LibreDesk
communicationsmall businessSelf-hosted customer support desk with live chat, email, SLA management, and SSO built in. Free, open source, ships as a single Go binary
Quick Start
curl -LO https://github.com/abhinavxd/libredesk/raw/main/docker-compose.yml && curl -LO https://github.com/abhinavxd/libredesk/raw/main/config.sample.toml && cp config.sample.toml config.toml && docker compose up -d Overview
LibreDesk is a self-hosted customer support platform that brings live chat, email, and omnichannel messaging into a single inbox, packaged as a single Go binary. If your team is paying for Freshdesk or Zendesk and most of that bill is going toward features you barely touch, this is worth a close look.
The feature set covers the full support workflow without carving anything off for a paid tier. You get conversation routing with auto-assignment rules, SLA tracking with breach alerts, macros for one-click canned responses, custom attributes on contacts and conversations, and role-based access control with granular per-role permissions. CSAT surveys run automatically and roll up into team performance dashboards. Webhooks and a clean HTTP/JSON API let you connect it to whatever else you run.
SSO is included for free. Google, Microsoft, and OIDC sign-on are all built in with no extra charge. On competing platforms, SSO access typically sits behind the most expensive plan.
Deployment is practical. The Docker Compose path starts with two config files and has you at a working instance in under ten minutes. Pre-built binaries cover Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. The only dependencies are PostgreSQL (version 13 or later) and Redis.
LibreDesk is a solo-developer project at v2.2.1 with 2.5k GitHub stars. It is actively maintained with near-weekly commits and a public roadmap. That solo status is worth factoring into your decision for a production support inbox, but for a small team watching costs, the feature-to-price ratio is hard to argue with.
🛠️ LibreDesk: Pros & Cons
| Pros (The Wins) | Cons (The Friction) |
|---|---|
| Cost & Value: Completely free, no paid tiers. SSO included at no extra cost. | Reliability: Solo developer project. No team backing if maintenance slows. |
| Setup: Single binary, low footprint. Docker Compose running in under 10 min. | Maturity: Still at v2.2.1, relatively young. Some rough edges expected. |
| Features: SLA tracking, macros, RBAC, CSAT surveys, automations all included. | Infrastructure: Requires PostgreSQL and Redis. Not a zero-dependency install. |
Use Cases
Specific ways to use LibreDesk for your workflow.
The Balanced View
Pros
- Completely free with no paid tiers
- SSO (Google, Microsoft, OIDC) included at no cost
- Single binary with low infrastructure footprint
- Actively maintained with near-weekly commits
Cons
- Solo developer project with no team backing
- Still relatively young at v2.2.1
- Requires PostgreSQL and Redis to run
Deployment Strategy
Recommended ways to host LibreDesk in your own environment.