The Zammad Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Zammad in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Zammad
The Insider’s Guide
Open-source help desk, hosted in Germany or run on your own server
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among help desk and live chat tools, read from Zammad’s own pages.
Made by Zammad GmbH · checked Nov 12, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Zammad’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Zammad’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.8
GPA, above 59 of the 66 other help desk and live chat tools we grade
Zammad is an open-source ticketing system that collects email, web forms, SMS, chat, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp requests in one place. It can be bought as a hosted service run in German data centers, or downloaded and self-hosted for free, with paid support subscriptions for self-hosted installs.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Zammad, taken from its own pages and our grades.
No store rating on record, and channels, triggers and roles need setting up.
- 1
Best for an open-source help desk you can host or rent
Zammad collects email, web forms, SMS, chat, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp requests in one place, as free self-hosted software or a hosted service from €7 an agent.
- 2
Paid plans start at about $7.82 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly).
- 3
There is a free plan
The open-source software is free to download and run on your own servers; you handle updates, backups and availability.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Multichannel tickets
Email, web forms and SMS on every hosted plan, chat and Telegram from Professional, and Facebook and WhatsApp on Plus.
- 6
Automation tools
Text modules, macros, triggers, schedulers and business hours are in the Starter plan; SLAs and custom roles start at Professional.
- 7
Knowledge base
A monolingual knowledge base is included from Professional and a multilingual one from Plus.
- 8
A 2.8 GPA, above 59 of 66
That is against the other help desk and live chat tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Zammad 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.
Zammad at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of the hosted service on the Professional plan
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Zammad GmbH
- Category
- Help Desks & Live Chat
- Our grade
- 2.8 GPA, good
The report card
Best for an open-source help desk you can host or rent
Zammad collects email, web forms, SMS, chat, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp requests in one place, as free self-hosted software or a hosted service from €7 an agent. Starter stops at 5 agents, prices exclude VAT, and self-hosting leaves updates and uptime to you.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B | Starter 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 | B | The 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 | B | Email, 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 | C | No store rating on record, and channels, triggers and roles need setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web only, with 6 listed integrations including GitHub and GitLab links. No phone or desktop app on record. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Zammad is for
- 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
Who it is not for
- 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
Good to know
Good for
- Teams that must keep ticket data in Germany or on their own servers
- IT teams comfortable running and updating a server
- Small teams that want a low per-agent price on a hosted plan
Worth knowing
- 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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
~$7.82
A month to start, for each person. There is a free plan too
Zammad has a free plan. Paid plans start at €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly).
Self-hosting means updates, backups and uptime are yours.
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.
The free plan
The open-source software is free to download and run on your own servers; you handle updates, backups and availability.
Trying it first
30-day free trial of the hosted service on the Professional plan
Read from zammad.com on Nov 12, 2026.
Ways to pay less
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.
Stated on zammad.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Open-source help desk, hosted in Germany or run on your own server. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, AI features, shared inbox, help desk, live chat.
Email, forms, SMS, chat, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp, with macros, triggers, SLAs and a knowledge base across the plans.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Telegram
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Grafana
Zammad is made by Zammad GmbH.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
59/66
Other help desk and live chat tools it is graded above
Zammad's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 59 of the 66 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 4.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 53 of 66) and worst on ease of use (C, above 5).
Its paid plans start at about $7.82 a month for each person, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 4 of the 57 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs 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. Zammad’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 44 of 66
- BFree plan and trialAbove 53 of 66
- BFeaturesAbove 46 of 66
- CEase of useAbove 5 of 66
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 6 of 66
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 59 help desk and live chat tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Zammad is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Zammad 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 is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 59 of the 66 other help desk and live chat tools we grade. It costs $93.84 a year. Zammad 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.
- A chat box on your site that reaches you the moment a customer types.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Zammad’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.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
FreeScout, UVdesk, Chatwoot, Freshdesk and Zendesk
The 5 tools Zammad is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.2GPA
FreeScout
Free
Free open-source help desk and shared mailbox you host yourself.
- Only FreeScout lists iOS and Android apps.
- FreeScout also covers help center.
- 2.6GPA
UVdesk
Free plan · from $8/mo
Open-source help desk for online stores with hosted Pro and Enterprise.
- Zammad also covers live chat.
- UVdesk also covers forms and help center.
- 2.4GPA
Chatwoot
Free plan · from $19/mo
Open-source support inbox you can self-host or use in the cloud.
- Only Chatwoot lists iOS and Android apps.
- Zammad also covers help desk.
- Chatwoot also covers help center and AI support agent.
- 2.4GPA
Freshdesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
Email ticketing help desk with a knowledge base and AI agents.
- Zammad has a free plan. Freshdesk does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Freshdesk lists iOS and Android apps.
- Zammad is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 2.4GPA
Zendesk
Free trial · from $19/mo
Ticketing, messaging, help center and AI agents for support teams.
- Zammad has a free plan. Zendesk does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Zendesk lists iOS and Android apps.
- Zammad is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
14
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Zammad free?
Zammad has a free plan. The open-source software is free to download and run on your own servers; you handle updates, backups and availability.
How much does Zammad cost?
Zammad lists 5 plans. Starter v2: €7 per agent / month, billed annually (€9 billed monthly).
What platforms does Zammad work on?
Zammad is available on Web.
Does Zammad offer any discounts?
Zammad publicly lists the following: Save 10% with annual billing.
Does Zammad have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Zammad is listed for Web.
Does Zammad have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Zammad is listed for Web.
Is Zammad open source?
Yes. Zammad is open source, according to its own site.
What does Zammad integrate with?
Zammad's listing names Telegram, Facebook, WhatsApp, GitHub, GitLab and Grafana.
Does Zammad have a free trial?
Yes. 30-day free trial of the hosted service on the Professional plan.
Who makes Zammad?
Zammad is made by Zammad GmbH.
What are the alternatives to Zammad?
The closest alternatives to Zammad in our directory are FreeScout, UVdesk, Chatwoot, Freshdesk and Zendesk.
How does Zammad compare with other help desk and live chat tools?
Zammad's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 59 of the 66 other help desk and live chat tools we grade, and level with 4.
Is Zammad good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Zammad B for value for money. Its paid plans start at about $7.82 a month for each person, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 4 of the 57 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Zammad?
To replace Zammad you would be making one mailbox that several people work at once.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Zammad’s own pages on Nov 12, 2026, and the grades were given on Nov 12, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Zammad's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Zammad GmbH. Prices change, so check zammad.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
5,038
Tools graded, in 95 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
5,038
tools graded
95
categories
739
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Zammad, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/zammad
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Zammad: The Insider's Guide", checked Nov 12, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/zammad
Know someone choosing between help desk and live chat tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/zammad/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded help desk and live chat tools after Zammad, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Help Desks & Live Chat Insider's GuideEvery one of the 67 help desk and live chat tools we grade, compared
- Zoho Desk Insider's GuideLow-cost ticketing help desk with a free plan for three users3.4 GPA
- Tidio Insider's GuideLive chat, ticketing and the Lyro AI agent priced by conversations3.2 GPA
- tawk.to Insider's GuideFree live chat, ticketing and help center, with paid add-ons3.0 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Zammad’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Zammad is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Zammad GmbH. Prices and plans change: check zammad.com before you buy.