Request Tracker (RT) is an enterprise-grade ticket and issue tracking system designed to help organizations coordinate work, resolve requests, and maintain a record of ongoing activities. It is used for customer support, IT service management, operational tasks, incident response, and other workflows where requests must be assigned and followed through to completion.
RT provides a central record of correspondence, decisions, and changes associated with each ticket. Support teams can work through a web interface or use email to manage requests, while administrators can configure queues and workflows to suit their organization.
The application is particularly useful where accountability, detailed audit histories, and flexible access controls are important.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Organizes tickets into queues for different departments, teams, or service functions.
- Tracks ticket ownership, status, priority, deadlines, and relationships between requests.
- Email integration supports creating tickets, replying to requests, and maintaining conversation histories.
- Automatic responses and configurable notification rules keep participants informed.
- Scrips and lifecycle configurations automate ticket processing and state transitions.
- Custom fields capture information specific to an organization’s support processes.
- Dashboards and saved searches provide personalized views of outstanding work.
- Ticket relationship graphs illustrate dependencies and connections between requests.
- Role-based access controls define user, group, and queue permissions.
- Supports service level agreements, escalation rules, and time tracking.
- Knowledge management facilities help support staff reuse established solutions.
- Rich-text correspondence with file attachments and internal comments.
- Search and reporting tools help identify unresolved issues and analyse service activity.
- REST interfaces allow integration with external applications and administrative tools.
- Authentication can be integrated with existing organizational identity systems.
- Extensible architecture supports custom ticket workflows and additional functionality.
Website: docs.bestpractical.com/rt/6.0.1/index.html
Support:
Developer: Best Practical Solutions, LLC
License: GNU General Public License v2.0

RT is written in Perl. Learn Perl with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Customer Service Trouble Ticketing Software | |
|---|---|
| Zammad | Web based helpdesk/customer support system with bags of features |
| Request Tracker | Mature enterprise-grade issue tracking system |
| osTicket | Widely-used lightweight support ticket system |
| Roundup | Simple to use and install issue tracking system |
| Libredesk | Self-hosted omnichannel customer support desk |
| FreeScout | Self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox application |
| Frappe Helpdesk | Customer service and ticket management application |
| Znuny | Fork of OTRS |
| OpenSupports | Simple ticketing system |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Issue Tracking Systems | |
|---|---|
| OpenProject | Collaborative project management with planning and tracking |
| Zammad | Web based open source helpdesk/customer support system |
| Plane | Modern project management for issues, cycles, and roadmaps |
| Request Tracker | Mature enterprise-grade issue tracking system |
| MantisBT | Issue tracker implemented in PHP and using MySQL as a database |
| osTicket | Customer support ticket system |
| Fossil | Distributed version control system, bug tracking system and wiki server |
| Bugzilla | Bug Tracking System available through a web interface |
| Roundup | Simple-to-use and install issue-tracking system |
| Trac | Issue tracker implemented in PHP and using MySQL as a database |
| Redmine | Flexible project management web application |
| Flyspray | Simple, web-based bug tracking system written in PHP |
| Znuny | Fork of OTRS |
| Eventum | User friendly and flexible issue tracking system |
| FlowInquiry | Manage tickets, workflows and SLA tracking |
| Pachno | Friendly issue tracking |
| OpenSupports | Simple ticketing system |
| Phorge | Ccmmunity-maintained fork of Phabricator |
| Qisutu | Straightforward ticket management for teams and support workflows |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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