osTicket review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Open-source support ticketing, self-hosted or as a cloud edition
Black Friday: is there a osTicket sale?
osTicket report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for a free ticket system you host yourself
osTicket turns email, web-form and API requests into tickets routed to departments and agents, and the software is free to run on your own server. That means your own installation, upgrades and backups with community-only support, and the cloud edition is a separate product with an unstated billing period.
Who osTicket is for
- Fits if you have a server and someone to run it and want no per-agent fee
- Works for an internal team that is happy with email, forms and an API
Who osTicket is not for
- Skip it if you don't want to host, patch and back up your own server
- Not for you if you want chat or social channels, as the site lists email, forms and API
- Tight if you want vendor support, since the free edition has community support only
- Watch out: the cloud edition runs on a separate product, SupportSystem, and its $12 price shows no billing period
- Watch out: the virtual appliance has no published price
Why osTicket gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for moneyThe cloud edition is $12 per agent a month, inside the cheapest quarter ($19), but the page gives no billing period. The free edition needs your own server.
- BFree plan and trialThe full software is free to download and a 30-day cloud trial needs no card, though the free edition has community support only.
- CFeaturesEmail, web-form and API tickets routed to departments and agents. The listing's gap: chat and social channels aren't listed.
- DEase of useNo store rating on record, and the free edition means a server, an installation, upgrades and backups of your own.
- CPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, and the listing names no integrations or apps.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from osTicket's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/osticket#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/osticket.svg" alt="osTicket: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where osTicket stands among help desk and live chat tools
osTicket's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 25 of the 66 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 10.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 53 of 66) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $12 a month for each person, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 7 of the 57 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. 8 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 67 help desk and live chat tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. osTicket’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 44 of 66, level with 15
- BFree plan and trialAbove 53 of 66, level with 12
- CFeaturesAbove 3 of 66, level with 42
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 66, level with 4
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 66, level with 5
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 59 help desk and live chat tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep osTicket, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace osTicket you would be making one mailbox that several people work at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $144 a year. osTicket is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could make
- Help desk: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- One mailbox that several people work at once.
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
What this rests on. osTicket’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is osTicket?
osTicket is an open-source ticketing system that turns email, web-form and API requests into tickets routed to departments and agents. The software is free to download and run on your own server, and the vendor also sells a cloud-hosted edition and a virtual appliance.
Worth knowing
- The free edition is self-hosted: you provide the server, installation, upgrades and backups, and support is community-only.
- The cloud-hosted edition runs on a separate product, SupportSystem, and its $12 per agent price is shown without a billing period.
- The site lists email, web forms and API as channels; chat and social channels are not listed.
- The virtual appliance has no published price.
Key features
- Tickets from email, web forms and API
- Requests arrive by email, a customer support portal or an API and are turned into tickets.
- Ticket filters
- Rules route incoming tickets to a department or agent, and can reject a ticket or send an automatic canned response.
- Help topics and custom forms
- Web tickets are routed by help topic, and each topic can carry its own form. Custom fields and lists add more data to a ticket.
- Custom queues and columns
- Agents build their own ticket views by criteria and choose which columns show.
- Service level agreements
- Business hours and SLA plans are set up in the admin settings.
- Dashboard reports
- A dashboard shows help desk statistics. Agent collision avoidance is among the listed features.
osTicket pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, osTicket has a free plan, and paid plans start at $12 per agent / month, for the cloud-hosted edition (billing basis not stated).
- Starts at
- $12 per agent / month, for the cloud-hosted edition (billing basis not stated)
- Free plan
- Open Source edition: free to download and host yourself, with community support.
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of the cloud-hosted edition
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source | $0 | The full software, which you host yourself. Community support only; the vendor says it has no feature tiers. |
| Cloud-hosted | $12per agent / month, billing basis not stated | Hosted by the vendor on its SupportSystem platform, with email and phone support, managed upgrades, daily backups and a free walk-through session. |
| Virtual Appliance | Custom | Customized to fit a business's needs, with the cloud edition's support and maintenance. Contact the vendor for pricing. |
Read from osticket.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with osTicket before you buy.
osTicket alternatives
- osTicket vs Zammad
Free plan · from €7/mo
- osTicket vs UVdesk
Free plan · from $8/mo
- osTicket vs Spiceworks Help Desk
Free plan · from $6/mo
- osTicket vs HelpDesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
Common questions
Does osTicket have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. osTicket is listed for Web.
Does osTicket have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. osTicket is listed for Web.
Is osTicket open source?
Yes. osTicket is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Does osTicket have an API?
Yes. osTicket offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.