OpenSupports vs TicketsBot
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | OpenSupports | TicketsBot |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 14 · At risk | 0 · At risk |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,038 | ★ 26 |
| First released | 2016 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Freshdesk | Zendesk |
What are OpenSupports and TicketsBot?
OpenSupports
OpenSupports is an open-source customer support ticket system that lets users submit and track support requests through a web portal. Staff manage tickets with departments, custom responses, and statistics.
- Customer support portal
- Department-based routing
- Custom responses
- Ticket statistics
TicketsBot
TicketsBot is a self-hostable ticket management bot that creates private support channels on demand and logs full transcripts. It is designed for community support teams that handle requests through chat platforms.
- On-demand support channels
- Full transcript logging
- Tag-based routing
- Staff claim system
OpenSupports vs TicketsBot: key differences
OpenSupports is written in JavaScript, while TicketsBot is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for OpenSupports versus AGPL-3.0 for TicketsBot. OpenSupports is the more established project (first released 2016), while TicketsBot arrived in 2018. OpenSupports has the considerably larger community, at 1,038 GitHub stars versus 26.
Why pick each one
Choose OpenSupports if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Choose TicketsBot if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenSupports or TicketsBot better?
Neither is universally better. OpenSupports has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OpenSupports and TicketsBot free and open-source?
Yes. OpenSupports is licensed under GPL-3.0 and TicketsBot under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenSupports and TicketsBot with Docker?
OpenSupports: yes. TicketsBot: yes.