FreeScout

FreeScout is a self‑hosted help‑desk and shared inbox built with PHP and the Laravel framework. It provides email‑based ticket handling, allowing unlimited agents, tickets, and mailboxes without a subscription, and runs on standard MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL back‑ends. The system includes features such as star‑ and forward‑conversations, merging, moving between mailboxes, collision detection for simultaneous agents, and automatic page‑refresh of conversation lists.

The application targets small to medium teams that need a privacy‑preserving alternative to commercial services like Zendesk or Help Scout. It offers mobile‑friendly web access, native Android and iOS apps, and extensive multilingual support. Accessibility is addressed with screen‑reader compatibility, and security is emphasized through design choices and optional SAML SSO, LDAP, and encryption integrations.

Distinctive aspects include a web installer and one‑click deployment options (Docker, Softaculous, Cloudron, etc.), a rich set of integrations (Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, Twilio, WooCommerce, Jira, and more), and extensibility via modules, API, and webhooks. The software is released under AGPL‑3.0, remains stable, and is free to modify and redistribute.