
freescout
FreeScout — Free self-hosted help desk & shared mailbox (Zendesk / Help Scout alternative)
The Lens
FreeScout is a self-hosted help desk and shared inbox that directly replaces Zendesk or Help Scout. The core gives you unlimited users, unlimited tickets, unlimited mailboxes, email integration, collision detection, auto-reply, internal notes, and a mobile-friendly interface. All free.
Runs on PHP 7.1+ with a standard web server. Lightweight by design, so it works on cheap VPS instances. Updates are handled through a built-in web updater. The base install is simple, but advanced features come through paid modules (lifetime licenses, not subscriptions).
Solo support reps and small teams get a complete help desk for free. Paid modules add things like Slack integration, knowledge base, tags, and LDAP. Each module is a one-time purchase, which keeps long-term costs low compared to per-seat SaaS pricing.
The catch: the module ecosystem is where they make money. The free core is genuinely useful, but you will likely want 3-5 paid modules to match what Zendesk includes by default. Budget $200-400 one-time for a fully equipped instance.
Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid
open coreFree tier: Core help desk. Unlimited users, tickets, mailboxes. Email integration, auto-reply, internal notes, search.
Self-hosted: PHP 7.1+, any web server. Runs on small VPS instances.
Paid modules: One-time lifetime licenses (not subscriptions). Slack, knowledge base, tags, LDAP, and 60+ other modules. Pricing varies per module.
No cloud tier. Self-hosted only.
Free core, paid modules at one-time cost. Budget $200-400 to match a full Zendesk replacement.
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