Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 8, 2026

Zammad

Zammad is a free helpdesk or issue tracking system. It offers the connection of various channels like email, chat, telephone, Twitter, or Facebook. Zammad is developed in the programming languages Ruby and JavaScript. The name Zammad comes from the Bavarian language and means "together".

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Wikipedia ↗
Zammad
DeveloperZammad Team1
Initial release2016
Stable release
7.02 Edit this on Wikidata / 4 March 2026 (4 March 2026)
Written inRuby (Ruby on Rails), TypeScript
Operating systemUbuntu, Debian, CentOS, Docker
PlatformGitHub
Available inEnglish (multilingual)
TypeHelpdesk
LicenseAGPL-3.0-only
Websitezammad.com
Repository

Zammad is a free helpdesk or issue tracking system. It offers the connection of various channels like email, chat, telephone, Twitter, or Facebook. Zammad is developed in the programming languages Ruby and JavaScript. The name Zammad comes from the Bavarian language and means "together".3

General

Zammad was founded by Martin Edenhofer, who was formerly involved in the development of OTRS.4

The project asks for active participation in the development.5 The source code is free software according to the AGPL-3.0-only license6 and available via git.78 For this purpose, the Zammad Foundation9 was founded to ensure the freedom of the software. Inspiration for the Zammad Foundation are the WordPress Foundation, the Free Software Foundation, and the Mozilla Foundation.9

User Interface

The user interface is described as modern and attractive.10 It has been redesigned from scratch and can be used by occasional users without training without any problems. Technologically, the user interface is implemented as a web application with CSS, JavaScript, and HTML5 (including WebSockets),11 which means that the application runs in the browser – only data is exchanged over the network (in REST). Thus the WebApp feels like a native application and is capable of real-time (information is updated in all clients immediately after creation/change without reloading the application/web page). The design of the interface was developed with Zeughaus Design GmbH.12

In version 3.0 Zammad was extended by a knowledge base.13

Backend

The backend is realized in Ruby on Rails and communicates with the user interface via REST. Zammad relies on Elasticsearch to speed up search queries.14

MySQL, MariaDB, or PostgreSQL are supported as database servers up to Zammad version 6. Zammad version 7 and above will be PostgreSQL only.15 Nginx or Apache can be used as a web server or reverse proxy.15

Version history

The planned release cycle was 4 weeks, on the 14th of the month.

Version Published Significant changes
Unsupported: 1.0.0 14 October 2016

Sources:1617

  • First Version
Unsupported: 1.1.0 14 November 2016

Source:18

Unsupported: 1.1.1 14 December 2016 Bugfix release
Unsupported: 1.2.0, 1.1.2, 1.0.3 16 January 2017 Feature and Bugfix release19
Unsupported: 1.3.0, 1.2.1, 1.1.3, 1.0.4 15 February 2017 Feature, Security, and Bugfix release20
Unsupported: 1.4.0, 1.3.1, 1.2.2, 1.1.4 16 March 2017 Feature and Bugfix release21
Unsupported: 1.5.0, 1.4.1, 1.3.2, 1.2.3 21 April 2017 Feature and Bugfix release22
Unsupported: 2.0.0, 1.5.1 11 September 2017 Major Release and Maintenance23
  • LDAP Integration24
  • Absence management assistant
  • Exchange integration25
  • Role management26
Unsupported: 2.1.0,2.0.1 25 October 2017 Minor and Feature release27
Unsupported: 2.2.0, 2.1.1 6 December 2017 Minor and Feature release28
  • i-doit Integration as CMDB
  • Emails can be forwarded incl. attachments
Unsupported: 2.3.0, 2.2.1, 2.1.2 31 January 2018 Minor and Feature release29
  • Chat Integration was improved
Unsupported: 2.4.0, 2.3.1, 2.2.2 29 March 2018 Feature release30
  • Auto-completion for email addresses
  • REST API
  • Breaking Change: Changes in the authorization management
Unsupported: 2.5.0, 2.4.1 6 June 2018 Feature release31
  • Automation of ticket assignment
  • CSV Import
Unsupported: 2.6.0, 2.5.1 10 August 2018 Minor, Feature and Bugfix release32
  • CTI Integration
  • better filter function for emails
  • improved search function in the REST-API
Unsupported: 2.7.0, 2.6.1 25 October 2018 Minor and Bugfix release33
  • SMS Integration
  • Print layout
  • Changes to the date format
Unsupported: 2.8.0, 2.7.1 3 December 2018 Minor and Bugfix release34
  • Integration of Placetel as CTI interface
  • Twitter API
Unsupported: 2.9.0, 2.8.1, 2.7.2 14 February 2019 Minor and Bugfix release35
  • Attachment preview realized
  • Timestamp over time zones improved
Unsupported: 3.0 6 June 2019 Major release36
  • more languages added
  • external authentication sources (Microsoft account, Azure AD, or OAuth2)
  • Zammad Knowledge Base37
Unsupported: 3.1.0, 3.0.1 11 July 2019 Minor and Bugfix release38
  • additional CTI providers integrated
  • realized text modules for groups
Unsupported: 3.2.0, 3.1.1 3 December 2019 Minor and Bugfix release39
  • SAML authentication
  • Chat module was extended
Unsupported: 3.3.0, 3.2.1 3 March 2020 Minor and Bugfix release40
  • Security updates
  • Automation improved: with Triggers and depending on the calendar
Unsupported: 3.4.0, 3.3.1 15 June 2020 Minor and Bugfix release41
  • S/MIME Integration
  • Google OAuth Integration42
  • Zammad + ServiceNow Integration improved
Unsupported: 3.5.0, 3.4.1 21 September 2020 Minor and Bugfix release43
  • Easier process to delete a user (for better privacy)
  • Agents can now also be customers (and vice versa)
Unsupported: 3.6.0, 3.5.1 16 November 2020 Minor, Security and Bugfix release44
  • Webhooks
  • Mailbox Archive
Unsupported: 4.0 25. March 2021 Major release45
Unsupported: 4.1 8. June 2021 Minor release46
  • session Timeout
  • Freshdesk import possibility
Unsupported: 5.0 5. October 2021 Major release 47
  • Integration MessageBird
  • Core Workflows-Function
  • Integration with Jira
  • better User Experience
Unsupported: 5.0.1 8. October 2021 Minor release48
  • only security update
Unsupported: 5.0.2 28. October 2021 Minor release49
  • only security update
Unsupported: 5.0.3 7. December 2021 Minor release50
  • only security update
Latest version: 5.1.0 14. March 2022 Minor release51
  • 12h time format possible
  • breaking Changes

Awards

  • Bronze OSBAR (Open Source Business Award 2016), on 7 December 2016, awarded by the Open Source Business Alliance52
  • 1st place in the Thomas Krenn Award 2017, on 12 March 201753
  • DINACon Award in Category 1: Best Open Source Project, on 18 October 2019, which means that Zammad was also nominated for the Digital Economy Award 54
References

References

  1. "Zammad Community | About Us". zammad.org.
  2. https://zammad.com/en/product/releases/7-0. Retrieved 6 March 2026. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "OTRS-Gründer Martin Edenhofer startet mit Zammad Open-Source-Alternative" (in German). 26 October 2016.
  4. "Zammad Console". Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. "Zammad Community | Be part of it!". zammad.org.
  6. "Golem.de: IT-News für Profis". golem.de (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  7. "Welcome to Zammad". 14 April 2022 – via GitHub.
  8. "Zammad — Zammad documentation". docs.zammad.org.
  9. "Zammad Foundation". Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  10. "Helpdesk-Software: 4 Underdogs für weniger Stress im Service". t3n (in German). 17 June 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  11. Bantle, Ulrich; Brendel, Jens-Christoph; Kißling, Kristian & Kleinert, Jan (December 2018). "OTRS, Kix, Request Tracker, Zammad". Linux-magazin.de (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  12. "Und täglich grüßt das Kundentier". Zeughaus Design (in German).
  13. Greiner, Wilhelm. "Zammad 3.0 für die kostenlose lokale Installation oder als Cloud-Service erhältlich: Open-Source-Helpdesk mit neuer Knowledge Base" (in German).
  14. "Set up Elasticsearch — Zammad documentation". docs.zammad.org.
  15. "Software — Zammad documentation". docs.zammad.org.
  16. "Zammad: OTRS-Gründer startet freie Zendesk-Alternative - Golem.de" (in German).
  17. Peter Marwan (25 October 2016). "Helpdesk- und Ticketing-Systeme: Open-Source-Alternative Zammad nun verfügbar" (in German).
  18. "Ticketsystem Zammad in Version 1.1 erschienen" (in German).
  19. "Release | Zammad 1.2.0, 1.1.2 & 1.0.3 (Feature & Patch Level)". zammad.com. 16 January 2017.
  20. "New Release | Zammad 1.3.0, 1.2.1, 1.1.3 & 1.0.4". zammad.com. 15 February 2017.
  21. "Release | Zammad 1.4.0, 1.3.1, 1.2.2, 1.1.4 (Maintenance & Patch Level)". zammad.com. 26 March 2017.
  22. "Release | Zammad 1.5.0, 1.4.1, 1.3.2, 1.2.3 (Maintenance & Patch Level)". zammad.com. 21 April 2017.
  23. "New Release | Zammad 2.0.0 & 1.5.1 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 11 September 2017.
  24. "Open-Source-Helpdesk- und Ticketing-System Zammad 2.0 verfügbar - silicon.de". Silicon.de (in German). 11 September 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  25. "Neue Version umfasst unter anderem ein neues Rollen-Management: Zammad: Open-Source-Helpdesk-System erhält Enterprise-Funktionen". lanline.de (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  26. "Helpdesk-Software Zammad 2.0 will "Enterprise Ready" sein". heise.de (in German). 11 September 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  27. "New Release | Zammad 2.1.0 & 2.0.1 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 27 October 2017.
  28. "New Release | Zammad 2.2.0 & 2.1.1 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 6 December 2017.
  29. "Release | Zammad 2.3.0 & 2.2.1 & 2.1.2 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 30 January 2018.
  30. "Release | Zammad 2.4.0 & 2.3.1 & 2.2.2 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 29 March 2018.
  31. "Release | Zammad 2.5.0 & 2.4.1 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 6 June 2018.
  32. "Release | Zammad 2.6.0 & 2.5.1 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 10 August 2018.
  33. "Release | Zammad 2.7.0 & 2.6.1 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 25 October 2018.
  34. "Release | Zammad 2.8.0 & 2.7.1 (Major and Patch Level)". zammad.com. 3 December 2018.
  35. "New Release | Zammad 2.9.0 (minor), 2.8.1 & 2.7.2 (patch)". zammad.com. 14 February 2019.
  36. "New Release | Zammad 3.0 (major)". zammad.com. 6 June 2019.
  37. Schürmann, Tim (28 August 2019). "Open-Source-Ticketsystem Zammad 3 bringt Wissensdatenbank". Ix (in German). 2019 (9): 72–73. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  38. "Release | Zammad 3.1.0 (minor) and 3.0.1 (patch)". zammad.com. 11 July 2019.
  39. "New Release | Zammad 3.2.0 (minor) & 3.1.1 (patch)". zammad.com. 3 December 2019.
  40. "New Release | Zammad 3.3.0 (minor) and 3.2.1 (patch)". zammad.com. 3 March 2020.
  41. "Release 3.4.0 (minor) & 3.3.1 (patch) | Zammad". zammad.com. 15 June 2020.
  42. "A Guide to 5 Fair Selections of Open Source Ticketing Tools for Linux". Linux Journal. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  43. "Release Notes | Zammad 3.5". zammad.com. 21 September 2020.
  44. "New Release - Zammad 3.6.0". zammad.com. 16 November 2020.
  45. "Major Release: Zammad 4.0". zammad.com. 25 March 2021.
  46. "New Release: Zammad 4.1". zammad.com. 8 June 2021.
  47. "Major Release: Zammad 5.0". zammad.com. 5 October 2021.
  48. "Security Release | Zammad 5.0.1". zammad.com. 8 October 2021.
  49. "Security Release | Zammad 5.0.2". zammad.com. 28 October 2021.
  50. "Security Release | Zammad 5.0.3". zammad.com. 7 December 2021.
  51. "New Release: Zammad 5.1". zammad.com. 14 March 2022.
  52. "OSBAR 2016 – unsere Stars!". OSBA – Open Source Business Alliance (in German). 9 December 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  53. Ag, Thomas-Krenn (12 March 2017). "Thomas-Krenn-Award 2017: Zammad, Home Assistant und Freifunk". thomas-krenn.com (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  54. "Winners 2019 > DINAcon Awards". DINAcon Awards. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
External links