head to head · open source
Leantime vs freeplane
Leantime has 11,958 GitHub stars, 1,169 forks, 328 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. freeplane has 4,456 stars, 503 forks, 453 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Leantime leads on adoption by 168% (11,958 vs 4,456 stars). Leantime is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; freeplane is written in Java under GPL-2.0. Leantime has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, freeplane 11%. Leantime was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Leantime | freeplane | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | PHP | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 503 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Leantime if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick freeplane if
- You want the freeplane feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and freeplane fits your workflow better
About Leantime
Leantime® ⭐ If you find Leantime useful, please star us on GitHub! ⭐ Leantime is an open source project management system for non project managers. We combine strategy, planning and execution while making it easy for everyone on the team to use. Built with ADHD, dyslexia and autism in mind. 🧠 💪 As simple as Trello but as feature rich as Jira 🔄 A perfect alternative to ClickUp, Monday, or Asana 🌐 🚀 Features yes, all of these features are included in the OSS version 📸 Screenshots ❗System Requirements PHP 8.2+ MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+ Apache or Nginx (IIS works with some modifications) PHP Extensions…
read the full Leantime overview →
About freeplane
Freeplane ========= Freeplane is a free and open source software application that supports thinking, sharing information, getting things done at work, in school and at home. It provides you a set of tools for mind mapping (also known as concept mapping or information mapping) and navigating the mapped information. Freeplane is also a more robust and superior alternative to Xmind, Mindmeister, and similar mind mapping software. Freeplane is written in Java using OSGi and Java Swing. It runs on any operating system that has a current version of Java installed. It can be installed or can run from removable storage…
read the full freeplane overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Leantime or freeplane more popular?
Leantime has 11,958 GitHub stars and freeplane has 4,456. Leantime has the larger community by that measure.
Are Leantime and freeplane free?
Both are open source. Leantime is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and freeplane under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Leantime and freeplane?
Leantime is written in PHP and freeplane in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Leantime or freeplane?
Choose Leantime if you want the larger community (11,958 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose freeplane if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.