Papercups vs Libredesk
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?
Papercups
Open-source live chat and customer messaging
VS
Libredesk
Self-hosted open-source customer support desk
| Feature | Papercups | Libredesk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Elixir | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,097 | ★ 2,685 |
| First released | 2020 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Intercom, Drift | Zendesk, Intercom |
Why pick each one
Choose Papercups if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Elixir
Choose Libredesk if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Papercups or Libredesk better?
Neither is universally better. Papercups has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Papercups and Libredesk free and open-source?
Yes. Papercups is licensed under MIT and Libredesk under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Papercups and Libredesk with Docker?
Papercups: yes. Libredesk: yes.