Peppermint vs Znuny
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Peppermint
Archived
Open-source ticket management and helpdesk
VS
Znuny
Community-maintained OTRS fork for service desks
| Feature | Peppermint | Znuny |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 75 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,162 | ★ 596 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Jira Service Management | ServiceNow, Zendesk |
What are Peppermint and Znuny?
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
Znuny
Znuny is an open-source ticketing system and service desk maintained as a free fork of OTRS Community Edition. It supports helpdesk and ITSM workflows.
- Maintained OTRS fork
- Helpdesk and ITSM
- Customizable workflows
- Active community support
Peppermint vs Znuny: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Peppermint's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Znuny is actively maintained. Peppermint is written in TypeScript, while Znuny is built with Perl. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Peppermint versus GPL-3.0 for Znuny. Peppermint is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Znuny. Peppermint has the considerably larger community, at 3,162 GitHub stars versus 596. Peppermint lists first-class Docker deployment; Znuny does not.
Why pick each one
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 Peppermint or Znuny better?
Peppermint is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Peppermint if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Peppermint and Znuny free and open-source?
Yes. Peppermint is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Znuny under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Peppermint and Znuny with Docker?
Peppermint: yes. Znuny: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Peppermint or Znuny?
Peppermint has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Znuny. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.