Request Tracker vs Zammad
Enterprise-grade issue and ticket tracking driven by email queues. A help desk with chat, email, and phone channels. Compare the capabilities you need, then check hosting, licensing and maintenance. This pair is shown for browsing but is not indexed (no written verdict yet).
| Attribute | Request Tracker | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Enterprise-grade issue and ticket tracking driven by email queues. | A help desk with chat, email, and phone channels. |
| Documented capabilities | Email queues and a self-service portal, Scrips for condition and action automation, SLAs with business hours, Articles for canned answers, Dashboards with scheduled email reports, Time tracking and assets | Multi-channel tickets, Roles and groups, Knowledge base |
| Best-fit workflow | IT and operations teams that run support through email queues and want deep workflow control. | Support organizations that need tickets, roles, and more than one channel. |
| Check before choosing | The built-in rt-server is not for production, and the default root password must be changed after install. Full-text search is off by default. | Budget time for Elasticsearch and the rest of the stack if you self-host. |
| Deployment options | Source install, FastCGI or mod_perl | Docker, Package |
| GitHub stars | 1,163 | 6,037 |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Docker noted | Not recorded | Yes |
| Cloud / hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Primary language | Perl | Ruby |
| Last commit | 2026-10-26 | 2026-10-26 |
| Difficulty | Advanced | Moderate |
| Content source | Editorial catalog entry | Editorial catalog entry |
| Metadata checked | Check the current repository | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | 296 | 1.1k |
| Star growth | Not recorded | +66 (2026-10-01 to 2026-10-27) |
| Alternative to | Zendesk | Intercom, Zendesk |
This comparison uses recorded capabilities, not hands-on performance tests. A capability missing from one record does not mean that product lacks it. Confirm edition, version and current pricing in the official documentation.
When to consider Request Tracker
IT and operations teams that run support through email queues and want deep workflow control.
The built-in rt-server is not for production, and the default root password must be changed after install. Full-text search is off by default.
Request Tracker documentation and sourceWhen to consider Zammad
Support organizations that need tickets, roles, and more than one channel.
Budget time for Elasticsearch and the rest of the stack if you self-host.
Zammad documentation and sourceRequest Tracker vs Zammad questions
- What is Request Tracker?
- Enterprise-grade issue and ticket tracking driven by email queues.
- What is Zammad?
- A help desk with chat, email, and phone channels.
- Can you self-host Request Tracker and Zammad?
- Both can be self-hosted.
- What licenses do Request Tracker and Zammad use?
- Request Tracker uses the GPL-2.0 license. Zammad uses the AGPL-3.0 license.
- Which has more GitHub stars, Request Tracker or Zammad?
- Zammad has 6.0k stars and Request Tracker has 1.2k. Stars show attention; check recent commits and releases for maintenance.
- What languages are Request Tracker and Zammad written in?
- Request Tracker is mainly written in Perl. Zammad is mainly written in Ruby.