Request Tracker vs SupportPal
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?
Request Tracker
Enterprise-grade ticketing system from Best Practical
VS
SupportPal
Powerful help desk software - easy, fast and intuitive
| Feature | Request Tracker | SupportPal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-2.0 | ⊘ Proprietary |
| Language | Perl | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,141 | — |
| First released | 1996 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Jira Service Management | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Request Tracker if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
Choose SupportPal if…
- Released under the ⊘ Proprietary license
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Request Tracker or SupportPal better?
Neither is universally better. Request Tracker has the larger community, while SupportPal is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Request Tracker and SupportPal free and open-source?
Yes. Request Tracker is licensed under GPL-2.0 and SupportPal under ⊘ Proprietary. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Request Tracker and SupportPal with Docker?
Request Tracker: check the project docs for container support. SupportPal: check the project docs for container support.