Open-source BMC Helix alternatives

GLPI is a free IT asset and service management package; its name abbreviates the French Gestionnaire Libre de Parc Informatique. It combines an ITIL-style service desk with inventory and configuration management, so IT teams can track which equipment and software they own while also handling the tickets that relate to it.

Main capabilities include service asset and configuration management for computers, peripherals, network printers and their components, with a native dynamic inventory from version 10 onward to keep the configuration database current. It also covers request fulfillment, incident handling, license tracking, software auditing and data center management, and the project topics mention impact analysis and a CMDB.

GLPI is written in PHP, licensed under GPL-3.0 and normally self-hosted on a web server with a database. It suits IT departments that want a single open-source system for helpdesk tickets, asset inventory and software compliance.

iTop, short for IT Operations Portal, is a web-based IT service management platform from Combodo. It combines a fully customizable configuration management database, a helpdesk system and a document management tool, and it follows ITIL practices, which makes it relevant for IT departments and service providers.

Its feature list covers configurable CMDB, helpdesk and incident management, service and contract management, change management, configurable SLA handling and a graphical impact analysis. There are CSV import tools for any data, consistency audits to check data quality and data synchronization for federation. It can be extended with many add-ons and web services, and the iTop Hub lets administrators discover and install extensions.

iTop is written in PHP and licensed under AGPL-3.0, and it runs on your own web server with documentation, GitHub Discussions and release notes for support. It suits IT teams that want an open-source tool for tracking assets and services alongside tickets, with the flexibility to model their own organization.

Request Tracker, usually called RT, is an open-source issue and ticket tracking system from Best Practical. It helps organizations keep track of what needs to be done, who is working on each task, what has already been completed and when work was finished or missed, which makes it suitable for support desks and internal operations teams.

The project's topics cover customer support, helpdesk, bug tracking, asset management, workflow and project management uses. RT runs as a web application written in Perl on a supported SQL database such as MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL or Oracle, served through a FastCGI-capable web server like Apache or nginx. A bundled tool installs most Perl module dependencies, and full-text indexing is an optional extra.

RT is free to use under version 2 of the GNU General Public License regardless of scale. It is also commercially supported software: Best Practical sells hosting, support, training, custom development and professional services. Documentation, release notes, a community forum and a public wiki are available. It suits organizations that want a mature, self-hosted ticketing system with the option of paid support.

Znuny is a free, open-source web-based ticketing system for customer service, help desks and IT service management. It is a continuation of the ((OTRS)) Community Edition at version 6.0.30, which reached end of life at the end of December 2020, with the main goal of providing a maintained, stable version of the well-known ticket system and improving it with new features.

A second goal is to rebuild connections with the community. Technically it is written in Perl and JavaScript and designed to be highly tailorable. It runs on Linux, preferably Debian or Red Hat, with Perl 5.16 or newer, an Apache 2 web server with mod_perl2 recommended, and MySQL 8, MariaDB 10.3, PostgreSQL 12 or Oracle 19c databases. The project also lists unsupported old browser versions.

Znuny is distributed under the GPL v3 and its source is public on GitHub, with documentation, a community forum and a Discord server. The project is mainly funded by Znuny GmbH in Berlin, which offers commercial services such as professional support and consulting.