head to head · open source
OpenProject vs Redmine
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars, 3,486 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Redmine has 6,033 stars, 2,472 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenProject leads on adoption by 167% (16,132 vs 6,033 stars). OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0; Redmine is written in Ruby under a custom or non-standard licence. OpenProject has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Redmine 41%. 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 | Redmine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Ruby | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 2.5K |
| 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 Redmine if
- You want the Redmine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and Redmine 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 Redmine
Redmine is a flexible, self hosted project management web application written in Ruby on Rails, intended for teams and organizations that need to run their own project and work management platform.
read the full Redmine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenProject or Redmine more popular?
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars and Redmine has 6,033. OpenProject has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenProject and Redmine free?
Both are open source. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0, and Redmine has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenProject and Redmine?
OpenProject is written in Ruby and Redmine in Ruby. 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 Redmine?
Choose OpenProject if you want the larger community (16,132 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Redmine if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.