Self-hostable open-source Zendesk alternatives
Customer support ticketing. Self-hosted helpdesks remove per-agent pricing and keep customer data private.
Among 3 self-hostable open-source Zendesk alternatives tracked here, Chatwoot currently leads on the Self-Host Health Score (99/100, 30k★, last commit 1d ago). For a Raspberry Pi or a low-RAM VPS, FreeScout is the lightest at a documented ~1024 MB (MySQL/MariaDB). 2 of them publish official ARM64 images (Raspberry Pi / Apple Silicon). 2 offer a one-click deploy (e.g. DigitalOcean, Heroku, PikaPods, Cloudron).
| Tool | Health | Stars | Database | Min RAM | ARM/Pi | One-click | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot
↗
Omnichannel support + live chat; modern Intercom/Zendesk alternative. |
99 Thriving |
30k★ Ruby |
PostgreSQL | 4096 MB | ✗ ● | DigitalOcean ↗ Heroku | 1d ago |
| FreeScout
↗
Lightweight Help Scout-style shared-inbox helpdesk on LAMP. |
90 Thriving |
4.3k★ PHP |
MySQL/MariaDB | 1024 MB | ✓ ● | PikaPods ↗ Cloudron | today AGPL-3.0 |
| Zammad
↗
Full-featured helpdesk with email/chat/social and a strong API. |
71 Healthy |
5.7k★ Ruby |
PostgreSQL | 4096 MB | ✓ ● | — | today AGPL-3.0 |
FAQ
What is the best self-hostable Zendesk alternative?
By the live Self-Host Health Score, Chatwoot ranks highest (99/100).
Which open-source Zendesk alternatives run on a Raspberry Pi?
Those publishing official ARM64 images: FreeScout, Zammad.
Which is the lightest on RAM?
FreeScout, at about 1024 MB.