GLPI and iTop compared: tickets, automatic inventory, CMDB and relations between systems. Which fits your company and how to choose.
A comparison based on what matters in a company: requests, asset inventory, relations between systems and the effort to maintain it.
In most companies, IT requests arrive by email, by phone and in the hallway. Things get forgotten, nobody knows how long a fix takes, and after a year it is unclear who has which laptop, when the warranty ends and how many licences are really used.
A ticket and inventory system puts everything in one place. Every request has an owner and a deadline. Every device has a record: who uses it, what software it has, when it was bought.
GLPI is a French open-source project developed by Teclib'. It started as an inventory system and grew into a full helpdesk.
Its strength is a fast start: install the agent on the computers and within hours you have a real inventory.
iTop is also a French open-source project, by Combodo. At its core is a CMDB: a database that describes not only devices but the relations between them.
Automatic inventory in iTop usually comes from an external tool or extension rather than a built-in agent.
| GLPI | iTop | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Faster | Needs more planning |
| Tickets and helpdesk | Yes, convenient for small and medium teams | Yes, more formal ITIL processes |
| Automatic inventory | Built in, through GLPI Agent | Through an external tool or extension |
| Relations between systems | Basic | Detailed, with impact analysis |
| Best for | Companies that want order in requests and inventory | Companies with many servers, services and dependencies |
Answer three questions:
Both systems can be tried on a test server with real data before a final decision.
Measured by a report of open and overdue tickets
How we do it: we set up categories, deadlines and notifications
Measured by an inventory that updates itself from the computers
How we do it: we install an inventory agent on all machines
Measured by a completed checklist in the system for every new person
How we do it: we create templates for joining and leaving
Both are open source and install without a licence fee. The vendors also offer paid cloud versions and support.
Yes. GLPI Agent collects hardware and software data from each computer and sends it to the system.
Yes. Both systems support sign-in through LDAP / Active Directory.
Yes. Both systems accept CSV import. The spreadsheet usually needs cleaning and standardising first.
In most cases GLPI. It gives tickets and automatic inventory with less setup.
We install GLPI or iTop, connect it to your company accounts, start the inventory and train the team. See the service or request a free review.
Head of IT Infrastructure & Security at Network Technology.
