osTicket vs Peppermint
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
osTicket
Widely used open-source support ticket system
VS
Peppermint
Archived
Open-source ticket management and helpdesk
| Feature | osTicket | Peppermint |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,918 | ★ 3,162 |
| First released | 2003 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Freshdesk | Zendesk, Jira Service Management |
What are osTicket and Peppermint?
osTicket
osTicket is a widely used open-source support ticket system. It routes inquiries from email, web forms, and APIs into a simple, easy-to-use multi-user interface.
- Email and web ticket creation
- Custom fields and forms
- SLA and ticket routing
- Canned responses
Peppermint
Peppermint is an open-source ticket management system and helpdesk. It offers a modern interface for managing customer issues, internal tasks, and a knowledge base.
- Ticket and task management
- Email-to-ticket support
- Documentation and notebooks
- Modern responsive UI
osTicket vs Peppermint: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Peppermint's repository is archived and no longer developed, while osTicket is actively maintained. OsTicket is written in PHP, while Peppermint is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for osTicket versus AGPL-3.0 for Peppermint. OsTicket is the more established project (first released 2003), while Peppermint arrived in 2021.
Why pick each one
Choose osTicket if…
- Mature and stable
- Easy for staff to learn
Watch out for
- Interface looks dated
Choose Peppermint if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is osTicket or Peppermint 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 osTicket and Peppermint free and open-source?
Yes. osTicket is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Peppermint under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run osTicket and Peppermint with Docker?
osTicket: yes. Peppermint: yes.