Handesk vs Znuny
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
Znuny
Community-maintained OTRS fork for service desks
| Feature | Handesk | Znuny |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,450 | ★ 588 |
| First released | 2018 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Freshdesk | ServiceNow, Zendesk |
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 Znuny better?
Handesk is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Znuny if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Handesk and Znuny free and open-source?
Yes. Handesk is licensed under MIT and Znuny under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Handesk and Znuny with Docker?
Handesk: check the project docs for container support. Znuny: check the project docs for container support.