# freescout-help-desk/freescout

FreeScout — Free self-hosted help desk & shared mailbox (Zendesk / Help Scout alternative)

Repository: https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/freescout
Homepage: https://freescout.net
Language: PHP
License: AGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: helpscout, helpdesk, customer-support, ticketing, support, php, laravel, shared-mailboxes, help-desk, zendesk, osticket-alternative, zendesk-alternative, helpdesk-ticketing, ticketing-system
Last push: 2026-08-26T09:51:48+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2994, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 9, "gap_med": 6, "n_releases_24m": 84}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4507, forks 706 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:52.504136+00:00)

## What it is
FreeScout is a free, self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox application built with PHP and Laravel, serving as an open-source alternative to Zendesk and Help Scout. It centralizes customer conversations from multiple channels (email, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Slack, live chat) into one place with unlimited agents, tickets, and mailboxes.

## Use cases
- self-host a customer support help desk instead of paying for Zendesk
- manage a shared team inbox for support@example.com
- convert email threads into trackable support tickets
- centralize customer conversations from email, Telegram, WhatsApp and live chat
- run a multilingual support desk with unlimited agents
- migrate away from Help Scout or osTicket to an open-source tool
- deploy a help desk on cheap shared hosting with PHP/MySQL

## When to choose
- you need a free, privacy-respecting alternative to Zendesk or Help Scout
- you want full control over your support data on your own server
- you need multichannel support (email, IMAP/SMTP, OAuth for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace)
- your team needs collision detection, internal notes, forwarding/merging, and powerful search
- you want a lightweight PHP app deployable even on shared hosting

## When to avoid
- you need a fully managed SaaS with no server maintenance
- you require enterprise features like advanced SLA reporting or AI automation out of the box
- your stack is not PHP/MySQL friendly
- you need extensive third-party integrations beyond the available module ecosystem

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: email, self-hosted, workflow-automation, search-engine, plugin-system
- domain: self-hosted, developer-tools, e-commerce, email, web-development
- platform: self-hosted, windows, php
- tags: helpdesk, ticketing-system, shared-mailbox, customer-support, zendesk-alternative, helpscout-alternative, laravel, multichannel, web-server, linux

## Member repositories
- freescout-help-desk/freescout (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:52.504136+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:20:22.461632+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:52.504136+00:00, sha b55fe8c0b4ea)
  - homepage: https://freescout.net (fetched 2026-08-29T09:06:25.445609+00:00, sha 03d33c7b8b0e)
  - site_page: https://freescout.net/installation-services (fetched 2026-08-29T09:06:25.455523+00:00, sha 8d076ce86cd0)
  - site_page: https://freescout.net/modules-faq (fetched 2026-08-29T09:06:25.457663+00:00, sha 1c76c8d5d354)
  - site_page: https://freescout.net/cloud-hosted (fetched 2026-08-29T09:06:25.461754+00:00, sha 6830f847cca3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.