FreeScout vs Zammad
A side-by-side comparison of FreeScout and Zammad on what each one charges, what it meters, and which plan every capability actually sits on.
The short answer
14 of the 18 capabilities tracked on both differ, mostly in Channels and Ticketing.
| Measure | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Free | Free, then $7/seat/mo |
| Charged per | Not published | Each agent seat |
| AI billed at | Not published | $0.03 per AI interaction |
| Included, where the other says no | 0 capabilities | 2 capabilities |
Capability by capability
14 of the 18 capabilities tracked on both products differ.
Channels
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| IncludedFree core. FreeScout is a shared mailbox first, connected over IMAP and SMTP. | IncludedStarter v2 EUR 7. In the free self-hosted build. | |
| Live chat | Paid add-onLive Chat Module, $13.00 once per instance. | IncludedProfessional v2 EUR 16. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Voice | Not published | IncludedVia CTI integrations: a generic CTI connector, Placetel and sipgate.io, on all editions. Zammad is not itself a telephony provider and publishes no per-minute price. |
| SMS | Paid add-onSMS Tickets Module (Twilio), $12.00 once per instance. SMS Notifications is a separate $8.00 module. | IncludedStarter v2 EUR 7. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Paid add-onWhatsApp Integration Module (Meta Cloud API), $4.00 once per instance. | IncludedPlus v2 EUR 25. In the free self-hosted build. | |
| Instagram / Facebook | Paid add-onFacebook Integration Module, $4.00 once per instance. Instagram is not published as a channel. | IncludedFacebook only, from Plus v2 EUR 25. Instagram is not listed as a channel. In the free self-hosted build. |
| X / Twitter | Paid add-onTwitter Integration Module, $14.00 once per instance. | Not published |
| Microsoft Teams | Not published | IncludedIntegration shipped in 6.0. All editions. |
Ticketing
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Shared inbox | IncludedFree core. | Not published |
| SLA policies | Paid add-onSLA rules are part of the Workflows Module, $14.99 once per instance. | IncludedTicket SLAs from Professional v2 EUR 16. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Business hours | Not published | IncludedStarter v2 EUR 7. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Macros / saved replies | Paid add-onSaved Replies Module, $4.99 once per instance. Not in the free core. | IncludedStarter v2 EUR 7. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Custom fields | Paid add-onCustom Fields Module, $7.99 once per instance. User Fields is a separate $8.00 module. | IncludedPublished as individual ticket objects, from Professional v2 EUR 16. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Ticket forms | Not published | IncludedPublished as Web Form. Starter v2 EUR 7. In the free self-hosted build. |
Routing & automation
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Triggers | Not published | IncludedTriggers and schedulers from Starter v2 EUR 7. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Workflow builder | Paid add-onWorkflows Module, $14.99 once per instance. | IncludedCore Workflows from Plus v2 EUR 25. In the free self-hosted build. |
AI resolution
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous resolution agent | NoThe free core ships no AI. A ChatGPT Module and a Chrome GPT Assistant are announced as paid modules on the vendor news list, with prices Unknown, and neither is documented as resolving a conversation without an agent. | NoZammad's AI is agent-facing throughout: summaries, writing assistance, attribute detection, routing, text extraction and tagging. No customer-facing agent that closes a conversation without a human is published, and nothing in the pricing is denominated in resolutions. |
AI assist
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Reply drafting | Not published | IncludedAI Writing Assistant. Same gate and the same EUR 0.03 per AI call. |
| Summarization | Not published | IncludedAI Ticket Summary. Professional v2 EUR 16, then EUR 0.03 per AI call. Free self-hosted against your own LLM. |
| Auto-tagging | Not published | IncludedAI Ticket Tagger, alongside AI Agents for attribute detection and routing and an AI Text Extractor for order, invoice and customer IDs. |
Knowledge base
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Public help center | Paid add-onKnowledge Base Module, $12.00 once per instance, attached to a mailbox. | IncludedKnowledge Base, monolingual from Professional v2 EUR 16 and multilingual from Plus v2 EUR 25. Both in the free self-hosted build. |
| Localization | Not published | IncludedMultilingual Knowledge Base from Plus v2 EUR 25. In the free self-hosted build. |
Reporting
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| Prebuilt dashboards | Paid add-onReports Module, $14.99 once per instance. Wallboards is a separate $14.99 module. | IncludedStandard Reporting from Plus v2 EUR 25, with Grafana and Elasticsearch access at the same tier. In the free self-hosted build. |
| Raw data export | Paid add-onExport Conversations Module, $6.00 once per instance, for CSV. A database dump is free and ungated. | Not published |
| CSAT / NPS | Paid add-onSatisfaction Ratings Module, $8.99 once per instance. | Not published |
Collaboration
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| @mentions | Paid add-onMentions Module, $5.00 once per instance. | Not published |
| Assignment | IncludedFree core, with "User can see only assigned conversations" and "Hide from Assign list" as per-user restrictions. | Not published |
Enterprise
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| SAML SSO | Paid add-onSAML SSO Module, $10.00 once per instance. LDAP Integration is a separate $17.99 module. | IncludedThird-party authentication has shipped since 3.0, so it is in the free self-hosted build. The hosted pricing page does not itemise SSO per tier, so the hosted gate is Unknown. |
| Role-based access control | IncludedFree core: an admin and user split with per-mailbox permissions. The paid Teams Module ($11.00) groups users. | Not published |
| Custom roles | NoNo custom role builder is published. Permissions are the admin and user split plus per-mailbox and per-user restrictions. | IncludedIndividual roles from Professional v2 EUR 16. Role management shipped in Zammad 2.0, so the free self-hosted build has it at no cost. |
| Audit logs | IncludedFree core, under Manage then Logs. The outgoing email log keeps the last 6 months and is cleaned monthly. | IncludedTicket history sits in Starter v2's standard features at EUR 7, and in the free self-hosted build. It is not an enterprise upsell here. |
| HIPAA / BAA | NoNot applicable by architecture. No vendor processes the data, so there is no counterparty to sign a Business Associate Agreement. | Not publishedNot claimed, and no Business Associate Agreement is referenced. |
| SOC 2 | NoNot applicable by architecture. There is no vendor-operated service to audit; the operator runs the only instance. | Not publishedNot claimed on any page read. |
| ISO 27001 | NoNot applicable by architecture. No vendor-operated service exists to certify. | IncludedISO/IEC 27001:2022, certified 2026, covering the ISMS and infrastructure including the APIs and data pathways used for AI integration. Hosted plans additionally run in an ISO27001-certified data centre. |
| GDPR | Paid add-onGDPR Module, $5.00 once per instance, for bulk customer and mail-server deletion. Compliance itself is the operator's responsibility. | Not publishedNo GDPR page, statement or data processing agreement was found. German operation and an ISO27001-certified German data centre are published; a GDPR commitment is a different claim and is not made. |
| Data residency | IncludedFree core, by construction: the operator picks the server and therefore the jurisdiction. There is no vendor region to select and no residency add-on. | IncludedGermany, listed on every hosted tier including Starter v2 at EUR 7. Not customer-selectable, because Germany is the only region offered. Self-hosted instances sit wherever you put them. |
Developer
| Capability | FreeScout | Zammad |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | Paid add-onAPI & Webhooks Module, $12.99 once per instance. Documented endpoints for conversations, threads, customers and custom fields. | IncludedDocumented REST API on all editions including the free self-hosted build, with SLAs exposed as a resource. |
| Webhooks | Paid add-onSame $12.99 API & Webhooks Module. HMAC-SHA1 signed, 12 event types. | Not published |
Both entries last checked Sep 9, 2026.
What FreeScout costs
- Billing unit
The core application is free with no agent cap and no ticket cap - Free tier
Yes - Data export
Self-serve - Automation export
Partial
What Zammad costs
$7/seat/month
7 published plans, billed annually- Billing unit
Per agent - Free tier
Yes - AI pricing
$0.03 per AI interaction - Vendor calls it
AI call - Human handoff
Not published - Reopened chat
Not published - AI billing window
Not published - Data export
Self-serve - Automation export
Partial
3 of 9 not published by Zammad, checked