GLPI

GLPI is an IT management platform for teams that want ticketing, service workflows, and a broad asset inventory in one system. It suits organizations with dedicated IT staff, especially those able to manage a self-hosted deployment or pay for cloud operations. Its breadth is a strength, but the right deployment depends on agent count, service expectations, and how much infrastructure the organization wants to run.

Overview

GLPI combines incident and request handling with IT service management and inventory. Tickets can be assigned to a group, profile, or individual, while problem and change management, planning, recurring tickets, statistics, and custom forms extend the workflow beyond a basic helpdesk. Approval workflows and SLA management make it relevant to teams with formal service processes.

Inventory spans hardware, software and licenses, plus network equipment, certificates, domains, clusters, and databases. Project workflows include Gantt and Kanban views, alongside a knowledge base, reservations, reports, and saved searches. That range can reduce the need to split these jobs across separate tools, though it also makes GLPI a broader operational system than a team seeking only a lightweight ticket queue may need.

Key features

• Ticket assignment and access: Tickets can go to groups, profiles, or named owners. Eight profile types and standard and self-service interfaces offer distinct access patterns; the self-service interface is free for end users.
• Service workflows: Problem and change management, recurring tickets, planning, custom forms, approvals, and SLA management suit organizations that need structured service operations rather than ticket tracking alone.
• Inventory and knowledge: Broad asset coverage is paired with a knowledge base, reports, reservations, and saved searches, useful when service teams need to connect support work with managed resources and reference material.
• Identity and integrations: The integrations catalog includes Azure/Entra ID, Google SSO, GLPI Inventory, webhooks, Active Directory, CAS, and an API integration. Authentication can use LDAP, mail servers, CAS, X.509 certificates, or delegated web-server authentication.

Pricing

GLPI offers a free on-premise deployment with no licensing fees and no cap on users or technicians. Organizations still need an IT team for that route, and paid GLPI Network plans add support and deployment allowances. Public Cloud offers a 45-day trial with no obligation and no credit card required.

• Public Cloud: €19 a month per IT agent, from 1 billed agent. It includes 5 GB disk, 20 MB maximum attachments, shared CPU/RAM, and 97% annual availability. This is the entry cloud option for small teams willing to accept shared resources and the lower availability commitment.
• Private Cloud: €21 a month per IT agent, with a minimum of 25 billed agents. It provides 50 GB disk, 20 MB maximum attachments, dedicated CPU/RAM, and 99% annual availability. The agent minimum makes it a poor fit for small teams, but dedicated resources and the higher availability commitment may suit larger operations.
• Custom: Custom pricing for a cloud offer with custom availability, unlimited disk space, and custom RPO/RTO.
• GLPI Network Basic: €100 a month (excl. VAT), self-hosted, for up to 10 technical staff and 500 assets, with one production and one test instance and unlimited N3 support.
• GLPI Network Standard: €300 a month (excl. VAT), self-hosted, for up to 50 technical staff and 5,000 assets, with two production and two test instances and unlimited N3 support.
• GLPI Network Advanced: €1,000 a month (excl. VAT), self-hosted, for more than 50 technical staff and more than 5,000 assets, with four production and four test instances and unlimited N3 support.
• GLPI Network Enterprise: €4,500 a month (excl. VAT), self-hosted, with unlimited assets and instances, priority N3 support, and three places on official training courses.

The self-hosted Network tiers are differentiated by staff, asset, and instance limits, so growing organizations should weigh those ceilings against the free deployment before choosing paid support. Cloud pricing is per IT agent, while Network prices are monthly and exclude VAT.

Platforms

GLPI supports Android, API, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows, with self-hosting also available. Cloud uses daily public-cloud backups retained for 30 days; private cloud adds hourly incremental backups to daily backups. The cloud security policy says the OVHCloud firewall allows HTTPS only and blocks other protocols before they reach instances. On-premise gives organizations more control but requires their own IT team; cloud is positioned for quicker setup with less maintenance.

Who it's for

GLPI is a strong fit for organizations that want one system for service desk work, change and problem processes, and detailed IT inventory. Teams with formal approvals, SLAs, or multiple asset classes can make use of its breadth. Smaller teams may prefer the no-license-fee on-premise option if they can operate it themselves; organizations prioritizing minimal maintenance can choose cloud, provided its per-agent pricing and, for Private Cloud, 25-agent minimum fit their scale.

It is less compelling for a group that needs only straightforward ticket intake and does not need inventory or service management workflows. Self-hosting is also not the low-effort route: GLPI describes it as suited to organizations with specific security or customization needs and an IT team.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Helpdesk, service workflows, and extensive IT asset coverage sit together, which suits teams managing more than incidents alone.
• Pro: On-premise use has no licensing fees or user and technician limit, giving capable IT teams room to scale without per-user licensing.
• Pro: Public and private cloud choices offer a low agent-count entry point or dedicated resources and a higher availability commitment for larger teams.
• Con: Private Cloud starts at 25 billed agents, excluding smaller organizations even though its per-agent price is close to Public Cloud.
• Con: Public Cloud uses shared CPU/RAM and has a 97% annual availability commitment, a trade-off for teams requiring dedicated resources or the stronger private-cloud commitment.
• Con: Self-hosting shifts operation to the organization, so teams without an IT function may be better served by managed cloud.

Alternatives

For a narrower or differently scaled helpdesk, these alternatives may fit better:

• Desk365 has a free plan capped at 50 tickets per month and a Standard plan at $12 a month billed annually; consider it if that ticket cap and its Android, API, iOS, and web support match your needs.
• iTop offers a free, not-limited Community plan and supports self-hosted deployments across Linux, macOS, web, and Windows; it is worth considering if a free service-management alternative is the priority.
• ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has a Standard plan at $13 a month billed monthly for IT help desk and a Professional plan at $27 a month billed monthly for IT help desk and asset management; consider it if those paid tiers better match the scope you need.
• Genuity Helpdesk has a free Community Plan with unlimited users and use, subject to a $12,000/year gross-sales requirement; choose it only if that condition works for your organization.
• HESK offers a free self-hosted help desk requiring PHP/MySQL hosting; it may suit teams seeking that more focused setup.
• iTop is another free option for teams focused on IT change management.
• Jitbit Helpdesk is a paid helpdesk with a free trial and Android, API, iOS, Linux, self-hosted, web, and Windows support.
• KIX is a freemium helpdesk available on web, iOS, and Android.

Compare GLPI with IT Help Desk Software, IT Incident Management Software, IT Change Management Software, IT Knowledge Base Software, IT Service Catalog Software, and IT SLA Management Software.

Verdict

Choose GLPI if your organization wants helpdesk, ITSM workflows, and substantial asset inventory in one platform, and can either operate a self-hosted system or budget for cloud agents. Its principal advantage is breadth without on-premise licensing fees; look elsewhere if you need only a simple helpdesk or cannot accommodate the cloud agent minimums and self-hosting responsibility.