head to head · open source
OpenProject vs freeplane
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars, 3,486 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. freeplane has 4,362 stars, 498 forks, 453 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenProject leads on adoption by 270% (16,132 vs 4,362 stars). OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0; freeplane is written in Java under GPL-2.0. OpenProject has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, freeplane 11%. OpenProject 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
| OpenProject | freeplane | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 498 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenProject if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- 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 OpenProject
OpenProject is a web based open source project management software for teams and organizations that need transparency, flexibility, and data sovereignty. It lives in the open source project management ecosystem, with Ruby as the repository language and Angular as a listed topic. The project is positioned as an open alternative to Asana and Basecamp, and the README also compares it with Jira, MS Project, Monday, and YouTrack.
read the full OpenProject overview →
About freeplane
Freeplane is a free and open source desktop application for mind mapping, concept mapping and information mapping, written in Java with OSGi and Java Swing. It lives in the Java desktop ecosystem and is distributed under the GPL 2.0 license, with source hosted on GitHub and binary downloads published through SourceForge. The project has been under development for roughly 14 years and sits in the business software category of project and work management tools.
read the full freeplane overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenProject or freeplane more popular?
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars and freeplane has 4,362. OpenProject has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenProject and freeplane free?
Both are open source. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and freeplane under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenProject and freeplane?
OpenProject is written in Ruby 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, OpenProject or freeplane?
Choose OpenProject if you want the larger community (16,132 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose freeplane if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.