Updated August 2026
    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    4.5k

    FreeScout: Maintenance, Licence and Alternatives

    Email-based customer support application, help desk and shared mailbox (alternative to Zendesk and Help Scout).

    TL;DR • FreeScout • as of August 2026

    FreeScout is an open-source ticketing project, with 4.5k GitHub stars and a health score of 89/100. It committed 550 times in the last twelve months across 12 of those months, and its status is actively maintained. Licence: AGPL-3.0. It has real momentum, so treat it as a live competitor rather than a stale repository.

    4.5k
    GitHub stars
    89/100
    Health score
    550
    Commits (12 mo)
    12/12
    Active months

    Maintenance health

    Status Actively maintained — Committed within the last 45 days.
    Last commit 2026-08-15
    Days since last commit 2
    Commits, last 3 months 181
    Commits, last 12 months 550
    Months with activity 12 of 12
    Last release 2026-08-15
    Archived No
    Licence AGPL-3.0
    Category Ticketing

    Health score combines commit recency, twelve-month commit volume, months with activity, release recency and archive state. Metadata refreshed August 2026.

    What the licence lets you do

    AGPL-3.0

    Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    This matters most when you plan to sell a hosted version. A permissive licence means anyone — including a competitor with more capital — can do the same, so your defensibility has to come from distribution, support or data, not from the code.

    What FreeScout means for your idea

    Open · 35/100
    Ticketing category →

    FreeScout is shipping code consistently, so a buyer comparing your product will find a maintained free option. Price and position against the total cost of self-hosting it, not against the paid incumbent's list price.

    The clearest opening in the dataset. Low open-source competition usually means either a genuinely underserved need or a market too small to attract volunteers — validate demand before assuming the former.

    FreeScout: common questions

    Is FreeScout still maintained in 2026?

    Actively maintained. FreeScout recorded 550 commits over the last twelve months, with activity in 12 of those months and 181 commits in the last quarter. Last commit: 2026-08-15. Last release: 2026-08-15. Committed within the last 45 days.

    Can I use FreeScout commercially?

    FreeScout is published under AGPL-3.0. Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    How crowded is the Ticketing category?

    21 open-source implementations, 10 of them actively maintained, led by Zammad at 5.9k stars. Saturation score 35/100 — Open. Thin or poorly maintained open-source coverage.

    FreeScout alternatives in Ticketing

    Zammad

    Alternative to Ticket management

    5.9k

    Easy to use but powerful open-source support and ticketing system.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0

    Erxes

    Ticketing

    4.1k

    Marketing, sales, and customer service platform designed to help businesses attract more engaged customers.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0, Commons-Clause

    Frappe Helpdesk

    Ticketing

    3.3k

    Helpdesk software which helps you streamline your company's support, offers an easy setup, clean user interface, and automation tools to resolve customer queries efficiently.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0

    Libredesk

    Ticketing

    2.7k

    Modern omnichannel customer support desk. Live chat, email, and more in a single binary.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0

    Bugsink

    Ticketing

    2.0k

    Real-time error tracking for your applications with all the details in one place. Easy setup with clear instructions included.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    ⊘ Proprietary

    Competing with free? Check the market first.

    IdeaProof scores your idea against live competitors, market size and 1,000+ documented startup failures in about two minutes.