2 Best Free Alternatives to Zammad in 2026
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
Compared: free alternatives to Zammad
| Alternative | Best for | Standout | Biggest weakness | Learning curve | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zammadreference | organizations that want a fully-featured, self-hostable open-source helpdesk under AGPLv3, or a GDPR-compliant hosted alternative to Zendesk priced per agent | The self-hosted AGPLv3 edition is free with no artificial feature gate, and paid tiers exist only for hosted SaaS convenience or optional vendor support contracts, unlike open-core competitors that lock features behind a paid self-hosted tier. | AI features on the hosted plans are billed separately at roughly 0.03 euros per interaction on top of the per-agent subscription, and phone support is reserved for the top Plus tier, an unlimited-agent plan priced well above the entry Starter tier. | Moderate | Free |
| Help Scout | small support teams under 10 agents who want a shared inbox that reads like email rather than a numbered-ticket queue | The core interface is a shared email inbox rather than a ticket-number system, so agents work in a format that feels like a normal inbox instead of learning a dedicated ticketing UI. | The free plan caps out at 5 users and 100 monthly contacts, and jumping to live chat and multichannel support on Standard means every agent seat costs $25/month with no lower-priced middle option; the separate $0.75-per-resolution AI Answers add-on can also become unpredictable at high support volume. | Low | Free tier · paid from $25/mo |
| Chatwoot | teams wanting a self-hostable, MIT-licensed alternative to Intercom or Zendesk with full ownership of customer conversation data | Fully open-source and self-hostable (MIT license) omnichannel support platform with a built-in AI agent (Captain) included in the plan rather than sold as a separate bolt-on integration. | The free Hacker plan is capped at just 2 agents and 500 conversations/month with live chat only, no email or social channels, and self-hosting the full feature set (voice, SSO) still requires ongoing infrastructure upkeep on top of the software being free. | Moderate | Free tier · paid from $19/mo |
Zammad
Help Scout
Chatwoot1.Help Scout — best Zammad alternative for small support teams under 10 agents who want a shared inbox that reads like email rather than a numbered-ticket queue
Help Scout is the best Zammad alternative for small support teams under 10 agents who want a shared email inbox that feels like a normal inbox rather than a numbered-ticket queue, closer in simplicity to Zammad's own web-form-and-email starting point but with a more email-native interface. Help Scout's Free plan covers 5 users, 1 inbox, and 100 monthly contacts at no cost, a real permanent free tier comparable to Zammad's own free self-hosted edition but requiring no server management at all. Help Scout holds a 4.6/5 rating from 226 Capterra reviews, matching Zammad's own 4.6/5 score but from a sample more than 32 times larger than Zammad's 7 Capterra reviews. Help Scout's AI Inbox assistant is bundled starting on the $25/user/month Standard plan rather than sold as a separate add-on, a cleaner bundling than Zammad's own per-interaction AI pricing on its hosted tiers. Zammad remains the better choice for anyone who wants unlimited agents and full feature access without a per-seat SaaS bill: Help Scout's free plan caps out at 5 users and 100 monthly contacts, and live chat and social channels require the $25/user/month Standard plan, while Zammad's AGPLv3 source can be self-hosted for free with unlimited agents and no artificial feature gate.
Compared to Zammad: shared email-inbox interface vs Zammad's ticket-queue UI, 4.6/5 from 226 Capterra reviews (same score, 32x larger sample) vs Zammad's 4.6/5 from 7, AI Inbox assistant bundled on Standard vs Zammad's per-interaction AI pricing
Wins:Shared email-inbox interface reads like a normal inbox, letting new agents ramp up faster than learning a dedicated ticket-queue UI · 4.6/5 rating from 226 Capterra reviews, the same score as Zammad's own 4.6/5 but from a sample more than 32 times larger than Zammad's 7 Capterra reviews · AI Inbox assistant is bundled starting on the Standard plan rather than billed per interaction the way Zammad's hosted AI add-on works
Loses:Free plan caps out at 5 users and 100 monthly contacts, tighter than Zammad's free self-hosted edition, which has no agent-count cap at all · Live chat and social channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger) require the $25/user/month Standard plan, unlike Zammad's self-hosted edition, which carries no per-agent fee · SSO/SAML and HIPAA compliance are locked to the $75/user/month Pro plan, a cost Zammad's self-hosted AGPLv3 edition doesn't impose
Pros
- Free plan supports 5 real users with no time limit, not just a trial.
- Shared-inbox interface is close to email, so new agents ramp up quickly.
- AI Inbox assistant is bundled starting on the Standard plan rather than sold as a separate add-on.
- Native iOS and Android apps let agents respond to conversations away from a desktop.
Cons
- Live chat and social channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger) require the $25/user/month Standard plan; the free tier is email-only.
- SSO/SAML and HIPAA compliance are locked to the $75/user/month Pro plan, the highest tier.
- AI Answers is billed separately at $0.75 per resolution, which adds unpredictable cost on top of the per-seat price.
- Per-user pricing on Standard and above can get expensive quickly for larger support teams compared to flat-rate helpdesks.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $25/mo — Free (5 users) or $25-75/user/month paid tiers vs Zammad's free self-hosted edition or hosted plans from 9 EUR/agent/month (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
2.Chatwoot — best Zammad alternative for teams wanting a self-hostable, MIT-licensed alternative to Intercom or Zendesk with full ownership of customer conversation data
Chatwoot is the best Zammad alternative for teams that want a fully open-source, self-hostable customer support platform closest to Zammad's own AGPLv3 model, though Chatwoot ships under the MIT license instead. Both platforms let organizations self-host the full codebase for complete data ownership rather than depending on a closed-source SaaS vendor, and Chatwoot's Startups plan is offered free of charge to qualifying open-source projects and nonprofits, a courtesy Zammad's own listing doesn't mention. Chatwoot's built-in Captain AI agent is included in plan pricing with a credit allowance (300 credits on Startups, rising to 800 on Enterprise), a bundled model against Zammad's separate roughly 0.03 EUR-per-interaction AI billing. Chatwoot holds a 4.7/5 rating from 6 Product Hunt reviews, a similar thin sample to Zammad's own 7 Capterra reviews. Chatwoot's paid Startups tier starts at $19/agent/month billed annually, close to Zammad's hosted Starter tier at 9 EUR/agent/month. Zammad remains the better choice for anyone who wants a lower entry price on hosted plans and wider default channel coverage: Chatwoot's free Hacker plan caps at just 2 agents and 500 conversations/month with live chat only, no email or social channels, while Zammad's Starter hosted tier at 9 EUR/agent/month already includes email, web form, and SMS channels for up to 5 agents.
Compared to Zammad: both open source and self-hostable (MIT vs AGPLv3), Captain AI agent bundled with plan credits vs Zammad's per-interaction AI billing, 4.7/5 from 6 Product Hunt reviews vs Zammad's 4.6/5 from 7 Capterra reviews
Wins:Captain AI agent is included in plan pricing with a credit allowance, a bundled model against Zammad's separate per-interaction AI billing on hosted tiers · Startups-tier features are offered free to qualifying open-source projects and nonprofits, a courtesy Zammad's own listing doesn't mention · 4.7/5 rating on Product Hunt, edging out Zammad's own 4.6/5 on Capterra, though both rest on thin samples (6 vs 7 reviews)
Loses:Free Hacker plan caps at just 2 agents and 500 conversations/month with live chat only, tighter than Zammad's hosted Starter tier, which covers email, web form, and SMS for up to 5 agents at 9 EUR/agent/month · Voice channel support requires the pricier $39/agent/month Business tier, while Zammad's own phone support sits on its top Plus tier at 27 EUR/agent/month · Captain AI credit overages cost $20 per 1,000 credits on top of the per-agent subscription, an added cost Zammad's flat self-hosted model doesn't carry
Pros
- Fully open-source (MIT license) and self-hostable for complete control over customer conversation data.
- Built-in Captain AI agent is included in plan pricing rather than a separate paid add-on.
- Free Startups-tier access for qualifying open-source projects and nonprofits.
- Unifies live chat, email, and social channels into one omnichannel inbox.
Cons
- Free Hacker plan is capped at 2 agents, 500 conversations/month, and live chat only.
- Voice channel support requires the pricier Business tier or above.
- Captain AI credit overages cost $20 per 1,000 credits on top of the per-agent subscription.
- Self-hosting the full feature set still requires ongoing server maintenance and updates.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $19/mo — Free (2 agents) or $19-99/agent/month paid tiers vs Zammad's free self-hosted edition or hosted plans from 9 EUR/agent/month (verified undefined NaN, NaN)