← Back to home
Comparison · Support

Request Tracker vs Tawk.to

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Request Tracker and Tawk.to — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Request Tracker vs Tawk.to: at a glance

FeatureRequest TrackerTawk.to
SectorSupportSupport, Comms
Velocity score0.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesticketing, security-releases, multi-branch, cvelive-chat, customer-support, widget, accessibility
Last editorial update2mo ago2d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Request Tracker?

Request Tracker maintains three branches in lockstep, and security is what sets the release calendar.

Best Practical ships RT across three concurrent branches, 4.4, 5.0 and 6.0, and coordinates security releases across all of them on the same day. The most recent pair, 5.0.10 and 6.0.3, both landed on 2026-05-20 carrying the same fixes: a privilege escalation and credential disclosure through the REST 2.0 user collection endpoint (CVE-2026-44231), SQL injection via the entry_aggregator parameter in JSON search (CVE-2026-41075), and an LDAP authentication bypass. Feature work rides along on the 6.0 branch, while 5.0 and 4.4 receive security fixes and little else.

Read the full Request Tracker trajectory →

What is Tawk.to?

tawk.to's widget 4.4.0 turns to keyboard and screen-reader fixes after a run of form work.

tawk.to is a free live chat widget that ships a version every few weeks, mostly fixes with periodic capability additions. The 4.x line added two JavaScript APIs in September and per-country phone length checks in 4.3.0. Widget 4.4.0 adds a close button inside round widgets and fixes keyboard, focus-outline and screen-reader issues, plus custom chat buttons that failed on sites asking for consent.

Read the full Tawk.to trajectory →

Request Tracker vs Tawk.to: editorial side-by-side

R0.0

Request Tracker maintains three branches in lockstep, and security is what sets the release calendar.

◆ Current state

Best Practical ships RT across three concurrent branches, 4.4, 5.0 and 6.0, and coordinates security releases across all of them on the same day. The most recent pair, 5.0.10 and 6.0.3, both landed on 2026-05-20 carrying the same fixes: a privilege escalation and credential disclosure through the REST 2.0 user collection endpoint (CVE-2026-44231), SQL injection via the entry_aggregator parameter in JSON search (CVE-2026-41075), and an LDAP authentication bypass. Feature work rides along on the 6.0 branch, while 5.0 and 4.4 receive security fixes and little else.

◆ Where it's heading

The branch structure is consolidating. RT 4.4 reached its last planned release at 4.4.9 in October 2025, with users pointed at 5 or 6, and 6.0 is where features now land: dashboard saved searches gained pagination and sorting, statuses take colors from lifecycle configuration, custom fields display multi-column by default, and keyboard menu navigation improved. The 5.0 line still gets real work but of a narrower kind, such as the inline CSS handling in ticket history that shipped with 5.0.10. Expect the same-day multi-branch security release to remain the pattern for as long as two branches are supported.

◆ Prediction

The next release is most likely another coordinated security pair on 5.0 and 6.0, with feature work continuing to accumulate only on 6.0.

T
Tawk.to
SUPPORTCOMMS
5.0

tawk.to's widget 4.4.0 turns to keyboard and screen-reader fixes after a run of form work.

◆ Current state

tawk.to is a free live chat widget that ships a version every few weeks, mostly fixes with periodic capability additions. The 4.x line added two JavaScript APIs in September and per-country phone length checks in 4.3.0. Widget 4.4.0 adds a close button inside round widgets and fixes keyboard, focus-outline and screen-reader issues, plus custom chat buttons that failed on sites asking for consent.

◆ Where it's heading

Recent work splits between developer hooks for host sites, data quality in visitor forms, and now accessibility: 4.4.0 is mostly about the widget working without a mouse. The consent-site fix continues the privacy thread from 3.6.0. Nothing in the entries points to a change of direction.

◆ Prediction

Expect more accessibility and form fixes in 4.x point releases; the entries do not show anything larger on the way.

Alternatives to Request Tracker and Tawk.to

Other Support products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Request Tracker or Tawk.to.

See all Request Tracker alternatives → · See all Tawk.to alternatives →

Recent activity from Request Tracker and Tawk.to

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2d agoTawk.toWidget 4.4.0 adds in-chat close button and keyboard access fixes
  2. 16d agoTawk.toWidget 4.3.0 adds per-country phone length checks to forms
  3. 1mo agoTawk.toWidget 4.2.1 fixes multi-select checkbox submissions
  4. 1mo agoTawk.totawk.to Widget v4.2.0: new JS APIs for message pre-fill and transcript requests
  5. 3mo agoTawk.totawk.to Widget v3.6.0: US consent notices and browser privacy settings
  6. 4mo agoTawk.toWidget Version 3.5.4 – Released date 2026-06-24
  7. 5mo agoRequest TrackerSecurity release fixes REST 2.0 credential disclosure and SQL injection
  8. 5mo agoRequest TrackerSame security fixes as 5.0.10, plus dashboard and accessibility work
  9. 1y agoRequest TrackerCalendar view for saved searches and memory management work
  10. 1y agoRequest TrackerCSV injection fix in TSV export, with assorted updates
  11. 1y agoRequest TrackerFinal RT 4.4 release closes the branch with one security fix
  12. 1y agoRequest TrackerRelease exists mainly to support RTIR 6.0.1

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Request Tracker and Tawk.to?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Tawk.to is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Request Tracker better than Tawk.to?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Tawk.to is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Support products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Request Tracker?

Top Request Tracker alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Request Tracker alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/request-tracker for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Tawk.to?

Top Tawk.to alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Tawk.to alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tawk-to for the full list with editorial commentary on each.