head to head · open source
OpenProject vs Kan
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars, 3,486 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kan has 5,656 stars, 477 forks, 135 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. OpenProject leads on adoption by 185% (16,132 vs 5,656 stars). OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0; Kan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. OpenProject has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Kan 8%. 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 | Kan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 5.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 477 |
| 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 Kan if
- You want the Kan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Kan 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 Kan
Kan is an open source project management application that provides kanban boards, positioned by its maintainers as the open source alternative to Trello. It is written in TypeScript under the AGPL 3.0 license, and it lives in the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem: the stack is built on Next.js, tRPC, Better Auth, Tailwind CSS, Drizzle ORM, React Email, Zod, and Turborepo. The repository has gathered 5,634 stars and 472 forks, with 135 open issues, and its homepage is hosted at kan.bn. It is actively maintained, with the most recent push recorded on 14 September 2026.
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenProject or Kan more popular?
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars and Kan has 5,656. OpenProject has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenProject and Kan free?
Both are open source. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kan under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenProject and Kan?
OpenProject is written in Ruby and Kan in TypeScript. 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 Kan?
Choose OpenProject if you want the larger community (16,132 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Kan if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.