head to head · open source
OpenProject vs Kaneo
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars, 3,486 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kaneo has 9,107 stars, 794 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenProject leads on adoption by 77% (16,132 vs 9,107 stars). OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0; Kaneo is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenProject has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Kaneo 9%. Kaneo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (issue-tracker, jira-alternative, kanban), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | Kaneo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 9.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 794 |
| 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 Kaneo if
- You want the Kaneo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Kaneo 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 Kaneo
Kaneo is an open source project management tool for development teams, published under the MIT license and written in TypeScript. It describes itself as "all you need, nothing you don't," and its README frames the design goal around restraint: the project's authors argue that the problem with most project management platforms is not a lack of features but an excess of them, where notifications, unnecessary buttons and complex workflows pull teams away from building products. Kaneo belongs to the self hosted project and work management ecosystem, and its topic list places it explicitly alongside issue trackers and…
read the full Kaneo overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenProject or Kaneo more popular?
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars and Kaneo has 9,107. OpenProject has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenProject and Kaneo free?
Both are open source. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kaneo under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenProject and Kaneo?
OpenProject is written in Ruby and Kaneo 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 Kaneo?
Choose OpenProject if you want the larger community (16,132 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Kaneo if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.