head to head · open source
Plunk vs Freescout
Plunk has 5,573 GitHub stars, 429 forks, 61 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Freescout has 4,628 stars, 741 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Plunk leads on adoption by 20% (5,573 vs 4,628 stars). Plunk is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Freescout is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. Plunk has attracted 8% 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 | ★ 5.6K | ★ 4.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 429 | ⑂ 741 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Plunk if
- You weight community size — 5.6K 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 The Open Source Email Platform Introduction Transactional emails, marketing campaigns, and workflow automation — in one platform. Self hostable, $0.001 per email, no contact limits. An open source, self hosted alternative to tools SendGrid, Resend or Mailgun. Features Transactional Emails : Send emails straight from your API with template support and variable substitution SMTP : Use Plunk as an SMTP relay to send emails from any existing tool or framework Campaigns : Send newsletters and product updates to large audiences Workflows : Create advanced automations with triggers, delays, and conditional logic…
read the full Plunk overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Plunk or Freescout more popular?
Plunk has 5,573 GitHub stars and Freescout has 4,628. 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 (5,573 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.