Open-source customer support platform for email-first teams
A self-hosted alternative to Intercom, Zendesk, and Help Scout
Features • Quick Start • Deployment • API & Webhooks • Managed Services • Contributing
Most customer support tools are expensive, complex, and overkill for small teams. Support Inbox is different:
- Free & Open Source — No per-seat pricing, no feature gates
- Email-First — Works with your existing inbox (Gmail, Outlook, any IMAP/SMTP)
- Lightweight — Runs on ~100-200MB RAM, perfect for a $5/month VPS
- Self-Hosted — Your data stays on your servers
- Modern Stack — React, TypeScript, Tailwind, real-time updates
Turn your support email into a powerful shared inbox. Customers email you normally, agents respond through a beautiful interface.
See new tickets instantly. Know when teammates are viewing the same ticket. No more page refreshing.
Compose professional responses with formatting, lists, code blocks, and more. Auto-saving drafts ensure you never lose work.
- Status tracking — New, Open, Awaiting Customer, Resolved
- Priority levels — Low, Normal, High, Urgent
- Assignment — Clear ownership for every conversation
- Tags — Organize and filter tickets your way
Add private notes that customers never see. Perfect for team handoffs and context sharing.
Upload files with replies. Supports local storage or AWS S3 for cloud hosting.
- Webhooks for automation (n8n, Zapier, Make.com)
- REST API for custom integrations
- AI-ready — Bring your own AI for response suggestions
Display rich customer information alongside every conversation. Connect to your ERP, CRM, or any data source to show order history, account details, subscription status, and more.
Need help integrating? Blue Leaf LLC builds custom integrations to pull data from your existing systems.
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bookatechie/support-inbox.git
cd support-inbox
# Install dependencies
npm install
cd src/client && npm install && cd ../..
# Configure your environment
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your email credentials (IMAP/SMTP)
# Start development servers
npm run dev # Backend (Terminal 1)
npm run dev:client # Frontend (Terminal 2)
# Open http://localhost:3000Default login: [email protected] / admin123 (configure in .env before first run)
npm run build
npm start
# Available at http://localhost:3001Deploy to any Node.js-compatible platform:
- DigitalOcean App Platform — Connect your repo, auto-deploy on push
- Railway — Zero-config Node.js hosting
- Render — Free tier available for small teams
- Fly.io — Edge deployment with global distribution
- Any VPS — Ubuntu/Debian with Node.js 20+
For the PostgreSQL database, we recommend DigitalOcean Managed Databases — automatic backups, scaling, and maintenance-free operation starting at $15/month.
Want us to handle deployment? Blue Leaf LLC provides fully managed hosting with security hardening, automatic backups, and ongoing maintenance.
[Unit]
Description=Support Inbox
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/support-inbox
ExecStart=/usr/bin/npm start
Restart=always
Environment="NODE_ENV=production"
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.targetGenerate a secure API key and add it to your .env file:
# Generate a secure key
openssl rand -base64 32
# Add to .env
INTERNAL_API_KEY=your-generated-key-hereThen authenticate requests with the X-API-Key header:
# Create a ticket
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/tickets \
-H "X-API-Key: your-api-key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"subject": "Hello", "customer_email": "[email protected]", "message_body": "Hi there"}'Configure WEBHOOK_URL to receive events:
new_ticket— New ticket createdcustomer_reply— Customer repliednew_reply— Agent repliedticket_update— Status/priority/assignee changed
Build powerful automations with n8n, Zapier, or custom scripts.
Need automation expertise? Blue Leaf LLC builds custom workflows for auto-assignment, intelligent tagging, priority detection, and automated draft generation.
Works with any IMAP/SMTP provider:
| Provider | Status |
|---|---|
| Gmail | ✅ Supported (app passwords) |
| Microsoft 365 / Outlook | ✅ Supported |
| Dreamhost / cPanel | ✅ Supported |
| ProtonMail Bridge | ✅ Supported |
| FastMail | ✅ Supported |
| Any IMAP/SMTP | ✅ Supported |
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend | Node.js, Fastify, TypeScript |
| Database | PostgreSQL |
| Frontend | React 19, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui |
| Real-Time | Server-Sent Events (SSE) |
| Nodemailer (SMTP), imap-simple (IMAP) |
Don't want to manage infrastructure yourself? Blue Leaf LLC offers complete Support Inbox implementation and hosting:
- Secure cloud deployment with SSL and backups
- Managed PostgreSQL database
- Ongoing maintenance and security updates
- 99.9% uptime SLA
- Connect to your FAQ and knowledge base for intelligent draft suggestions
- Customer context-aware responses using your CRM/ERP data
- Sentiment analysis and tone recommendations
- Works with OpenAI, Claude, or your preferred AI provider
- Auto-assignment rules based on ticket content, customer tier, or workload
- Intelligent tagging and categorization
- Priority detection for urgent issues
- Automated draft generation for common inquiries
- ERP/CRM data in the customer sidebar (order history, account status, etc.)
- Slack/Teams notifications for new tickets
- Two-way sync with your existing tools
- Custom API development
Is this production-ready? Currently in active development. Core features work well, but expect updates.
Do I need a separate database? Yes, PostgreSQL is required. We recommend managed database services (like DigitalOcean Managed Databases) for automatic backups and maintenance-free operation.
How do I backup my data?
Back up your PostgreSQL database and the data/ folder (for local attachments).
How much does it cost? Free and open source. Your only costs are hosting and email provider.
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
Built for teams who value simplicity and ownership.