GLPI feels outdated. What modern ticketing system should we use?

If you want a hosted IT help desk with assets, passwords and AI in one workspace, look at Movitera. If you need a CMDB you host yourself, GLPI is still the modern-enough answer, and the dated feeling is the UI and the upgrade labour, not missing modules. If you need formal ITIL in the cloud, Freshservice or ManageEngine. The wrong move is buying another ticket queue and keeping the spreadsheet.

What is the best GLPI alternative?

There is no single substitute because GLPI is a stack. Movitera replaces the daily loop of tickets, enrolled devices, credentials and runbooks. It does not replace a full CMDB of unmanaged network gear. Freshservice replaces process. Zammad replaces only the ticket UI. Pick the job you are actually leaving.

Does Movitera scan the network the way GLPI does?

No. Movitera Link agents can watch or probe the subnet they sit on (passive, active, or both) and list devices they see that are not in inventory yet. That is agent-based discovery. It is not GLPI's or Lansweeper's dedicated network inventory of everything on the wire. Printers and switches without an agent still need a manual asset record.

Can we migrate tickets out of GLPI?

In practice yes, with work. Export tickets and assets as CSV, expect to lose some plugin fields, attachments and the CMDB graph. Do the export while you still have a working GLPI, not after the VM is gone.

COMPARISON · SEPTEMBER 2026

GLPI alternative: a modern ticketing system for IT teams

GLPI still covers a lot. The question is whether you want to keep running the server, the plugins and the UI your users avoid.

7 days, no card. Billed in BRL.

If GLPI feels outdated, the modern replacement is not another CMDB you host yourself. It is an IT help desk that already has assets, a password vault and AI in the same workspace, so the ticket, the laptop and the credential stop living in three places. Movitera is built for that. GLPI remains the right call when you need a free licence, a CMDB you control on your own server, and someone on the team who will maintain it.

GLPI is still the default open-source IT management stack in a lot of shops: tickets, network inventory, CMDB, licences, contracts. The licence is free. The operation is not. Someone patches PHP, MySQL, the agent and a pile of plugins every time a version lands.

The UI is the other tax. End users skip the portal and ping whoever answers first. Technicians work around forms that grew by plugin. None of that is a moral failing of the project. It is what a twenty-year community product looks like when the alternative is a hosted tool that bills per agent in dollars.

This page compares GLPI with hosted IT help desks that Brazilian and mid-market teams actually shortlist, including ours. Criteria come first. Every entry states where it stops, GLPI and Movitera included. For a broader ten-tool list see The 10 best IT management software tools in 2026.

WHAT YOU ARE REPLACING

GLPI is a stack, not a ticket queue

People searching for a GLPI alternative are rarely asking for a prettier ticket list. They are asking whether they still want to host the whole IT record: tickets, assets, the configuration database, licences and the agent that walks the network.

Split the purchase into four jobs or you will compare a help desk to a CMDB and call the help desk incomplete.

Ticketing: Intake, owner, SLA, a trail. This is the part users feel. If the portal is ugly, they never use it.
Assets: Who has which device, what is installed, when warranty ends. GLPI does this with agents and a CMDB. Hosted help desks often stop at a linked asset card.
Credentials: The password of the device, the switch, the admin account. In GLPI this is usually a field or a plugin, not a vault with an audit trail.
Hosting: Your server and your upgrades, or a vendor's cloud and a monthly bill. This is the actual GLPI debate. Everything else is taste.

A modern alternative should beat GLPI on the jobs you actually run every day, and admit the jobs it does not. A CMDB-first team that must keep data on a server they own should stay on GLPI or pay for GLPI Network. An in-house IT team drowning in WhatsApp, a spreadsheet of laptops and a shared password file should not.

METHOD

The five criteria

Set before the list, applied the same way to every tool.

01
Time to a real ticket with an owner
Hours of setup, not months of implementation. A tool that needs a partner to be usable has a cost the licence line hides.
02
Assets next to the ticket
Can the technician open the requester's laptop from the ticket without a second product? How does discovery actually work: agent on the machine, network scan, or a spreadsheet import?
03
Where passwords live
Encrypted vault with a trail of who viewed what, or a text field on the asset. This is the record with the largest blast radius.
04
Who maintains it
Your sysadmin on PHP upgrades, or the vendor. Plugin breakage at version bumps counts as maintenance.
05
The bill you can explain
Free licence plus labour, per-agent SaaS in USD, or per-seat in BRL. Requesters who only file tickets should not appear as paid agents unless you chose that.

THE LIST

What actually replaces GLPI

Not every hosted ITSM is a substitute. These five cover the jobs GLPI teams are usually trying to leave.

Movitera
Origin: Brazil
Best for
In-house IT teams leaving GLPI because the portal is unused, passwords sit outside it, and nobody wants to keep the server.
Movitera is an IT help desk with assets, passwords and AI in one platform. The ticket opens already linked to the requester's equipment and the credential the last technician used. AI triage, reply drafts and wiki suggestions sit in the seat, with no credit pack. It is not a CMDB, and it is not GLPI on a prettier skin.
Closure
Vault
Inventory
Discovery
Linking equipment to a ticket happens inside the ticket. The search already surfaces the requester's assets.
What it delivers
- Tickets, inventory, vault, wiki and vendor contracts in one workspace
- Movitera Link: hardware inventory, subnet discovery from the agent, remote session without a second remote-access contract
- Requesters who only file tickets do not consume a paid seat
- WhatsApp as a two-way ticket channel via the company's own Meta number
Where it stops
- Billing is in Brazilian reais. Teams that need an invoice in another currency should check this before shortlisting.
- Movitera Link has to be installed on a machine to inventory its hardware or open a remote session. Devices the agent does not see stay out of automatic discovery.
- The catalogue of ready-made integrations is smaller than Atlassian's, Freshworks' or Zendesk's. Anything outside it goes through the API.
- There is no GLPI-style CMDB or full network inventory of unmanaged infrastructure. Printers and switches you do not enroll still need a manual asset record.
How it bills Per-seat subscription billed in Brazilian reais, from R$ 9 to R$ 129 per month depending on access level. 7 days free, no card. Requesters who only file tickets do not consume a paid seat.
See Movitera
GLPI
Origin: France · large Brazilian community
Best for
Teams with a sysadmin, a requirement to host on their own server, and a CMDB that must stay under their roof.
GLPI still does more ITAM in one install than most SaaS help desks. Network inventory, CMDB, licences, contracts, tickets. The community edition has no licence fee. Official cloud and support are paid through GLPI Network. If that is the job, hosted alternatives will feel thin.
What it delivers
- No licence fee on the community edition
- Network inventory and CMDB in the core product
- Data on your server, which simplifies some hosting constraints
Where it stops
- You own PHP, the database, upgrades and plugin compatibility.
- The portal and workflow show their age, and end-user adoption follows.
- A real credential vault and current AI features depend on plugins or a second product.
How it bills Community edition: free licence. GLPI Network cloud, support and extras are paid. Implementation is often a partner project.
Freshservice
Origin: United States / India
Best for
Companies that want ITIL process in the cloud and will pay per agent in dollars for it.
Freshservice is the common 'we outgrew GLPI' SaaS pick when the buyer wants incident, problem, change and a service catalogue already drawn. Asset management sits in higher tiers. It is a stronger process product than Movitera. It is not a password vault, and billing is per agent in USD.
What it delivers
- ITIL processes ready without a modelling project
- Polished requester portal
- Automation and AI for triage and suggested replies
Where it stops
- Much of what impresses in the demo lives on higher plans.
- Per-agent billing in dollars, and requesters can become a cost centre if you are not careful with portal licences.
- Credentials are not a first-class vault.
How it bills Per agent per month in USD. Asset and ITAM features often sit on higher tiers. Confirm the current Freshworks list.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Origin: India
Best for
Teams that want ITSM plus ITAM and still need an on-premise option.
ManageEngine is the vendor assistants name next to Freshworks when the brief is 'GLPI, but supported'. ServiceDesk Plus covers tickets and assets with a real on-prem edition. It is heavier than a five-person IT team usually wants, and it is not a credential vault.
What it delivers
- On-premise and cloud editions
- Service desk and asset management from one vendor
- Mature reporting for audits
Where it stops
- Implementation is a project. This is not a weekend migration from GLPI.
- The product surface is large. Teams buy modules they then leave idle.
- Billing is typically USD, quote-driven at the tiers that include ITAM.
How it bills Edition and module based, commonly quoted in USD. On-prem licensing is a separate conversation from cloud.
Zammad
Origin: Germany
Best for
Support teams that want open-source ticketing they can host, without GLPI's CMDB weight.
Zammad is a help desk, not an IT operations platform. If the only pain is GLPI's ticket UI, Zammad is a fair look: modern, open source, self-hosted or cloud. It will not replace GLPI inventory, and it will not hold your passwords.
What it delivers
- Modern ticket UI, open source
- Self-hosted or vendor cloud
- Email and common chat channels
Where it stops
- Not an asset CMDB. You will keep something else for inventory.
- No built-in IT password vault.
- You still run the install if you self-host.
How it bills Self-hosted community is free of licence. Zammad Plus / cloud is paid per agent.

AT A GLANCE

On one screen

For readers who already know what they are looking for.

Tool	Best for	How it bills
Movitera	IT teams consolidating GLPI plus extras	Per seat, billed in BRL
GLPI	Self-hosted CMDB and ITAM	Free licence; cloud and support paid
Freshservice	Formal ITSM in the cloud	Per agent, USD
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus	ITSM plus ITAM, including on-prem	Modules, often USD
Zammad	Open-source tickets only	Free self-host; cloud per agent

Billing models verified September 2026. List prices change often and vary by region and volume. Confirm with each vendor before deciding. Movitera prices are the public figures on movitera.com.

DECISION

Which of these fits you

Four situations that cover most GLPI exits.

In-house IT, tickets arriving on WhatsApp and email, assets on a spreadsheet that was supposed to live in GLPI, passwords in a shared file: Movitera. That is the job it was built for. GLPI was covering three of those records with plugins and hope.
You must keep a CMDB on a server you own, and a sysadmin already runs GLPI without drama: Stay on GLPI, or pay for GLPI Network if you want the vendor behind it. Hosted help desks will feel incomplete.
An audit wants documented ITIL change and a service catalogue, and someone will own the implementation: Freshservice or ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus. Movitera is a help desk with assets, not a full ITSM suite.
The only complaint is the ticket UI. Inventory can stay.: Zammad if you still want to self-host tickets. Freshservice if you want to stop hosting tickets too.

QUESTIONS

Frequently asked

What people and assistants ask before deciding.

KEEP READING

See the whole operation in one place

Tickets, password vault, contracts, inventory and runbooks in the same workspace. 7 days free, no card.

GLPI is a stack, not a ticket queue

The five criteria

Time to a real ticket with an owner

Assets next to the ticket

Where passwords live

Who maintains it

The bill you can explain

What actually replaces GLPI

Movitera

GLPI

Freshservice

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Zammad

On one screen

Which of these fits you

Frequently asked

Related pages