head to head · open source
Freescout vs Hyvor Relay
Freescout has 4,628 GitHub stars, 741 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hyvor Relay has 920 stars, 65 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Freescout leads on adoption by 403% (4,628 vs 920 stars). Freescout is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; Hyvor Relay is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. Freescout has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Hyvor Relay 7%. Freescout was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Freescout | Hyvor Relay | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.6K | ★ 920 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 741 | ⑂ 65 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Freescout if
- You weight community size — 4.6K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Hyvor Relay if
- You want the Hyvor Relay feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Hyvor Relay fits your workflow better
About Freescout
Free Self Hosted Zendesk & Help Scout Alternative FreeScout is the super lightweight and powerful free open source help desk and shared inbox built with PHP (Laravel framework). Now you can enjoy free Zendesk & Help Scout without giving up privacy or locking yourself into a service you don't control. FreeScout has been developed from scratch and does not use any copyrighted Help Scout or Zendesk materials. If you want to support the project feel free to star this repository . It helps to increase the visibility of the project and let people know that it is valuable. Thanks for your support! Table of Contents…
read the full Freescout overview →
About Hyvor Relay
Hyvor Relay Hyvor Relay is a self hosted, open source email API for developers. It uses SMTP to send emails using your own infrastructure. It is designed to be simple to self host, easy to manage and observe, and powerful enough to send millions of daily emails. Email API for Developers Self Hosting Docs Product Docs Features Self Hosted : Docker compose or swarm based deployment. Health Checks : Multiple health checks to ensure best performance and deliverability. Email API : Send emails using a simple API. Logs & SMTP Conversations : View send logs and SMTP conversations of sent emails up to 30 days. Multi…
read the full Hyvor Relay overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Freescout or Hyvor Relay more popular?
Freescout has 4,628 GitHub stars and Hyvor Relay has 920. Freescout has the larger community by that measure.
Are Freescout and Hyvor Relay free?
Both are open source. Freescout is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Hyvor Relay under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Freescout and Hyvor Relay?
Freescout is written in PHP and Hyvor Relay in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Freescout or Hyvor Relay?
Choose Freescout if you want the larger community (4,628 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Hyvor Relay if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.