ★ 19,612 |
| First released | 2018 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Freshdesk | Zendesk, Freshdesk |
What are Handesk and UVdesk?
Handesk
Handesk is an open-source help desk and lead management application built with Laravel. It converts emails into tickets, supports internal notes, escalation, merging, agent mentions, and includes an API for tickets and leads.
- Email-to-ticket conversion
- Lead management with API
- Ticket escalation and merging
- Slack and email notifications
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
Handesk vs UVdesk: key differences
Handesk is written in PHP, while UVdesk is built with CSS. UVdesk has the considerably larger community, at 19,612 GitHub stars versus 1,452. UVdesk lists first-class Docker deployment; Handesk does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Handesk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
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 Handesk 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 Handesk and UVdesk free and open-source?
Yes. Handesk is licensed under MIT and UVdesk under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Handesk and UVdesk with Docker?
Handesk: check the project docs for container support. UVdesk: yes.