FreeScout

What FreeScout does

FreeScout is a shared-inbox help desk modeled on Help Scout. Each support address becomes a mailbox, and every incoming email becomes a conversation that agents can assign, answer, forward, merge or move to another mailbox. Internal notes, followed conversations and collision detection help several agents work in the same inbox without answering twice. There is no limit on agents, mailboxes or tickets.

Customers simply see email, so there is nothing new for them to learn. Agents can use the web interface, install it as a progressive web app, or use the Android and iOS apps. The interface is translated into 33 languages.

Modules

The free core covers the shared inbox, and many features that other help desks include out of the box are official modules: tags, saved replies, workflows, custom fields, ticket numbers, teams, time tracking, satisfaction ratings, reports, a knowledge base and an end-user portal. Channel modules add live chat, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter and SMS, and integration modules add Slack, Jira, WooCommerce, LDAP, SAML single sign-on, an API with webhooks, an AI integration and S3 storage.

The modules are open source under AGPL-3.0, but they are sold as one-time lifetime licenses per FreeScout instance, with no trial and no refunds. The code is downloaded to your server when you install a module, which requires the server to reach freescout.net. A help desk with a typical set of features therefore costs a few module licenses, even though there is no subscription.

Self-hosting FreeScout

FreeScout is written in PHP on the Laravel framework and needs PHP 7.4 to 8.x, MySQL or MariaDB (or PostgreSQL) and Nginx, Apache or IIS. The README says there are no minimum CPU or RAM requirements and that it runs on shared hosting. Installation uses a web installer, an Ubuntu bash script, Softaculous or Fantastico, or a Docker image maintained outside the FreeScout organization. Background jobs depend on cron.

A migration module imports data from Help Scout. For other help desks, the project points to a third-party migration service that needs the API & Webhooks module, plus the Tags and Custom Fields modules if you want to bring those across. Original ticket numbers are not kept.

Hosted version

The project does not run a hosted service. Its website lists third-party hosts and one-click installers instead.

Limitations

The core is deliberately small, and features like tags, saved replies, workflows, reports and a knowledge base all mean buying modules. There is no official cloud. The code is built on an older Laravel 5.5 base that the project maintains with its own overrides, and module activation needs internet access to freescout.net.

Who it suits

FreeScout suits small teams that handle support mainly by email, want a familiar shared-inbox workflow and have only basic PHP hosting. It works well if you are moving off Help Scout or want one-time module purchases instead of per-agent subscriptions. Teams that need many channels and automation without add-ons may prefer Zammad or osTicket.