Trudesk vs UVdesk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted helpdesk & ticketing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Trudesk | UVdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 55 · Fair | 55 · Fair |
| Category | Helpdesk & Ticketing | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | CSS |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,496 | ★ 19,612 |
| First released | 2016 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Freshdesk | Zendesk, Freshdesk |
What are Trudesk and UVdesk?
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
UVdesk
UVdesk is an open-source helpdesk system built on the Symfony framework. It offers ticket management, a knowledge base, email piping, and a customizable workflow engine.
- Email piping to tickets
- Workflow automation
- Knowledge base module
- Extensible app marketplace
Trudesk vs UVdesk: key differences
Trudesk is written in JavaScript, while UVdesk is built with CSS. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Trudesk versus MIT for UVdesk. Trudesk is the more established project (first released 2016), while UVdesk arrived in 2018. UVdesk has the considerably larger community, at 19,612 GitHub stars versus 1,496.
Why pick each one
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
Choose UVdesk if…
- Full ticketing workflow
- Knowledge base included
- Email piping support
Watch out for
- PHP MySQL stack required
- Slower development pace
Frequently asked questions
Is Trudesk or UVdesk better?
Neither is universally better. UVdesk has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Trudesk and UVdesk free and open-source?
Yes. Trudesk is licensed under Apache-2.0 and UVdesk under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Trudesk and UVdesk with Docker?
Trudesk: yes. UVdesk: yes.