head to head · open source
OpenProject vs Operately
OpenProject has 16,933 GitHub stars, 3,676 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Operately has 613 stars, 85 forks, 85 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenProject leads on adoption by 2,662% (16,933 vs 613 stars). OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0; Operately is written in Elixir under a custom or non-standard licence. OpenProject has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Operately 14%. 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 | Operately | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 613 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Ruby | Elixir |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.7K | ⑂ 85 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenProject if
- You weight community size — 17K 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 Operately if
- You want the Operately feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Elixir
- You evaluated both and Operately fits your workflow better
About OpenProject
OpenProject We empower teams to achieve great things together for the good of society. OpenProject is a web based open source project management software for teams and organizations that require transparency, flexibility, and data sovereignty. Manage projects, portfolios, products, tasks, bugs, agile workflows, roadmaps, and team collaboration in a single platform. OpenProject can be self hosted and is designed for organizations looking for an open source enterprise ready alternative to tools such as Jira, MS Project, Monday, Asana, YouTrack while maintaining full control over their data and infrastructure…
read the full OpenProject overview →
About Operately
Operately Open source company operating system Discord · Website About Operately Operately helps you coordinate goals, projects, and teams without the need for a COO. Traditional work management tools give you infinite flexibility but zero guidance on how to actually run an organization. This creates chaos and drains your energy. Operately is different. Instead of being another generic project management tool, it's an opinionated operating system that provides the structure and discipline your company needs to get things done as your team grows. Unlike Notion or ClickUp that let you build anything but leave you…
read the full Operately overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenProject or Operately more popular?
OpenProject has 16,933 GitHub stars and Operately has 613. OpenProject has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenProject and Operately free?
Both are open source. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0, and Operately has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenProject and Operately?
OpenProject is written in Ruby and Operately in Elixir. 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 Operately?
Choose OpenProject if you want the larger community (16,933 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Operately if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.