head to head · open source
OpenProject vs nimbalyst
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars, 3,486 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nimbalyst has 1,731 stars, 254 forks, 642 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenProject leads on adoption by 832% (16,132 vs 1,731 stars). OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0; nimbalyst is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenProject has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, nimbalyst 15%. OpenProject was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | nimbalyst | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 254 |
| 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 nimbalyst if
- You want the nimbalyst feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nimbalyst 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 nimbalyst
Nimbalyst is an open source visual workspace for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and other coding agents. It lives in the agentic coding ecosystem and brings sessions, worktrees, tasks, docs, diagrams, mockups, commits, and code into one desktop application. It is written in TypeScript, uses Electron, and is MIT licensed.
read the full nimbalyst overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenProject or nimbalyst more popular?
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars and nimbalyst has 1,731. OpenProject has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenProject and nimbalyst free?
Both are open source. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and nimbalyst under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenProject and nimbalyst?
OpenProject is written in Ruby and nimbalyst 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 nimbalyst?
Choose OpenProject if you want the larger community (16,132 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose nimbalyst if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.