CRM & Supportdocker-ready
Zammad: the best Open Source alternative to Zendesk in 2026
Zammad is a support ticketing system with a multichannel inbox, knowledge base and automations, offered as a self-hostable alternative to Zendesk.
Technical profile
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Category
- CRM & Support
- Replaces
- Zendesk
- Tech stack
- Ruby on RailsPostgreSQLElasticsearch
Key features
- Multichannel ticket inbox
- Built-in knowledge base
- Automations and SLAs
Zammad vs. Zendesk
Pros
- More modern interface than other open source helpdesks
Things to consider
- Elasticsearch adds one more service to maintain
Quick Docker installation guide
Copy this docker-compose.yml, adjust the example passwords and run docker compose up -d on your server. See the full step-by-step guide →
docker-compose.yml
version: "3.9"
services:
zammad:
image: zammad/zammad:latest
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "8080:8080"
environment:
- POSTGRESQL_HOST=zammad-db
- POSTGRESQL_USER=zammad
- POSTGRESQL_PASS=zammad
depends_on:
- zammad-db
zammad-db:
image: postgres:15-alpine
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
- POSTGRES_USER=zammad
- POSTGRES_PASSWORD=zammad
- POSTGRES_DB=zammad_production
volumes:
- zammad_pg_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
volumes:
zammad_pg_data: