HelpDesk vs osTicket
HelpDesk
helpdesk.com
osTicket
osticket.comSide by side
| Figure | HelpDesk | osTicket |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19/mo | $12/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 6 |
| Spec score · Help desk software | 9.1 (#8) | 8.1 (#42) |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Customer portal | Yes | The customer portal archives support requests and responses online and provides a knowledge base for self-service. |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Help center | Yes | Yes |
| SLA management | Yes | SLA plans track ticket due dates, issue overdue alerts, and support priority escalation; the features page says users can create unlimited SLA plans. |
| Ticket automation | Yes | Yes |
Plans
HelpDesk
- Essential$19 a month
- Growth$79 a month
- EnterprisePrice not published
- EnterprisePriced on request
osTicket
- Open Source Free DownloadFree
- Cloud-hosted$12 a month
- 4-hour Training and Onboarding Session via Zoom$999, paid once
- osTicket Premium Business Support$12,500 a year
- osTicket Enterprise On-Call Support$25,000 a year
- Virtual AppliancePriced on request
In their own words
osTicket
osTicket is an open-source support ticketing system that routes inquiries arriving by email, web forms or API. Ticket filters can create tickets automatically and direct requests to departments or agents, with options to reject, assign or send canned responses. Custom fields, forms and lists let teams collect details for specific help topics. Agents can create tasks linked to tickets or independently; a ticket cannot be closed while a related task remains incomplete. The documented API uses XML or JSON over HTTP, but supports ticket creation only. osTicket is a platform-independent web application that can be self-hosted. Its installation requirements list Apache, LiteSpeed or IIS, PHP 8.2–8.4, and MySQL 5.5 or later. Administrators can require multifactor authentication for agents, though agents are not required to enable it by default. The open-source download is listed at free and includes email integration and community support. Cloud hosting starts at $12 a month and includes a 30-day free trial. Paid training and support options are also listed.