Snipe-IT vs GLPI vs Freshservice: IT Asset Management for a Small Business
Once a small IT team passes about 15-20 devices, “which laptop has which license, and when does the warranty run out” stops being a spreadsheet question. IT asset management (ITAM) software exists specifically for that: a system of record for hardware, software licenses, consumables, and accessories, distinct from remote monitoring and patching tools like Tactical RMM or NinjaOne — ITAM answers “what do we own and who has it,” RMM answers “is it healthy and patched.” Snipe-IT and GLPI are the two free, self-hosted options that come up most often; Freshservice is the polished hosted alternative most teams compare them against.
Quick take
- Want a fully free, self-hosted tool that does asset tracking only, with the lightest learning curve: Snipe-IT
- Want free self-hosted software but a full ITSM suite (tickets, asset discovery agents, more) and don’t mind more setup complexity: GLPI
- Want a polished hosted tool with proper ticketing/SLA workflows and don’t want to run any infrastructure: Freshservice
The three options
Snipe-IT is AGPL-3.0-licensed open-source software, self-hostable at no cost with no artificial cap on users or assets — its entire job is tracking hardware assets, software licenses, consumables, and accessories with check-in/check-out history, QR/barcode labels, and warranty/depreciation tracking. It deliberately doesn’t try to be a helpdesk or ticketing system, which keeps it simple to learn but means you’ll want something else (like Zammad or FreeScout, covered here) if you also need support tickets. Snipe-IT also sells hosted plans if you’d rather not self-host: Basic at $39.99/month ($399.99/year), Small Business at $99.99/month ($999.99/year), and Dedicated at $249.99/month ($2,499.99/year) — all three include unlimited users and assets, differing mainly in API rate limits, support level, and dedicated resources.
GLPI (“Gestionnaire Libre de Parc Informatique”) is GPL-3.0-licensed open-source software and, unlike Snipe-IT, a full ITSM suite: asset inventory (with an optional agent for automated network discovery), a service desk with ticketing, problem/change management, and software license auditing, all in the free self-hosted core. That breadth is also the trade-off — GLPI has a real learning curve and heavier setup than Snipe-IT if all you actually need is asset tracking. GLPI’s publisher, Teclib, also sells GLPI Network add-ons for teams that want cloud hosting or a support contract without giving up the open-source core: cloud hosting runs €19/IT-agent/month (public cloud, 1-agent minimum) or €21/IT-agent/month (private cloud, 25-agent minimum), and self-hosted support subscriptions run €100/month (Basic, up to 10 agents/500 assets) up to €1,000/month (Advanced, 50+ agents/5,000+ assets) — none of this is required to run the free software yourself.
Freshservice is hosted-only SaaS ITSM from Freshworks, and the most polished of the three, with asset management as one module inside a broader ticketing/service-desk product. Plans run Starter at $19/agent/month, Growth at $49/agent/month, Pro at $99/agent/month (plus an optional Freddy AI Copilot add-on at $29/agent/month), and custom-priced Enterprise. Asset tracking specifically is metered separately via “Asset Units” (AUs) — different asset types consume different unit counts (a desktop or mobile device is 1 AU, a server or network device is 4 AU) — sold in packs of roughly $125/month per 500 AUs per third-party cost breakdowns, since Freshworks’ own pricing page doesn’t list a per-AU rate directly. That’s on top of the per-agent plan cost, so budget for both when comparing to the two free self-hosted options.
Cost compared (2026)
| Snipe-IT (self-hosted) | GLPI (self-hosted) | Freshservice | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core software | Free (AGPL-3.0), unlimited users/assets | Free (GPL-3.0), unlimited users/assets | None — SaaS-only |
| Scope | Asset/license/consumable tracking only | Full ITSM: assets + tickets + more | Full ITSM: assets + tickets + more |
| Entry cost | Free; hosted Basic $39.99/mo if you’d rather not self-host | Free; cloud hosting from €19/agent/mo if you’d rather not self-host | Starter: $19/agent/month |
| Asset-tracking add-on | Included, no metering | Included, no metering | Asset Units billed separately, ~$125/mo per 500 AUs (third-party estimate) |
| Support option | Community (free) or hosted-plan support | Self-hosted Network support contracts from €100/mo | Included in per-agent plan |
For a small IT team, both Snipe-IT and GLPI are free at the software layer, same pattern as Zammad and FreeScout versus Zendesk — the real cost is server/admin time, not license fees. Freshservice’s per-agent-plus-per-Asset-Unit pricing adds up fast for a team tracking a large device fleet on a small headcount.
Which one should you actually pick?
- Just need to know what hardware/licenses exist and who has them, nothing else: Snipe-IT — it’s the narrowest tool of the three and the fastest to learn.
- Want a free, self-hosted system that also handles support tickets and don’t mind a heavier stack: GLPI — closer in weight to running Gitea or GLPI’s own agent-based discovery than to Snipe-IT’s simplicity.
- Don’t want to run any infrastructure and value polished ticketing/SLA workflows over cost: Freshservice — budget $19+/agent/month plus Asset Unit costs once you enable ITAM.
- Already run Tactical RMM or NinjaOne for patching/monitoring: ITAM is complementary, not a replacement — RMM tells you a device is online and patched, ITAM tells you who owns it and when the warranty expires. See Tactical RMM vs NinjaOne vs Fleet.
- Self-hosting either Snipe-IT or GLPI: both run comfortably on a small VPS or a spare mini PC — see Hetzner vs DigitalOcean vs Vultr if you don’t already have a box for it.
VPS/hosting referral placeholder — swap for a real hosting/VPS affiliate link once a program is confirmed, for readers self-hosting Snipe-IT or GLPI on a VPS rather than existing hardware.
Bottom line
Snipe-IT and GLPI are both genuinely free, self-hosted ways to stop tracking assets in a spreadsheet, splitting mainly on scope: Snipe-IT does asset tracking well and nothing else, GLPI is a heavier full ITSM suite that happens to include asset tracking. Freshservice remains the right call for teams that want a polished hosted tool with real ticketing workflows and are willing to pay per agent plus metered Asset Units for it.