head to head · open source
glpi vs rt
glpi has 6,548 GitHub stars, 1,852 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. rt has 1,167 stars, 299 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. glpi leads on adoption by 461% (6,548 vs 1,167 stars). glpi is written in PHP under GPL-3.0; rt is written in Perl under GPL-2.0. glpi has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, rt 26%. rt 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 | rt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.5K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | PHP | Perl |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 299 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick glpi if
- You weight community size — 6.5K 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 rt if
- You want the rt feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Perl
- You evaluated both and rt fits your workflow better
About glpi
About GLPI GLPI stands for Gestionnaire Libre de Parc Informatique is a Free Asset and IT Management Software package, that provides ITIL Service Desk features, licenses tracking and software auditing. Major GLPI Features: Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM) : Manages your IT assets and configurations, tracks computers, peripherals, network printers, and their associated components. With native dynamic inventory management from version 10 onwards, you can maintain an up to date configuration database, ensuring accurate and timely information about your assets. Request Fulfillment : Streamlines…
About rt
Request Tracker (RT) RT is an open source, enterprise grade issue and ticket tracking system. Explore RT docs » Release Notes · Community Forum · Public Wiki · Blog · Hosting & Support RT allows organizations to keep track of what needs to get done, who is working on which tasks, what's already been done, and when tasks were (or weren't) completed. RT doesn't cost anything to use, no matter how much you use it; it is freely available under the terms of Version 2 of the GNU General Public License. RT is commercially supported software. To purchase hosting, support, training, custom development, or professional…
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Frequently asked questions
Is glpi or rt more popular?
glpi has 6,548 GitHub stars and rt has 1,167. glpi has the larger community by that measure.
Are glpi and rt free?
Both are open source. glpi is licensed under GPL-3.0 and rt under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between glpi and rt?
glpi is written in PHP and rt in Perl. 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 rt?
Choose glpi if you want the larger community (6,548 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose rt if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.