Hesk vs Zammad (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Zammad grades higher than Hesk: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hesk grades higher on value for money. Zammad grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hesk
PHP help desk you host yourself, or a flat-fee cloud version
Zammad
Open-source help desk, hosted in Germany or run on your own server
Which one is for you
Pick Hesk if
- Fits if you want a basic ticket system with no per-agent fee
- Works for a team with a server and someone to run it
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you have no server or tech help, because the free edition includes no hosting, installation or backups
- Too light for a team that wants automation and integrations, as none are on record
- Watch out: a licence only removes branding links and adds support, it unlocks no features
- Watch out: on Hesk Cloud, email-to-ticket is off by default and you must contact Hesk to turn it on
Pick Zammad if
- Fits if you want a help desk you can host yourself or rent hosted
- Works for a team that wants WhatsApp and Facebook channels on the top plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you grow: Starter stops at 5 agents and Professional at 35
- Watch out: prices exclude VAT, and AI features cost €0.03 per call on top
- Watch out: annual billing runs a full year and needs notice at least two months before it ends
- Watch out: self-hosting makes you responsible for updates, backups and uptime, and support subscriptions for it start at €2,999 a year
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHeskFair | 2.8GPAZammadGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ACloud is $29.99 a month for up to 10 agents, about $6 a seat for a team of five, under 60% of the $19 where support tools start. The self-hosted licences are $49.99 and $199.99 once. | BStarter is €7 per agent a month billed annually, under the $11.40 mark, but it stops at 5 agents, and chat and SLAs need Professional at €16. Prices exclude VAT. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free edition costs nothing to install on your own PHP and MySQL server. You handle hosting, updates and backups, so it is free only if you have a server. | BThe open-source software is free to run yourself and the hosted service has a 30-day Professional trial. Self-hosting means updates, backups and uptime are yours. |
| Features | CTickets, a built-in knowledge base, self-hosted or cloud, language packs. Some cloud-only modules, such as escalation and surveys, cannot move to a self-hosted install. | BEmail, forms, SMS, chat, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp, with macros, triggers, SLAs and a knowledge base across the plans. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in core ticketing. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. The free edition needs a PHP and MySQL server and you run the install. | CNo store rating on record, and channels, triggers and roles need setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only on the listing, with no integrations on record. | BWeb only, with 6 listed integrations including GitHub and GitLab links. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | a small team wanting a plain ticket system | an open-source help desk you can host or rent |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Hesk and Zammad. How we grade
Price against what you get
Hesk starts at $29.99 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zammad starts at about $7.82 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Zammad scores higher and starts $22.17 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 35 score higher than Hesk for less, and 1 scores higher than Zammad for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Zammad is open source, according to its own site.
- Hesk also covers help center and ticketing.
- Zammad also covers shared inbox and live chat.
At a glance
| Hesk | Zammad | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $29.99 per month for up to 10 agents (Hesk Cloud) | €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Hesk Free: install it on your own PHP/MySQL server at no cost; you handle hosting, updates and backups. | The open-source software is free to download and run on your own servers; you handle updates, backups and availability. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of the hosted service on the Professional plan |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Hesk | Zammad GmbH |
| Price read from | hesk.com | zammad.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Hesk
- The free edition includes no hosting, installation, backups or email-to-ticket setup; the license does not cover them either.
- A license only removes branding links and adds support; it activates no new features.
- Cloud-only features such as the escalate and survey modules cannot be exported to a self-hosted install.
- Email-to-ticket on Hesk Cloud is switched off by default and has to be enabled by contacting Hesk.
Zammad
- Prices are in euros and exclude value-added tax; hosted plans cap agents at 5 on Starter and 35 on Professional.
- Annual billing runs for a full year and needs notice at least two months before the term ends.
- AI features are optional and cost €0.03 per AI call on top of the plan price.
- Self-hosting makes you responsible for updates, backups and availability.
Key features
Hesk
- Ticket management
- Customers submit tickets that staff track, assign and answer, with canned responses and automatic assignment to cut repeat typing.
- Built-in knowledge base
- A self-help knowledge base sits alongside the ticket form so customers can find answers before they write in.
- Self-hosted or cloud
- Run it on your own PHP/MySQL hosting, or choose Hesk Cloud in a US, EU or Australian data center.
- Flat pricing without per-agent fees
- Cloud plans set a staff limit (10, 50 or 200 agents) and a flat monthly or yearly price, rather than charging each agent.
- Cloud-only modules
- Cloud Pro and MAX add escalation, survey and recurring-ticket modules; the site says some modules are not available self-hosted.
- Language packs
- The site lists packs for more than 35 languages that can be enabled in the admin settings.
Zammad
- Multichannel tickets
- Email, web forms and SMS on every hosted plan, chat and Telegram from Professional, and Facebook and WhatsApp on Plus.
- Automation tools
- Text modules, macros, triggers, schedulers and business hours are in the Starter plan; SLAs and custom roles start at Professional.
- Knowledge base
- A monolingual knowledge base is included from Professional and a multilingual one from Plus.
- Hosted in Germany
- Hosted instances run in an ISO 27001-certified German data center with SSL encryption and two-factor authentication.
- Optional AI features
- Professional and Plus can switch on AI features such as ticket summaries, charged at €0.03 per AI call.
- Open source, self-hostable
- The full code is public under a GPL v3 licence, so a team can run it on its own servers.
Plans
Hesk
Hesk Free$0
Self-hosted help desk and knowledge base on your own server, with Powered by Hesk links shown.
Hesk Cloud$29.99
per month for up to 10 agents, billed monthly
Hosted by Hesk with 10 GB of uploads, unlimited tickets and a statistics module. $299 a year if prepaid.
Hesk Cloud Pro$49.99
per month for up to 50 agents, billed monthly
Adds escalate and survey modules and recurring tickets, with 50 GB of uploads. $499 a year if prepaid.
Hesk Cloud MAX$99.99
per month for up to 200 agents, billed monthly
Everything in Pro for large teams, with 200 GB of uploads. $999 a year if prepaid.
Website License$49.99
one-time, one self-hosted installation
Removes the Powered by Hesk branding and adds a year of email support; unlocks no new features.
Advanced License$199.99
one-time, five self-hosted installations
Branding removal on five installations and five years of support from the Hesk team.
Zammad
Starter v2€7
per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly)
Hosted. Up to 5 agents; email, web form and SMS channels, text modules, macros, triggers and 20 GB of disk space.
Professional v2€16
per agent / month, billed annually (€18 billed monthly)
Hosted. Up to 35 agents; adds chat and Telegram, SLAs, individual roles, a monolingual knowledge base and 50 GB of disk.
Plus v2€25
per agent / month, billed annually (€27 billed monthly)
Hosted. Unlimited agents; adds Facebook and WhatsApp, a multilingual knowledge base, GitHub/GitLab links and reporting.
Self-hosted€0
Download Zammad and host it yourself under its open-source licence, with no vendor support included.
Self-hosted support€2,999
per year (Business); Enterprise €5,999, Corporation €9,999
Support subscriptions for self-hosted installs, with response times of 6, 4 or 2 hours and 15, 45 or 95 service requests a year.
Ways to pay less
Hesk
- Annual discount
Prepay a year of Hesk Cloud and save
Annual prepayment costs $299 (Cloud), $499 (Pro) or $999 (MAX), which the page says saves $60, $100 and $200 against monthly billing.
Zammad
- Annual discount
Save 10% with annual billing
The hosted pricing page offers a lower per-agent price on annual billing than on monthly billing, labeled as a 10% saving.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Hesk or Zammad?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hesk starts at $29.99 per month for up to 10 agents (Hesk Cloud), and Zammad starts at €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Hesk or Zammad?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Hesk and Zammad have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.