OpenProject

Overview

OpenProject originated as a fork of ChiliProject, itself a fork of Redmine, and has been developed since 2012 by the German company OpenProject GmbH under an open-core model. The Community edition covers the core project management feature set — work packages (issues), Gantt charts, agile/Scrum boards, and time tracking — released under the GPL-3.0 license and self-hostable via Docker, while an Enterprise edition adds features like two-factor authentication enforcement, custom fields on more object types, and premium support for a paid subscription, whether self-hosted or via OpenProject’s own hosted cloud offering.

Because it’s self-hosted by default, OpenProject is commonly deployed by organizations with data-residency requirements or those wanting to avoid per-seat SaaS pricing at scale. Its work package model is more configurable and closer to Jira’s issue-tracking depth than kanban-only tools like Trello or Wekan, supporting custom workflows, issue hierarchies, and cross-project reporting, though its ecosystem of third-party plugins and integrations is smaller than Atlassian’s Jira Marketplace.

Key Features

• Work packages — Configurable issue types, statuses, and custom fields comparable to Jira’s issue model
• Gantt charts — Interactive timeline planning with task dependencies
• Agile/Scrum boards — Backlogs, sprints, and kanban-style task boards
• Time tracking and budgets — Built-in time logging and cost reporting per project
• Wiki and documentation — Per-project wikis for specifications and team documentation
• Self-hosted deployment — Official Docker packages for on-premises or private cloud hosting

Use Cases

• Software development teams — Sprint planning and issue tracking as a self-hosted Jira alternative
• Cross-functional project management — Gantt-based planning for teams beyond software, similar to Asana’s use cases
• Public sector and regulated organizations — Data residency requirements met by self-hosting on owned infrastructure
• Cost-sensitive teams at scale — Avoiding per-seat SaaS pricing for larger user counts

Who It’s For

OpenProject is suited to teams and organizations that want Jira- or Asana-level project management depth — issue tracking, Gantt charts, and agile boards — without a mandatory SaaS subscription or data hosted on a third party’s servers. The free, self-hosted Community edition covers most core functionality, with a paid Enterprise tier for organizations needing additional administrative controls or hosted support.