Request Tracker vs Tiledesk
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
Tiledesk
Open-source conversational customer support platform
| Feature | Request Tracker | Tiledesk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Perl | Mustache |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,141 | ★ 316 |
| First released | 1996 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Jira Service Management | Zendesk, Intercom |
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 Tiledesk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Written in Mustache
Frequently asked questions
Is Request Tracker or Tiledesk better?
Neither is universally better. Request Tracker has the larger community, while Tiledesk is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Request Tracker and Tiledesk free and open-source?
Yes. Request Tracker is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Tiledesk under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Request Tracker and Tiledesk with Docker?
Request Tracker: check the project docs for container support. Tiledesk: yes.