Tiledesk vs Trudesk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Tiledesk | Trudesk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 58 · Fair | 55 · Fair |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Mustache | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 322 | ★ 1,496 |
| First released | 2020 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Intercom | Zendesk, Freshdesk |
What are Tiledesk and Trudesk?
Tiledesk
Tiledesk is an open-source customer support platform that combines live chat, chatbots, and a ticketing system. It routes conversations from multiple channels into a unified agent workspace with ticket tracking.
- Live chat and chatbots
- Omnichannel ticketing
- Unified agent workspace
- Conversation routing
Trudesk
Trudesk is an open-source help desk and ticket management system. It provides a kanban-style ticket board, knowledge base, and real-time messaging built on Node.js.
- Kanban ticket board
- Built-in knowledge base
- Real-time chat and notices
- Mobile-friendly UI
Tiledesk vs Trudesk: key differences
Tiledesk is written in Mustache, while Trudesk is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Tiledesk versus Apache-2.0 for Trudesk. Trudesk is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Tiledesk. Trudesk is the more established project (first released 2016), while Tiledesk arrived in 2020. Trudesk has the considerably larger community, at 1,496 GitHub stars versus 322.
Why pick each one
Choose Tiledesk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Written in Mustache
Choose Trudesk if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Tiledesk or Trudesk better?
Neither is universally better. Trudesk has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Tiledesk and Trudesk free and open-source?
Yes. Tiledesk is licensed under MIT and Trudesk under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Tiledesk and Trudesk with Docker?
Tiledesk: yes. Trudesk: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Tiledesk or Trudesk?
Trudesk has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Tiledesk. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.