Issue tracking tools sit close to daily operations: bugs, support requests, project work, and service commitments all end up there. This May 2026 ToolVitals view uses the supplied health, shipping, openness, license, GitHub stars, and ToolVitals score data to compare open/source-visible options without treating every repository as equally maintained.
The ranking includes only tools with visible source or open licensing signals, then sorts by ToolVitals score first. GitHub stars are used only as a secondary popularity signal, so a widely starred project with weak recent health or shipping signals can still rank below a smaller tool that appears more actively maintained.
Rankings
| Rank | Tool | Openness | License | Health | Shipping | GitHub Stars | Score | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frappe Helpdesk | OSI-approved OSS | AGPL-3.0 | 87 | 95 | 3150 | 92 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 2 | Request Tracker | OSI-approved OSS | GPL-2.0 | 72 | 59 | 1111 | 73 | 🟢 Good |
| 3 | FlowInquiry | OSI-approved OSS | AGPL-3.0 | 51 | 30 | 124 | 54 | 🟡 Fair |
| 4 | Tegon | OSI-approved OSS | AGPL-3.0 | 36 | 0 | 1901 | 34 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 5 | Papercups | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 31 | 0 | 6034 | 32 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 6 | Yona | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 28 | 0 | 500 | 30 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
Top 3 Highlights
Frappe Helpdesk ranks first with a ToolVitals score of 92, the strongest health score in the group at 87, and the strongest shipping score at 95. It is labeled OSI-approved OSS with an AGPL-3.0 license_label, has no listed pricing scope, and has 3,150 GitHub stars. The combination of high health and shipping scores is what makes it stand out here, not just popularity.
Request Tracker ranks second with a ToolVitals score of 73 and a 🟢 Good status. Its health score is 72 and shipping score is 59, which puts it clearly behind Frappe Helpdesk but ahead of the lower-scoring tools in this set. It is labeled OSI-approved OSS with a GPL-2.0 license_label and has 1,111 GitHub stars.
FlowInquiry ranks third with a ToolVitals score of 54 and a 🟡 Fair status. It combines project management, ticket tracking, workflow automation, and SLA monitoring, but the supplied scores show a more modest current profile: 51 for health and 30 for shipping. It is labeled OSI-approved OSS with an AGPL-3.0 license_label and has 124 GitHub stars.
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