Zammad
Customer SupportA web-based helpdesk and ticketing system that handles email, chat, phone and social channels in one place.
What the free edition leaves out
Scroll sideways to view all columns →The official pages do not say enough about the free edition to give a verdict. “Not confirmed” means the official pages we read did not say, so we do not guess.
| Feature | Free edition | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSO / SAML | Not confirmed | The features page lists SSO including SAML, OpenID Connect and Shibboleth, but does not say which plans or editions include it. | Source ↗ |
| Role-based access control | Not confirmed | The features page mentions groups and permissions and roles via LDAP. The hosted pricing page lists individual roles under Professional; self-hosted plans list no roles. | Source ↗ |
| Audit logs | Not confirmed | A feature page describes a tamper-proof admin audit log but does not say which plans or editions include it or whether self-hosted installs have it. | Source ↗ |
| Multi-user / teams | Not confirmed | No official page states whether the free edition includes this. | – |
| Backups and restore | Not confirmed | The pricing page says hosted Zammad handles backups for you and self-hosted users handle updates, backups and availability themselves. A built-in tool was not found. | Source ↗ |
| API access | Not confirmed | The features page describes a REST API but does not state plan limits. | Source ↗ |
| Support SLA | Paid | The pricing page lists SLAs under the hosted Professional plan, and email or phone support with response times only in the paid self-hosted support tiers. | Source ↗ |
Best for
Organisations that want a full ticketing helpdesk they can host themselves or buy as a hosted service from the project's company.
Why choose it over Zendesk
The code is AGPL-3.0 licensed and you can run it on your own servers, with a hosted option from Zammad if you prefer not to. It handles several channels in one ticket system and lists a REST API and SSO as product features.
Where it falls short
Self-hosting means you handle updates, backups and availability yourself. Elasticsearch is strongly recommended for search, which adds another service to run. Support and SLAs are sold in paid tiers.
Open-source alternative to
- Zendesk — Zammad is a ticketing system with email and other channels that you can host yourself, so it can replace Zendesk for support desks. This is a replacement use, not an official claim by the project.
- Freshdesk — Zammad offers shared ticket queues, knowledge base and multiple channels, so it can replace Freshdesk. This is a replacement use, not an official claim by the project.
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