Libredesk
NewThe free alternative toIntercom
Libredesk is the open source alternative to Intercom: a shared inbox for email, website live chat and WhatsApp. The chat widget reaches out to your visitors based on the page they are reading, and your team replies from the same inbox: tags, automatic assignment, saved replies, response targets. It also publishes a multilingual help center and measures satisfaction. Its AI assistant answers on its own from your knowledge base, with Claude, OpenAI or a local model through Ollama, and hands over to a human when it gets stuck. It runs on your server with PostgreSQL and Redis, under the AGPL-3.0 license: everything is included, with no paid plan and no per agent pricing. The limit: no mobile app and no product tours, and the AI is still in beta.
Versus Intercom: the match
Price
Libredesk
€0 on your server
Intercom
€25/month per agent (Essential)
Agents
Libredesk
Unlimited
Intercom
Each one pays for a seat
Channels
Libredesk
Email, live chat, WhatsApp
Intercom
Plus SMS, phone and social media, pay as you go
| VS | Libredesk | Intercom ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €0 on your server | €25/month per agent (Essential) |
| Agents | Unlimited | Each one pays for a seat |
| Channels | Email, live chat, WhatsApp | Plus SMS, phone and social media, pay as you go |
| AI agent | Your model (Claude, OpenAI or free Ollama), in beta | Fin, about €0.85 per resolution |
| Help center | Included, multilingual | Included, multilingual from Advanced |
| Mobile app, product tours | No | Yes |
| What you need | A server with PostgreSQL and Redis | A subscription per agent |
How to install it (even from zero)
A single program, plus PostgreSQL and Redis, on your server. It needs a public HTTPS address for the chat to work on your website. The prompt installs it from the official repo, secures the configuration and connects your first inbox.
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Paste this prompt into Claude (Code or Desktop)
It installs Libredesk from the official repo, puts it online over HTTPS and connects your first inbox:
Installe Libredesk sur mon serveur : c'est l'outil open source de service client qui remplace Intercom (dépôt GitHub abhinavxd/libredesk, documentation docs.libredesk.io). Vérifie d'abord que Docker et Docker Compose sont installés. Suis ensuite le guide d'installation Docker de la documentation : récupère le docker-compose.yml et le config.sample.toml du dépôt, copie ce dernier en config.toml, mets une clé de chiffrement aléatoire de 32 caractères dans app.encryption_key, remplace les mots de passe d'exemple par des valeurs solides, puis lance l'ensemble. Définis le mot de passe de l'utilisateur System avec la commande prévue, et vérifie que l'interface répond sur le port 9000. Place-la ensuite derrière mon nom de domaine en HTTPS avec un proxy inverse, comme le recommande la documentation, sinon le chat ne marchera pas sur mon site. Aide-moi à créer mon premier agent, à brancher ma boîte e-mail de support (Google, Microsoft ou IMAP) et à poser le widget de chat sur mon site. Si je veux l'assistant IA, branche un fournisseur compatible OpenAI (ma clé Anthropic ou OpenAI, ou Ollama pour un modèle local gratuit) avec un modèle d'embeddings, et teste-le d'abord sur une boîte à faible volume. Explique-moi aussi comment sauvegarder la base et mettre Libredesk à jour. Explique chaque étape simplement, je débute. Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.
- 2
Start with a single inbox
Connect your support email or your website chat first, and test with a colleague before sending your customers there.
- 3
Stay in control of the AI
The AI assistant is in beta, and every reply is paid to your provider, except with Ollama. Try it on a low volume inbox before letting it answer on its own.
Paste this prompt into Claude (Code or Desktop)What you actually do with it
Answer your customers in one place
Emails, WhatsApp messages and your website chat land in a single inbox, assigned automatically to the right team member.
Let AI answer the simple questions
The assistant draws on your help center and your approved answers, replies on chat and email, then hands over to a human when it does not know.
Publish your help center
A multilingual article base, also searchable from the chat widget: your customers find the answer before they even write.
Project health, at a glance
Before installing an open-source tool, one question matters: is the project alive? These scores are computed from public GitHub data. They are not made up.
89/100
ExcellentVery active, well-maintained project: go ahead with confidence.
- Activity
- 100
Is the code moving? (commits in the last 30 days)
- Maintenance
- 100
How fresh is the latest update? Fresher is better.
- Community
- 64
Stars and contributors: people around means help and fixes.
- Maturity
- 80
Project age. Old enough to be solid, still alive.
- Momentum
- 100
Current pace versus its usual pace: speeding up or dozing off?
The repo in numbers
- GitHub stars
- 3.1k
- Forks
- 327
- Contributors
- 35
- Commits
- 2.7k
- Project age
- 2.5 yrs
- Last commit
- today
- Size
- 11.7 MB
- License
- AGPL-3.0
Built with
- Go 44.8%
- Vue 27.3%
- JavaScript 24.1%
- HTML 1.4%
- CSS 1.1%
Scores computed automatically from the GitHub API (last-30-days activity, update freshness, community size, project age). Refreshed daily.
Loucash’s take
8/10
Libredesk covers the core of Intercom Essential: shared inbox, live chat on your website, WhatsApp, help center and AI assistant. And without paying per agent: with five people on the team, Intercom already costs about €125 a month before its AI answers anything. What I like: everything really is free. Their FAQ says it plainly, every feature is included and there is no paid plan. The project moves fast (WhatsApp and proactive messages arrived on October 22) and it installs as a single program. Why 8 and not more: the project is younger and less complete than Intercom. No mobile app, no product tours or email campaigns, fewer channels, and the AI is still in beta. You also need an online server, with PostgreSQL and Redis, that you back up yourself.
It’s for you if: You run support for a small business or an online shop and want email, chat and WhatsApp in one place, without paying for every agent. If you need a mobile app for your agents, product tours or many channels, Intercom stays ahead.
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