FreeScout is a lean open-source help desk built on PHP. The core is free with no agent limits; further features are bought as modules. If your team mainly answers emails, it serves you well. The-Y CRM is for teams whose customers come in via WhatsApp, phone and email at the same time – with a built-in phone system and CRM in one tool.
FreeScout is an email help desk you extend with modules; phone calls are logged there by hand. The-Y CRM is the phone system – together with an inbox for every channel, contacts, deals and invoices.
I'm Thomas Nuri Yilmaz, Head of IT at Dove Touristik and founder of The-Y. In 2024 I faced exactly this question: I was looking for a ticketing system, tested osTicket, then Zammad, and found Chatwoot while searching for a respond.io alternative. I ran Zammad, Chatwoot and n8n myself. What I was missing was everything in one place: WhatsApp, phone and email in one inbox, with a phone system of its own. Today we at The-Y no longer work with any of these tools – we work with The-Y CRM.
FreeScout according to its official website, module pages and GitHub, accessed 10 Oct 2026 (sources below). Module prices are one-time purchases per instance, shown in US dollars and in euros as freescout.net displays them in Austria; FreeScout doesn't state whether the euro prices include VAT. Details on The-Y CRM as of version 1.1.24 (11 Oct 2026) – new features include finance up to the export for your tax advisor (no tax advice), Facebook and Instagram posts with a content calendar, answering comments, WhatsApp templates with a preview and installing it as an app on your phone (no push notifications yet).
On the licence, FreeScout is cheaper. The difference lies in the phone system, the WhatsApp connection and the CRM. With every tool, you pay Meta's WhatsApp fees and your call minutes to the respective provider; The-Y adds no markup. Since 1 Oct 2026 Meta also charges for replies within the 24-hour window; the first 1,000 per number per month are free. Those 1,000 are Meta's free allowance – not to be confused with the limit of The-Y Free (1,000 outgoing messages per month across all channels). With FreeScout, WhatsApp also needs an account with 1msg.io or Twilio. All the details, with a calculator for every country: What The-Y CRM really costs. For up to 3 people, The-Y Free (€0) is enough – in our cloud or self-hosted with a free key.
Write to us. We get the server, install The-Y CRM and keep it up to date. You pay the licence and the server costs 1:1, exactly as they are billed – no markup, no service fee.
Server guide price: about €8–15 net per month (e.g. netcup VPS 500 or 1000, see the costs page). We do this case by case until there's a ready-made hosting package.
Like it? Then move to your own server – free with a free key (same limits as Free) or without limits with the self-hosting licence (guide, server requirements) – or let us do it for you.
No. The-Y CRM is not open source. Your data belongs to you and can be exported at any time; WhatsApp, phone, SMS and AI run through your own accounts – no vendor lock-in.
Yes, with Docker on your own server – in two ways: free with a free key (created in the app after sign-up; the same limits as Free: 3 users, 1,000 outgoing messages across all channels and 200 outgoing call minutes per month, 2 GB; no support, feedback during the Alpha is welcome) or without usage limits with the self-hosting licence for €10 a month or €240 one-time (during Alpha and Beta; from the Live release €20 or €480). The €10 and the €240 get you the same licence – one as a subscription, the other perpetual.
If you mainly answer emails, FreeScout is a good choice. The-Y CRM pays off when you're on the phone: the phone system with IVR, queues and voicemail is built in – in FreeScout, calls are logged by hand. On top of that you get WhatsApp directly via Meta instead of via 1msg.io or Twilio, plus deals, invoices and appointments without add-on modules.
Yes. If you already use the WhatsApp Business app, you can keep it: The-Y CRM connects the number via Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform as well, replies you send from your phone also appear in the CRM, and up to 180 days of history are imported. If the number runs in the personal WhatsApp app, you first switch it to the WhatsApp Business app or release it from WhatsApp – that's Meta's rule for the Business Platform and applies just the same with Zammad, Chatwoot or Twilio. The number stays yours.
Then all self-hosted installations – with a free key, a monthly licence or a lifetime licence – first get a final update that removes the licence check and all usage limits. After that they keep running for free, without limits and indefinitely; your data is on your server anyway. This is also in our Terms of Use. If you use Free in our cloud, you can export your data at any time.
Only for the licence check: the installation regularly checks its licence key online with our licence server. If the server can't be reached, it keeps running normally for 14 days, then read-only until the check works again. Your data stays on your server. This is also in our Terms of Use.
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FreeScout is a trademark of its respective owner. This comparison is independent and made to the best of our knowledge; please report errors to office@the-y.at and we'll correct them right away.