Self-host Help Scout

Customer support helpdesk / shared inbox · Category: team chat & community

Help Scout is a shared-inbox helpdesk — multiple support agents handle one team@ inbox with assignments, internal notes, canned replies, and a knowledge base. The self-hostable replacements all rebuild the shared inbox + assignments + KB triangle; UI polish and reporting depth are the main differentiators.

Help Scout pricing anchor: Standard $20/user/mo; Plus $40/user/mo; Pro $65/user/mo (annual).

FreeScout freescout-help-desk/freescout alive

GitHub: ★ 4.25k · last commit 1d ago · 26 open issues
License: AGPL-3.0
Setup time: 20min docker-compose (PHP + MariaDB)
Monthly cost: $5/mo VPS for a small support team.

Migration sketch. Pull `tiredofit/freescout` (community-maintained image) or use the official install script. FreeScout has a Help Scout Migrate module — point at your Help Scout API token and it pulls mailboxes, conversations, customers, and saved replies. Configure your IMAP/SMTP per-mailbox in Settings → Mailboxes; FreeScout speaks the same shared-inbox model.

Good fit forTeams who want the closest one-for-one Help Scout clone — same UI vocabulary (Mailbox, Conversation, Customer), same workflows.

Weak atPHP plugin ecosystem is the integration story — extending FreeScout with a non-PHP tool is awkward.

Chatwoot chatwoot/chatwoot alive

GitHub: ★ 29.1k · last commit 1d ago · 1183 open issues
License: MIT
Core is MIT; some Enterprise features (SLAs, custom roles) are gated.
Setup time: 30min docker-compose (Rails + Postgres + Redis + Sidekiq)
Monthly cost: $10/mo VPS for a small team; Postgres + Redis are the core ops surface.

Migration sketch. Pull `chatwoot/chatwoot:latest` with the official compose. Chatwoot is omnichannel (email + live chat + WhatsApp + Telegram + Instagram + SMS) — Help Scout's email-only model maps to a single Email channel inbox. Migrate via Chatwoot's API: pull conversations from Help Scout's API, POST to Chatwoot's `/api/v2/accounts/{id}/conversations`. Customers map cleanly; canned responses re-create as Chatwoot canned responses.

Good fit forSupport teams adding live chat, WhatsApp, or social DMs to their email-only Help Scout setup.

Weak atEmail-only workflows feel slightly heavy in Chatwoot's omnichannel UI; FreeScout is more focused if email is all you have.

UVdesk uvdesk/community-skeleton stale

GitHub: ★ 18.6k · last commit 7mo ago · 77 open issues
License: MIT
Setup time: 30min docker-compose (Symfony + MySQL)
Monthly cost: $5-10/mo VPS.

Migration sketch. Pull `webkul/uvdesk` from Docker Hub. UVdesk has a Help Scout migration module in its Marketplace — install via Composer, supply API credentials, and it pulls tickets, customers, and KB articles. Native e-commerce integrations (Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce) make it a fit for online retailers leaving Help Scout.

Good fit forE-commerce support teams that want order-context shown alongside the ticket without extra plugins.

Weak atUI feels more 'tickets' than 'shared inbox' — a different mental model than Help Scout if email-conversations are your primary metaphor.

In a terminal? npx os-alt helpscout prints this table — how the CLI works →