Request Tracker vs Znuny
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
Znuny
Community-maintained OTRS fork for service desks
| Feature | Request Tracker | Znuny |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Perl | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,141 | ★ 588 |
| First released | 1996 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Jira Service Management | ServiceNow, Zendesk |
Why pick each one
Choose Request Tracker if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
Frequently asked questions
Is Request Tracker or Znuny better?
Neither is universally better. Request Tracker has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Request Tracker and Znuny free and open-source?
Yes. Request Tracker is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Znuny under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Request Tracker and Znuny with Docker?
Request Tracker: check the project docs for container support. Znuny: check the project docs for container support.