SHSelfHostIndex

Request Tracker vs The Bug Genie

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?
RE Request Tracker Enterprise-grade ticketing system from Best Practical VS TH The Bug Genie Friendly project management and issue tracking
FeatureRequest TrackerThe Bug Genie
CategoryHelpdesk & TicketingHelpdesk & Ticketing
LicenseGPL-2.0MPL-2.0
LanguagePerlPHP
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 1,141★ 456
First released19962008
ReplacesZendesk, Jira Service ManagementJira

Why pick each one

Choose Request Tracker if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Perl
Request Tracker details

Choose The Bug Genie if…

  • Released under the MPL-2.0 license
  • Written in PHP
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
The Bug Genie details

Frequently asked questions

Is Request Tracker or The Bug Genie better?

Neither is universally better. Request Tracker has the larger community, while The Bug Genie is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Request Tracker and The Bug Genie free and open-source?

Yes. Request Tracker is licensed under GPL-2.0 and The Bug Genie under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Request Tracker and The Bug Genie with Docker?

Request Tracker: check the project docs for container support. The Bug Genie: check the project docs for container support.

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