Open the live demo
A running service desk with a worked scenario already in it - queue, SLA pressure, approvals, an outside participant, and role boundaries you can see from both sides. No install, no form, resets nightly.
Try it nowBareBones Ticketing
Self-hosted service desk for governed teams
For teams whose requests live in a shared inbox and a spreadsheet - and who have to prove, later, who approved what. BareBones Ticketing turns that into governed intake, owned tickets, controlled workflows, and an audit trail you did not have to assemble, self-hosted on infrastructure you control.
Each release carries an executed validation package, designated by the validation team; Professional and Lifetime include it as an account download.
Self-hosted control surface
Queue signals, access posture, workflow context, and audit-minded operations.
Evaluate it yourself
Prove it on your own machine
The published manual, the built-in demo dataset, and the no-card trial are designed so a team can evaluate BareBones end to end without a sales motion. The manual's worked example takes an empty installation to a working, auto-assigning service desk — and it has been walked live, every step. Questions along the way go to the BareBones community, which anyone can read; customers on an active license get a Verified Customer badge and a customers-only room there.
Read the manual
The full product manual is published openly: install, configure, use, operate, reference, and a worked example that takes an empty installation to a first working service.
Open the manualSeed the demo dataset
A System Administrator can seed a bounded evaluation dataset - a fictional company with departments, tickets, projects, approvals, and a guided review walkthrough - then purge it completely when the evaluation is done.
How demo data worksStart with a trial key
A 60-day trial key carries enough worker seats to seed the demo dataset and walk the first-working-service example end to end. No card required.
Request a trial keyControl points
- On-prem first and designed for predictable operations.
- Supported 1.0 deployment direction includes Windows Service hosted Kestrel packages and single-node Linux Docker Compose families.
- LDAP and SAML direction with local account fallback where appropriate.
- Bounded external access and workflow approval gates support governed collaboration without exposing full queue or admin access.
- Requirements traceability and release evidence are part of the product discipline.
- Each release carries an executed validation package, designated by the validation team; Professional and Lifetime include it as an account download.
Not claimed today
- That the product alone makes you 21 CFR Part 11 compliant
- That our validation package replaces validation of your own installation and intended use
- That the release satisfies your regulated production requirements out of the box
- Independent security certification
- High availability
- Customer-proven scale
- Universal migration readiness
Capability map
What buyers can evaluate
BareBones Ticketing is for organizations that need ticketing control, audit posture, workflow ownership, bounded collaboration, and deployment choice. It is strongest when a team cares about how the service desk behaves as a controlled system, not only whether it can collect and close tickets.
Capability
BareBones includes
Why it matters
Self-hosted service desk control
On-prem/self-hostable deployment direction, customer-owned operations, and no forced SaaS path for the initial offer.
Fits teams that need service work to stay inside controlled infrastructure and change-management practices.
Service-oriented intake
Department and category scope, service catalog, service-specific request paths, custom fields, and readable ticket references.
Turns ambiguous requests into structured work without making every team use one generic form.
Workflow and approval control
Service workflows, department fallback, status definitions, transition prompts, action-item checks, approval gates, and constrained actions.
Lets routine work stay light while sensitive moves can ask for proof, approval, or extra context.
Scoped operational workspaces
Requester, agent, project, external participant, and admin surfaces are separate, with authorization boundaries enforced by the product.
People see the work they are supposed to handle without broad accidental access to queues or administration.
Project-linked delivery
Project workspaces with staffed roles, role-mapped ticket routing at creation and during workflow moves, project custom fields, and project-scoped access.
Tickets that belong to longer-running work land with the right owner because assignment follows the staffed role, not a name retyped on every ticket.
Service-level agreements
Per-department SLA policies with first-response and resolution targets, business calendars with exceptions, pause-aware timers, and due/warning/breach visibility in the queue.
Deadline pressure is visible where the work happens, measured against your operating calendar rather than wall-clock assumptions.
Bounded external participation
Dedicated external identities, linked-ticket-only access, public replies, external-safe files, and scoped external search.
Vendors, customers, auditors, or partners can participate in the right ticket without becoming internal users.
Evidence and operations posture
Append-only audit posture, ticket chronology, redaction register, controlled reveal approvals, import ledger, diagnostics, and license enforcement surfaces.
Keeps review, troubleshooting, and handoff evidence visible instead of buried in scripts or tribal knowledge.
Product surfaces
Workspaces for governed service work
BareBones Ticketing covers the daily surfaces around requests, catalog intake, queues, project context, bounded external participation, and privileged administration.
Requester workspace
Scoped ticket home base for request status, search, department focus, shared updates, and the next useful action.
Service catalog
Department and category scoped intake with service-specific request paths and guided add-to-ticket actions.
Agent workbench
Saved work views, scoped queue ownership, lane signals, bulk controls, workflow actions, and audit visibility.
Project workspace
Project records connect tickets, departments, workflow state, role staffing, linked work, and operational context.
External participant lane
Bounded external access keeps invited participants inside intentionally shared ticket context, updates, and files.
Admin control hub
Privileged tenant, identity, workflow, SLA, catalog, audit, diagnostics, and operational controls behind admin boundaries.
Product surface
Request lifecycle
How a governed request moves
The product value is the path through the system: intake, authority, workflow, operating signals, evidence capture, and reviewable history stay connected.
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Intake starts with the service
Requesters choose a visible department or service path, answer the service-specific fields that matter, and receive a readable ticket reference.
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Authority is checked before work appears
Requester, agent, project, admin, and external lanes are separate. Visibility comes from mappings the product enforces, not a broad shared workspace.
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The lifecycle resolves predictably
Service workflow comes first when configured, department workflow keeps routine work moving, and product fallback prevents undefined behavior.
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Queues show operating posture
Agents work through saved views, lane signals, owner state, status, filters, SLA warning or breach signals, and scoped candidate sets.
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Sensitive moves can ask for proof
Transition prompts, approval gates, related action-item checks, and constrained workflow actions collect context without turning prompts into authority.
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Evidence stays reviewable
Ticket history, audit events, redaction posture, external-safe exchange, and import provenance remain bounded to the surfaces allowed to review them.
Governed control
Control where service desks get risky
Broad authority, bulk change, outside follow-up, and evidence review are where service work can become hard to explain later. BareBones keeps those control points visible without making every action heavy.
Regulated by design, useful without ceremony
Ordinary teams can use clean service desk flows without making every action heavy. Teams with stricter controls can enable stronger approval, disclosure, external-access, and evidence posture where the work needs it.
Authority stays inside BareBones
LDAP, Active Directory, SAML, and local users can identify people, but product authority still comes through BareBones groups, department access, project roles, SystemAdmin grants, step-up checks, and audited admin changes.
Bounded external collaboration
Invite a vendor, customer, auditor, or partner into the specific ticket context you intentionally share. They do not receive queue, requester, agent, admin, or arbitrary discovery access.
Approval and readiness gates
Sensitive transitions can require selected approvers, regulated approval posture, or completion of related child action items before the move becomes available.
Bulk work starts from a governed view
Operators narrow the queue first, preview the intended change, step up when required, and re-check authority at apply time. Hidden, stale, or no-longer-eligible records fail closed instead of riding along.
Evidence work has a place
Audit review and export, ticket chronology, redaction register, controlled reveal approvals, import preflight, dry run, apply ledger, provenance, and reconciliation are product surfaces rather than hidden scripts.
Launch paths
Evaluate, start small, or buy a license
Trial and Free Edition keys do not require a card. Paid keys appear in your account after payment is verified.
Trial and Free Edition deliver BareBones Ticketing 1.1.0, the current release. Your account shows the exact version with every download.
Before purchase: review commercial terms, procurement basics, the buyer proof path, the self-hosted service desk guide, or worker pricing examples.
60-day trial
No card required
A time-limited key for evaluating fit before purchase.
- 60-day license key
- Self-hosted evaluation path
- Read-only posture after expiry unless a valid key is applied
Free Edition
2-worker self-support
A low-friction license for very small self-hosted use with no support commitments.
- Up to 2 workers or agents
- No card required
- Yearly renewable license key
- No SLA, support, guarantees, migration help, or validation package
- License terms provided with the key before use
Professional
USD 150 per agent/year
Annual paid licensing for governed teams that need self-hosted service desk control.
- 3-Worker public checkout minimum
- One paid worker pool for one or more self-hosted deployment keys
- Annual license-key renewal
- The designated validation package for each release, in your account
- Paid key appears in your account after verified payment
Founding customer path
Lifetime License
USD 20,000 one-time
Limited first-customer licensing for governed teams that want permanent self-hosted BareBones entitlement.
A fixed number of perpetual licenses for the teams that adopt first, offered while 1.0 launches. When the initial-release count is gone, this path closes.
- Perpetual Professional entitlement for BareBones Ticketing
- Unlimited workers across 4 active internal deployment activations
- The designated validation package for each release, in your account
- Future BareBones product features and standard support under the approved Lifetime terms
- No annual renewal
- Issued after verified purchase fulfillment
10 of 10 initial-release opportunities remain
Pricing examples
Estimate the license before checkout
Professional annual list price is USD 150 per worker/year. These examples are before applicable taxes, approved discounts, credits, refunds, implementation services, or separately approved written terms.
Professional annual
10 workers
USD 1,500/year
10 x USD 150 per worker/year
The public checkout minimum is 3 Workers. The paid pool can stay on one deployment key or be allocated across more than one Professional key after purchase.
Professional annual
25 workers
USD 3,750/year
25 x USD 150 per worker/year
A 25-worker purchase keeps one annual renewal date and one paid worker pool. Later worker additions increase that same subscription after paid-invoice confirmation.
Professional annual
100 workers
USD 15,000/year
100 x USD 150 per worker/year
For larger governed deployments, ask before purchase if procurement, rollout planning, implementation scope, or internal approval needs a written answer first.
Self-service when launch gates are open
- Trial key request and Free Edition request.
- Professional annual checkout at or above the public minimum.
- Professional worker additions from the customer account.
- Stripe billing portal for invoices, receipts, billing details, and end-of-current-term cancellation.
Ask in writing before purchase
- Fit assessment, implementation service work, or documentation services.
- Procurement review, manual invoice, purchase order, or vendor onboarding needs.
- Refund, support, security, privacy, or license-boundary questions that affect approval.
- Lifetime License terms, rollout assumptions, or anything that should be written down before payment.
Separate from license price
- Implementation help and service management consulting are scoped and quoted separately.
- BareBones product validation, regulated-release claims, certified security, high availability, migration guarantees, and managed services are not included by default.
- Applicable taxes, approved discounts, credits, refunds, and separately approved written terms can change the final transaction record.
A paid Professional subscription is one worker pool: the account dashboard can divide it across multiple deployment keys while keeping one renewal date. Lifetime License is a separate USD 20,000 one-time path with no annual renewal, unlimited workers, and 4 active internal deployment activations under the approved Lifetime terms; it does not use the worker-pool allocator and does not include implementation services by default.
Buyer FAQ
Plain buyer questions
Use these answers to choose a trial, Free Edition, Professional license, Lifetime path, or fit conversation.
Can I see it before installing anything?
Yes. The live demo at demo.finlay.works is a running instance of the shipping build with a worked scenario in it, and the sign-in details are published on the demo page. It resets nightly, so explore it freely.
How is BareBones delivered at launch?
BareBones Ticketing launches as self-hosted downloadable licensing for teams that want to operate the service desk in their own environment.
When is a Professional key issued?
After payment is verified. Your account page may show that Checkout returned successfully first; the paid key appears after Finlay.works receives the verified payment confirmation.
What is the Lifetime License?
BareBones Ticketing Lifetime License is a limited one-time purchase path for early customers. It provides perpetual Professional entitlement, unlimited workers, 4 active internal deployment activations, future BareBones product features, standard product support under the approved Lifetime terms, and no annual renewal. The key is issued only after verified purchase fulfillment.
How do Trial and Free Edition keys work?
Trial keys run for 60 days without a card. Free Edition is a yearly renewable 2-worker key for very small self-hosted use. It is self-support only and does not include SLA, support, migration help, guarantees, or a validation package.
What is the validation package?
For each release, the validation team designates a validation package: the executed validation record for that exact release, written for QA and compliance readers. Professional and Lifetime customers download it from their account, with its SHA-256 shown beside the download. Validation designated during a paid Professional term remains available after the term ends; validation designated later requires an active license. Trial and Free Edition do not include it.
Do customers need a password?
No. Customers sign in with an email link, then use the account dashboard to view license keys, download a license manifest, and manage activations.
What does the license key control?
The key carries the worker limit, term, and activation state. BareBones uses the Finlay.works licensing service to verify whether the key is active before licensed use continues.
Can one purchase cover multiple self-hosted deployments?
Yes. A paid Professional subscription represents a worker pool. The account dashboard can divide that pool across multiple Professional license keys, such as separate production, lab, or site deployments, while keeping one subscription and one renewal date.
Does BareBones replace a broad ITSM suite?
Not always. BareBones is a focused self-hosted service desk, not an everything-suite. Broad ITSM platforms may fit better when CMDB or asset discovery, omnichannel contact center, mobile-first field service, marketplace apps, or AI-heavy operations are the buying priority.
Can BareBones import existing work?
Migration should be scoped before purchase. BareBones supports a controlled file/package import workbench pattern with preflight, dry-run, apply ledger, reconciliation, and provenance; it is not sold as live sync, universal migration, or arbitrary workflow import.
When should a buyer ask before purchasing?
Ask first if the decision depends on finished regulated-release proof, validation package scope, security certification, high-availability architecture, customer scale evidence, or migration service expectations.
Fit assessment
Bring the messy version
You do not need a finished requirements document. A few paragraphs, one example, or a rough workflow problem is enough for Finlay.works to sort fit, gaps, release posture, and next steps.
Get expert fit helpHelpful starting points
- Tell us where ticket work feels slow, risky, hard to hand off, or hard to prove.
- Mention who needs a lane: requesters, agents, approvers, auditors, admins, or outside participants.
- Share any hard constraints you already know, such as self-hosting, email, data boundaries, timing, or compliance pressure.
- Point to one example ticket, workflow, approval, report, or external handoff that shows the shape of the work.
- Say what you need next: a trial, Free Edition, paid license, implementation help, or a clear no.