Alternative to Znuny and OTRS
IDA as an alternative to Znuny and OTRS
Many IT service providers have worked with OTRS or its community successor Znuny for years. Both are powerful and highly configurable - but they need hosting and upkeep, and a second system for everything commercial.
Fair play: OTRS and Znuny are proven, very flexible ticket systems with a long history in German-speaking countries.
Znuny / OTRS and IDA compared
| Znuny / OTRS | IDA | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Znuny: from Germany. OTRS: OTRS AG, majority-owned by EasyVista (France) since December 2024 | S³ IT GmbH, Germany |
| Operation | Znuny: self-hosted (open source). OTRS: commercial, cloud or on-premises | Fully operated in Germany, updates and backups included |
| Licence | Znuny open source; OTRS commercial only since 2021 | One subscription, all functions included |
| Pricing model | Znuny: hosting and upkeep in-house. OTRS: packages on request | 29 EUR per named user, 59 EUR per pool licence, public |
| Customisation | Highly configurable, often with custom extensions | Designed for running an IT service business, configurable without code |
| Commercial side | Not included | Quote, invoice including e-invoicing, warehouse, purchasing, banking and accounting export in the same system |
Stated to the best of our knowledge; the vendors current information is what counts.
Details on Znuny / OTRS checked on 6 Oct 2026, based on the vendor's public information.
Which fits whom?
When Znuny / OTRS fits
Znuny or OTRS fit when processes must be modelled very individually, custom extensions exist, or the system has to run in your own data centre.
When IDA is the better choice
IDA fits when running a ticket system should no longer be a core task and case, contract, time and invoice belong together. We take care of updates, security and backups. Security changes need approval from an authorised person at the customer, through a stored channel.
Moving over: Switching: connect mailboxes to IDA, import customers and contracts, set up queues as categories and help topics. The old system stays readable for history.
Questions about IDA as a Znuny / OTRS alternative
What is the difference between OTRS and Znuny?
OTRS discontinued the free Community Edition at the end of 2020 and has only offered its commercial version since. Znuny continues the former Community Edition as open source. OTRS AG has been majority-owned by the French vendor EasyVista since December 2024.
We have many customisations - does that work in IDA?
IDA is tailored to the day-to-day of an IT service provider: categories, SLA per help topic, forms, workflows, templates and permissions can be set up without code. Very special in-house developments are best walked through with us in the demo.
Do we have to host IDA ourselves?
No. IDA runs fully operated in Germany - including updates, backups and monitoring.
What does IDA cost?
29 EUR per named user and 59 EUR per pool licence per month, all functions included, cancellable monthly.
Can I try IDA?
Yes, free for 30 days.