GLPI (Gestionnaire Libre de Parc Informatique) is the world's most widely used open source ITSM and asset management platform, with more than 500,000 organizations running it in production. In this guide, we explain everything you need to know to decide whether GLPI is the right tool for your operation.
What is GLPI?
GLPI is a web application for IT Service Management (ITSM), asset management and service desk. It centralizes ticket management, hardware and software inventory, contracts, suppliers, knowledge base and projects in a single platform.
Created in 2003 by the French open source community, it is now maintained by Teclib and a global community of developers. The latest version is GLPI 11, released in 2025 with a modernized interface and native forms.
What is GLPI used for?
GLPI solves five major challenges for IT teams:
1. Service Desk and Help Desk
Centralizes the opening, tracking and resolution of tickets (incidents and requests). Includes SLA/OLA, automatic assignment rules, approvals, satisfaction surveys and email notifications.
2. Asset Management (CMDB)
Inventories computers, monitors, printers, network devices and software. The GLPI Agent (native inventory from GLPI 10 onwards) automatically collects information via an agent installed on the devices.
3. Contracts and Suppliers
Records support contracts, warranties, software licenses and suppliers, with expiry alerts and direct links to covered assets.
4. Knowledge Base
Documents solutions, procedures and FAQs accessible to technicians and (optionally) end users. Reduces resolution time and the volume of repetitive tickets.
5. Projects and Tasks
Manages IT projects with task control, deadlines, costs and teams. Allows tickets to be linked to projects for full traceability.
How much does GLPI cost?
The open source GLPI is 100% free. You download it, install it on your server and use it with no limits on users, tickets or assets. The costs involved are:
- Infrastructure: a Linux server with Apache/Nginx, PHP and MariaDB/MySQL. A VPS costing R$ 50-100/month handles most operations.
- Labor: installation, configuration and maintenance. If your team has Linux knowledge, the cost is zero.
- Plugins (optional): most community plugins are free. Commercial plugins such as those from NexTool offer advanced features at accessible pricing.
Teclib also offers a GLPI Cloud (SaaS) version starting at €19/agent/month. For comparison, ServiceNow starts at ~$100/agent/month and Jira Service Management at ~$20/agent/month.
GLPI 10 vs GLPI 11: what changed?
GLPI 11 brought significant changes compared to GLPI 10:
- Modernized interface: responsive design with Symfony and Twig framework (replacing procedural PHP).
- Native forms: the GLPI 11 core incorporated customizable forms, reducing dependency on the FormCreator plugin.
- Custom objects: creation of custom object types without a plugin (functionality previously exclusive to GenericObject).
- Native webhooks: basic webhook support for integration with external systems.
- Performance: improvements in page loading and memory usage.
Who uses GLPI?
GLPI is used by organizations of all sizes and industries:
- Government and public sector: universities, municipalities, courts and armed forces.
- Healthcare: hospitals and clinic networks that need asset traceability and compliance.
- Industry: factories with distributed asset management across multiple plants.
- Telecommunications: operators with thousands of network assets.
- Education: schools and universities with limited IT tool budgets.
How do I install GLPI?
GLPI can be installed in two ways:
Via Docker (recommended)
The fastest and most reproducible method. With Docker Compose, you bring up GLPI + MariaDB in minutes. See our guide to installing GLPI 11 on Docker.
Via Linux (manual installation)
Traditional installation on Debian, Ubuntu, AlmaLinux or RHEL with Apache/Nginx, PHP 8.1+ and MariaDB 10.5+. See our Linux installation guide.
How do I expand GLPI?
GLPI has a plugin ecosystem that adds features to the core. There are two approaches:
- Community plugins: hundreds of free plugins available on the official marketplace.
- NexTool: a modular platform that centralizes more than 25 modules in a single plugin, without dependency conflicts. Learn more.
See our complete guide to the 50 best plugins and modules for GLPI.
Next step
If you are evaluating GLPI for your operation, start by installing it in a test environment. With Docker, the process takes less than 10 minutes. From there, configure categories, groups, rules and SLAs according to your needs.
Need help? Talk to the NexTool team for implementation consulting.
