Geekflare
CopyleftAGPL-3.0Tested by Geekflare

FreeScout review

Self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox written in PHP

Website GitHub Docs
Data refreshedMethodologyHow we tested
Founder of Geekflare

Chandan Kumar is a founder of Geekflare. He is a technology enthusiast and entrepreneur who loves to help businesses and people around the world. Chandan has worked at BNP Paribas, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Motorola, and HP. He’s got an in-depth understanding of business software and IT infrastructure.

Verdict

FreeScout is a light, email-first help desk that feels close to Help Scout and runs on ordinary PHP hosting. Expect to buy a few modules, since SSO, a knowledge base, live chat and workflows are sold separately.

Best for

Small teams that answer customers by email and want to self-host on cheap PHP hosting

Not for

Teams that want SSO, workflows and a knowledge base included at no cost

Pros

  • Runs on shared PHP hosting
  • Unlimited agents, mailboxes and tickets
  • Modules are one-time purchases, not subscriptions
  • Android and iOS apps for agents and admins

Cons

  • SSO, knowledge base, live chat and workflows are paid modules
  • No official Docker image
  • Built on Laravel 5.5 with patched framework code
What people say
Ask Sparkian

Is FreeScout right for your project?

Describe what you need and AI will check the fit against this review.

Or try:

At a glance

Type
Shared inbox
Stack
PHP 7.4–8.x / Laravel 5.5
Databases
MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL
Licence terms
The core is free. Many features are paid official modules, which are also AGPL and sold as a one-time licence per instance.
SSO
Via plugin
Roles and permissions
Free edition
Audit logs
Free edition

Free vs paid editions

What you get when you self-host, and what needs a paid plan.

Everything in the GitHub repo is free, with no limit on agents, mailboxes or tickets. Extra features come as official modules with a one-time price per instance, for example SAML SSO for $10, Teams for $11, Knowledge Base for $12 and Workflows for $14.99. The FreeScout team does not sell a hosted plan.

Self-hosting FreeScout

FreeScout's README lists PHP 7.4 to 8.x, MySQL or MariaDB 5.0+ or PostgreSQL, and Nginx, Apache or IIS, and says there is no minimum CPU or RAM; the install guide warns against PHP 8.1.

New cloud server to first screen

1 min 20 s

Memory in use at idle

227 MB of 4 GB

Version tested

1.8.248 · Oct 17, 2026

  • Ready in 80 seconds on a cloud Ubuntu 24.04 server (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) with the community nfrastack/freescout image and MariaDB 11.8, image downloads included. The image runs the migrations and creates the first admin from environment variables.
  • At idle, FreeScout used about 122 MB of RAM and MariaDB about 105 MB.
  • We created a Support mailbox and logged three tickets as phone conversations, since the test server sends no email. Tickets an agent creates are assigned to that agent, so they land in Mine, not Unassigned.
  • Adding an internal note took two clicks. After saving, FreeScout moves on to the next ticket in the folder.
compose.yml we ran, with passwords changed
services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:11.8
    restart: always
    environment:
      MARIADB_DATABASE: freescout
      MARIADB_USER: freescout
      MARIADB_PASSWORD: change-me
      MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: change-me-too
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized"]
      interval: 5s
      retries: 30
    volumes: [db:/var/lib/mysql]
  app:
    image: nfrastack/freescout:latest
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    ports: ["127.0.0.1:8081:80"]
    environment:
      DB_TYPE: mariadb
      DB_HOST: db
      DB_NAME: freescout
      DB_USER: freescout
      DB_PASS: change-me
      ADMIN_EMAIL: admin@example.com
      ADMIN_PASS: change-me-admin
      APP_URL: https://support.example.com
    volumes: [data:/data]
volumes: { db: {}, data: {} }
Logging a phone ticket in FreeScout 1.8.248

Logging a phone ticket in FreeScout 1.8.248

Logging a phone ticket in FreeScout 1.8.248
A FreeScout ticket with an internal note

A FreeScout ticket with an internal note

A FreeScout ticket with an internal note
The FreeScout Mine folder with three test tickets

The FreeScout Mine folder with three test tickets

The FreeScout Mine folder with three test tickets

What you can do with FreeScout

Shared support inbox

Several agents work from one support address, with assignment, internal notes and a warning when two agents open the same conversation.

Separate mailboxes per team

Sales, support and billing each get their own mailbox and address, and admins choose which agents can see each one.

WhatsApp and social messages

Paid modules bring WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook messages into the same inbox as email.

Customer portal and help centre

The End-User Portal and Knowledge Base modules let customers submit tickets and read help articles.

Support for an online shop

The WooCommerce module shows a customer's orders next to the conversation.

Answering tickets on the go

Agents reply from the Android or iOS app, or install the web app and get push notifications.

FreeScout alternatives

ZammadOpen source help desk and ticketing system for customer and IT supportosTicketPHP ticketing system that turns email, web forms and phone requests into ticketsGLPIIT service management and asset inventory tool with a ticketing helpdeskChatwootCustomer support platform that puts website chat, email and messaging apps in one inboxFrappe HelpdeskOpen source ticketing and customer support app built on the Frappe frameworkOTOBOOpen source ticketing and IT service management system, forked from OTRS by Rother OSS