Helpora

Self-hosted first-response tracking for internal teams: the clock starts when a request arrives and stops only when a human actually answers — and nothing can be closed that was never answered.

The problem it solves

For a self-hosted helpdesk request tracker, small business owners usually land on the big free options — osTicket, FreeScout, Zammad — all capable, all assuming someone will play sysadmin. Helpora is the lighter answer: $69 once, plain PHP on shared hosting, and a desk where the clock starts when a request arrives and stops only when a human actually answers.

Every shared inbox becomes the same thing: a queue nobody can measure. Somebody says response times are fine, somebody else says nothing gets answered, and there is no number either of them can point at.

The number that matters is narrow — how long until a person actually replied — and it is the one a shared mailbox cannot produce.

• A mailbox where "answered" means somebody read it
• Help-desk platforms at per-agent-per-month, for an internal queue of four people
• Reports built from a status field that anybody can set to whatever makes the month look better

Every feature

• One writer for the first-response stamp. Exactly one UPDATE sets it, guarded by WHERE first_response_at IS NULL. A second reply cannot move it, an import cannot backdate it, and the agent tool goes through the same door as the screen.
• You cannot settle what was never answered. Closing a request nobody replied to is refused, and the refusal says why. It is the single rule that stops a queue being tidied into a good-looking report.
• Targets counted in WORKING hours. A request that arrives at 16:00 on Friday is not four hours late by Monday morning. The clock knows your hours and your holidays, because a target measured in wall-clock hours is a target nobody trusts.
• One pause, and it ends by itself. Waiting on the requester is the only thing that stops the clock, and it resumes automatically the moment they reply. There is no manual hold that quietly makes every breach disappear.
• Deadlines only ever move later. Re-prioritizing can extend a target; it cannot pull it in retrospectively to make a breach vanish. Every move is on the record.
• Stats that separate never-answered from breached. A request nobody has touched is not a slow one — it is a different failure, and it is reported as its own number rather than averaged into a percentage.
• An agent surface that cannot cheat. A read-scoped API key does not merely get refused the write tools: it never SEES them, so an assistant does not propose settling forty unanswered requests in the first place.
• Saved replies. The answers your desk gives every week, one pick away, with the reference and your name filled in.
• "Did it help?". One click once a request is settled; the share who said yes, per queue, on your dashboard.
• Help articles. Colleagues find the answer before they ask: the request form suggests matching articles as they type.
• Colleagues sign in with your own sign-in. Entra ID, Google Workspace, Okta or any OpenID Connect provider: they see every request they have sent under "My requests", with no reference or passphrase to keep. Off until you switch it on; the passphrase path stays for everyone else.
• Your desk in Slack or Teams. A new request, a first reply or a settled request can post one line to a Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat or Discord channel: the reference and a link for the desk, never the subject or who asked.
• A request form spam cannot flood. Robots that fill a hidden box are turned away, and one connection can send only so many requests in ten minutes, a ceiling you set. Colleagues are never asked to prove anything.
• Updates from inside the app. The Updates page installs a new release with your license key: Ownware's signature is checked, a backup is taken first, and the app puts the previous version back by itself if the update is interrupted or the database step or start-up check of the new version fails. It never checks by itself.
• Backups by themselves. Automatic backups, an optional copy to S3-compatible storage you own, and a weekly check that the latest backup reads back. The Health page names anything that needs attention.
• Own It 4.0.1 — fixes and an up-to-date manual. For Helpora, 4.0.1 fixes an installer that had lost its styling, a rollback that a page opened during an update could stop and a command-line update that ended in an error after putting the previous version back. Its manual, FAQ and QUICKSTART now cover everything 4.0 added, including two Nginx rules that keep the data folder private. Your license covers it: press Check for updates on the Updates page, or download it from your order page.
• Own It 4.0.2 — the installer opens on every host. For Helpora, 4.0.2 fixes a fresh install on an Apache host: the one-page setup at /install/ looped back to itself and never opened, and now it opens. Helpora's Docker image also gives the web server the whole app folder, so a Docker install can finish and update itself. Your license covers it: press Check for updates on the Updates page, or download it from your order page.

Release notes in full

• Own It 4.1: client installations and your other tools. For Helpora, 4.1 makes two changes that every app gets. An Extended license bought from October 4, 2026 covers up to ten client installations, one per client project: hand each one over to the client or host it for them, with the client's logo and colors from the app's branding settings. The API reference now shows how to connect Helpora to Zapier, Make or n8n, using its own webhooks and API key. Your license covers the update: press Check for updates on the Updates page, or download it from your order page.
• Own It 4.0: it updates and backs itself up. For Helpora, 4.0 means updates from inside the app: the Updates page checks for a new release with your license key, verifies Ownware's signature, takes a backup and puts the previous version back by itself if the update is interrupted or the database step or start-up check of the new version fails. A new install can start with a sample business and remove it in one click; backups run by themselves, with an optional offsite copy and a weekly check that the latest one reads back; and the Health page says whether the install is looking after itself.
• Own It 3.3: the desk in your chat. For Helpora, 3.3 brings the desk into your team's chat: a new request, a first reply or a settled request can post one line to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat or Discord, never the subject or who asked. The request form also turns away robots and floods without asking colleagues to prove anything.
• Own It 3.2: colleagues sign in with your own sign-in. For Helpora, 3.2 let colleagues sign in with your organization's own sign-in and see every request they have filed in one place. Agents gained saved replies, requesters can say whether a settled request helped, and help articles are suggested as someone types their request.
• Own It 3.1: it writes to the people you serve. Helpora was built after the 3.1 wave, so it shipped with its outbound paths in place: the desk is emailed about new requests, and from 1.0.3 the requester can be emailed when you reply or settle — both through your own SMTP, off until you switch them on.