head to head · open source
Plunk vs Freescout
Plunk has 5,474 GitHub stars, 401 forks, 61 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Freescout has 4,541 stars, 717 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Plunk leads on adoption by 21% (5,474 vs 4,541 stars). Plunk is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Freescout is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. Plunk has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Freescout 16%. 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
| Plunk | Freescout | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.5K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 401 | ⑂ 717 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Plunk if
- You weight community size — 5.5K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Freescout if
- You want the Freescout 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 Freescout fits your workflow better
About Plunk
Plunk is an open source email platform written in TypeScript and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It combines transactional email, marketing campaigns, and workflow automation in a single system, and it is positioned as a self hosted alternative to SendGrid, Resend, and Mailgun. The project lives in the TypeScript and Node.js ecosystem, ships as a Docker image, and is documented at docs.useplunk.com with a community Discord for support.
read the full Plunk overview →
About Freescout
FreeScout is an open source helpdesk and shared inbox for customer support teams. It lives in the PHP and Laravel ecosystem and is licensed under AGPL 3.0. The project presents itself as a free self hosted alternative to Zendesk and Help Scout, and its topics place it among helpdesk ticketing systems and OSTicket alternatives.
read the full Freescout overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Plunk or Freescout more popular?
Plunk has 5,474 GitHub stars and Freescout has 4,541. Plunk has the larger community by that measure.
Are Plunk and Freescout free?
Both are open source. Plunk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Freescout under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Plunk and Freescout?
Plunk is written in TypeScript and Freescout 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, Plunk or Freescout?
Choose Plunk if you want the larger community (5,474 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Freescout if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.