The best ticketing systems turn every request, whether it arrives by email, form, chat or phone, into a tracked ticket with an owner, a priority and a history, so nothing slips through the cracks. Small teams often want a simple shared help desk, while IT departments want asset tracking, approvals and ITIL processes built in. Eleven tools follow in no particular order.
If your team handles requests from a shared inbox, you already know the problems. Two people reply to the same email, another sits unanswered for a week, and nobody can say how long things usually take. It works until the day it doesn't.
A ticketing system gives every request a home. The eleven tools below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, from free open source help desks to full IT service management platforms, and every description comes from the vendor's own site, read this week. If you mainly support customers rather than staff, my guide to the best help desk software for small businesses covers that side.
Ticketing systems at a glance
In the free plan column, Yes means the tool's own site names a free plan, a free edition, a free account or an open source version. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to try it or book a demo.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deskpro | Help desk for smarter ticketing | Teams wanting cloud or on-premise deployment | Not stated |
| FreeScout | Free, open source help desk and shared mailbox | Self-hosting a free shared inbox | Yes |
| Freshservice | AI-powered IT service management | Growing IT teams adopting ITIL | Not stated |
| GLPI | IT service management and asset tracking | IT teams wanting tickets plus asset inventory | Not stated |
| Jira Service Management | Service management from Atlassian | Companies whose developers already use Jira | Not stated |
| ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus | ITIL service desk | IT teams following ITIL processes closely | Not stated |
| osTicket | Support ticketing system | Simple email-to-ticket support | Trial only |
| Request Tracker | Open source ticketing and workflow system | Highly customised ticket workflows | Yes |
| SysAid | ITSM software with agentic AI | IT teams wanting AI to resolve routine requests | Not stated |
| TOPdesk | Service management for multiple departments | Shared service desks across IT, HR and facilities | Not stated |
| Zammad | Service platform for all support needs | Growing teams wanting an open-minded help desk | Not stated |
Eleven ticketing systems to compare
Deskpro
Best for: Support and IT teams that want omnichannel ticketing with structured request queues and the option to host it themselves.
FreeScout
Best for: Small teams with a server who want a free, self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox they fully control.
Freshservice
Best for: Growing IT teams that want incidents, service requests, assets and on-call handled in one modern IT service desk.
GLPI
Best for: IT departments that want help desk tickets linked to a complete inventory of the hardware and software they look after.
Jira Service Management
Best for: Organisations whose engineers work in Jira and want IT and business requests flowing into the same system.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Best for: IT teams that want a mature ITIL-aligned service desk with change, problem and asset management built in.
osTicket
Best for: Small organisations that want incoming emails and web forms turned into tickets and routed to the right department.
Request Tracker
Best for: Technical teams that want an open source ticketing system they can customise and extend for unusual workflows.
SysAid
Best for: Service desks that want AI agents to take on routine service requests while staff handle the trickier tickets.
TOPdesk
Best for: Organisations where IT, facilities and HR share one service desk and need tickets handed between departments cleanly.
Zammad
Best for: Growing businesses and public bodies that want a flexible help desk for customer support and IT requests in one place.
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The legal request hiding in your ticket queue
The ICO's guide to subject access says a person can make a subject access request verbally or in writing, including via social media. A request is valid if it's clear the person is asking for their own personal information, and they don't need to use any special wording. You must respond without undue delay and within one month.
That's why a ticketing system matters for more than tidy inboxes. A request for someone's data can arrive as an ordinary support ticket, and the one-month clock starts anyway. Pick a system that lets you tag it, set a due date and keep all the evidence together.
Help desk or IT service management?
Help desk tools focus on handling requests well: shared queues, canned replies, routing and simple reporting. IT service management, or ITSM, platforms add asset inventories, change approvals, problem management and processes based on ITIL, the widely used IT service framework.
A five-person support team rarely needs full ITSM. An IT department looking after hundreds of laptops and systems usually does, because linking tickets to the equipment and changes behind them saves hours of detective work.
Questions to ask before you switch
- Which channels become tickets: email, web forms, chat, phone, social?
- How are tickets routed to the right person or team?
- Can we set response targets and see when they're at risk?
- Does it track assets and changes, or only requests?
- Can other departments such as HR or facilities use it too?
- Can we host it ourselves if our data rules require it?
Signs your shared inbox has had its day
- Two people answer the same email. Nobody can see who's on it.
- Requests vanish. Some are never answered.
- Nobody knows response times. There's no data at all.
- The same questions repeat. Answers aren't reused.
Do you make ticketing and help desk software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on choosing a ticketing system
Count where your requests come from today and how many arrive each week. If almost everything is email, a simple help desk will do. If requests come from staff about laptops, access and systems, you'll get more from an IT-focused tool that links tickets to assets.
Then set one or two response targets and check each tool can track them without extra work. Visibility is what changes behaviour. For ideas on smoothing the customer side, my guide to streamlining online customer support is a good next read.
Frequently asked questions
What is a ticketing system?
A ticketing system logs every support or service request as a ticket with an owner, priority and history, so requests are tracked from arrival to resolution.
What's the difference between a ticketing system and a help desk?
The terms overlap. A help desk is the team or tool that handles requests; the ticketing system is the part that logs and tracks each one.
Are there free ticketing systems?
Yes. Several open source ticketing systems can be self-hosted for free, and some hosted tools offer free plans or trials. Check the table above.
What is ITSM?
IT service management covers how an IT team delivers and supports services, including incidents, requests, changes and assets, often following the ITIL framework.
Can a ticketing system handle data requests?
Yes, if you set it up to. The ICO says subject access requests can arrive verbally, in writing or via social media, so tagging them and tracking the one-month deadline helps.
Do small businesses need a ticketing system?
Once more than one person answers requests from a shared inbox, a simple ticketing system usually saves time and stops requests being missed.
