head to head · open source
glpi vs bytedesk
glpi has 6,414 GitHub stars, 1,824 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bytedesk has 500 stars, 141 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. glpi leads on adoption by 1,183% (6,414 vs 500 stars). glpi is written in PHP under GPL-3.0; bytedesk is written in Java under AGPL-3.0. glpi has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, bytedesk 28%. glpi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (helpdesk), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| glpi | bytedesk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.4K | ★ 500 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 141 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick glpi if
- You weight community size — 6.4K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bytedesk if
- You want the bytedesk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and bytedesk fits your workflow better
About glpi
GLPI stands for Gestionnaire Libre de Parc Informatique. It is a Free Asset and IT Management software package that provides ITIL Service Desk features, licenses tracking and software auditing. The project is written in PHP, distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL 3.0), and it lives in the IT asset management and ITIL service management ecosystem, alongside the CMDB, DCIM and ITAM tooling described in its topic list.
About bytedesk
Bytedesk is an open source, AI powered omnichannel customer service and team messaging platform written in Java, aimed at organizations that want to self host their own live chat, ticketing, and internal IM stack.
read the full bytedesk overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is glpi or bytedesk more popular?
glpi has 6,414 GitHub stars and bytedesk has 500. glpi has the larger community by that measure.
Are glpi and bytedesk free?
Both are open source. glpi is licensed under GPL-3.0 and bytedesk under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between glpi and bytedesk?
glpi is written in PHP and bytedesk in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, glpi or bytedesk?
Choose glpi if you want the larger community (6,414 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose bytedesk if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.