OTRS

What OTRS does

OTRS AG is a German software company headquartered in Oberursel that develops and sells a modular service management platform serving IT service management (ITSM), customer service/help desk, enterprise service management (HR, office operations), and corporate security/cyber defense use cases. The horizontally positioned platform is built around a configurable ticketing and workflow engine offering ITIL-aligned process management, a CMDB, business process management (BPMS), knowledge management, and time tracking. It is delivered as either a fully managed SaaS environment (hosted on Hetzner, OVH, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure under ISO 27001 / BSI C5 controls) or as an on-premise deployment, with a free open-source ((OTRS)) Community Edition serving as an evaluation and top-of-funnel entry point. Named customers are predominantly German mid-market and public-sector organizations (LaSuB, SIEVERS-GROUP, ecotel, DLRG, Avendoo) running ticket volumes of roughly 1,100–7,000 per month across 7–218 agents.

The company monetizes through three streams: recurring subscription revenue for managed SaaS, one-time/perpetual on-premise licenses, and professional services (consulting, implementation, and training via OTRS Consulting and OTRS Academy). Pricing is quote-based and undisclosed, billed annually for SaaS and on multi-year contracts for on-premise. Go-to-market is primarily sales-led enterprise field sales supplemented by a global channel-partner network (with a Partner Locator and partner training) and self-serve free trials plus the Community Edition download. Recent product surface additions include STORM (cyber defense/SOC operations) and OTRS Pulse AI, an add-on delivering ticket summarization, AI-assisted routing, and knowledge retrieval.

OTRS AG is privately held and operates as a German Aktiengesellschaft with a two-tier governance structure: a Management Board and a Supervisory Board chaired by Patrice Barbedette. Source data is internally inconsistent on leadership (variously naming Andre Mindermann as CEO/co-founder and Muriel Gellf as Chairwoman of the Management Board) and on founding date (2003 origin vs. 2018 AG registration). The company maintains offices in Germany and Cupertino, California, localized sites across seven European and Latin American languages, and multi-jurisdiction data-protection compliance (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, LGPD, PDPA).

Name

OTRS

Legal name

OTRS AG

Website

https://otrs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

OTRS AG is a German vendor of a modular service management platform spanning ITSM, customer service/help desk, enterprise service management, and cyber defense (STORM), sold to mid-market and public-sector organizations via SaaS, on-premise licenses, and professional services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oberursel

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. OTRS SaaS / Managed Service: Subscription-based fully managed SaaS deployment of the OTRS platform. Includes hosting, maintenance, security updates, and support. Customers can choose between managed cloud environment or on-premise installation.
2. On-Premise License: Traditional on-premise license model for organizations preferring to host OTRS internally. Requires customer to manage infrastructure, updates, and security.
3. Professional Services: Consulting, implementation, and training services through OTRS Consulting and OTRS Academy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

OTRS is a flexible and customizable service management platform that provides ticketing, workflow automation, business process management, and security incident management capabilities. It is available as fully-managed SaaS, on-premise license, or free ((OTRS)) Community Edition, and addresses ITSM, customer service, corporate security, and enterprise service management use cases.

Product overview

OTRS offers a modular service management platform comprising the core OTRS software alongside purpose-built solution modules and add-on capabilities. The core OTRS platform provides ticketing, workflow automation, and process management, which is available as both a commercial managed solution and a free ((OTRS)) Community Edition. Purpose-built solutions apply this system to specific use cases: Help Desk and Customer Service & Support for support organizations, IT Service Management (ITSM) for IT departments, Office Management and HR Management for enterprise service management, and Cyber Defense – STORM for security operations. Add-on modules including Remote IT Support, Observability, and Artificial Intelligence (OTRS Pulse AI) extend core functionality with specialized capabilities. The platform supports both on-premise deployment and fully-managed SaaS operation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OTRS: The core flexible and customizable service management platform for IT Service Management, customer service, and enterprise service management.
• ((OTRS)) Community Edition
• OTRS Pulse AI
• STORM

Products and services

• OTRS (Service Management Platform) Flexible and customizable service management platform providing ticketing, workflow automation, and process management for IT service management, customer service, and corporate security operations. Available as a commercial managed SaaS or on-premise license for organizations of any size.
• ((OTRS)) Community Edition Free, open-source version of the OTRS platform providing core service management functionality. Community-supported with no commercial SLA or managed hosting included, intended for evaluation and small-scale use.
• Help Desk Purpose-built help desk solution keeping service at the center, enabling teams to manage inbound requests, track issues, and deliver timely customer support.
• Customer Service & Support Comprehensive customer service and support solution designed to ignite customer connections through multi-channel ticket management and automated workflows.
• IT Service Management (ITSM) ITSM solution delivering ITIL-aligned processes for IT organizations, enabling better IT landscape management with standardized workflows and incident, problem, and change management.
• Office Management Enterprise Service Management module extending service management best practices beyond IT to office operations, keeping organizational processes in motion.
• HR Management Human resources service management solution supporting HR processes such as leave management and employee onboarding, keeping the organization alive through automated HR workflows.
• Cyber Defense – STORM Security operations and cyber defense solution (STORM) providing tools for vulnerability management, security incident response, and SOC operations to defend the digital enterprise.
• Remote IT Support Remote support capabilities enabling IT teams to provide assistance and troubleshooting to end-users without physical presence, part of the OTRS software solutions portfolio.
• Observability IT observability module providing monitoring and visibility into IT infrastructure, services, and applications to support proactive management and incident detection.
• Artificial Intelligence (OTRS Pulse AI) AI-powered capabilities including ticket summarization, intelligent routing, and knowledge retrieval to enhance service management efficiency and reduce agent workload.

Quantifiable outcome

• Significant time savings reported by LaSuB (State Office for School and Education) compared to pre-OTRS ticketing system
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• OTRS Partner NetworkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal network of local partners providing implementation, customization, consulting, and support services for OTRS deployments. Partners are trained through OTRS Academy and can be located via the Partner Locator tool on the website.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BMC Helix ITSM: BMC Helix is an established enterprise ITSM and digital service management suite, competing with OTRS in large enterprise ITIL-aligned deployments and increasingly in multi-cloud ITSM.
• ServiceNow: ServiceNow is the dominant cloud-native ITSM, ESM, and workflow platform, competing head-on with OTRS in incident, problem, change, and customer service management while extending into security operations, HR, and custom workflows.

Direct peers

• Ivanti (Ivanti Neurons for ITSM / HEAT): Ivanti offers enterprise ITSM, IT asset management, and service desk software that directly competes with OTRS in mid-market and enterprise ITSM deployments.
• Atlassian (Jira Service Management): Atlassian's Jira Service Management is a leading ITSM and service desk solution targeting IT and business teams, directly competing with OTRS on ticketing, asset management, and DevOps-aligned service workflows.
• TOPdesk: TOPdesk is a European-based ITSM and service management vendor with comparable size and customer base to OTRS, often competing in DACH public sector and education markets alongside OTRS.
• Freshworks (Freshservice): Freshservice is Freshworks' cloud-native ITSM and IT asset management product aimed at mid-market and enterprise customers, directly overlapping OTRS's ITSM and help desk offerings.
• Zendesk: Zendesk is a leading customer service and support ticketing platform; its employee service/customer service suite overlaps directly with OTRS's Customer Service & Support and HR Management modules.
• SysAid: SysAid provides ITSM and service desk software with both cloud and on-premise options, directly competing with OTRS in mid-market ITSM and increasingly in AI-augmented service management.
• ManageEngine (Zoho): ManageEngine offers ServiceDesk Plus, a direct on-premise and cloud ITSM competitor to OTRS, particularly strong in mid-market and SMB deployments with ITIL-aligned features.
• SolarWinds Service Desk: SolarWinds Service Desk (formerly Samanage) is an ITSM and asset management platform aimed at mid-market customers, overlapping directly with OTRS's ITSM and CMDB use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OTRSGroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/OTRSGroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/OTRSGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/otrs-ag
• Instagraminstagram.com/otrs_group
• TikToktiktok.com/@otrs_group

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OTRS