head to head · open source
OpenProject vs Tasks.md
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars, 3,486 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tasks.md has 2,199 stars, 105 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. OpenProject leads on adoption by 634% (16,132 vs 2,199 stars). OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0; Tasks.md is written in JavaScript under MIT. OpenProject has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Tasks.md 5%. 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 | Tasks.md | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-03-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 105 |
| 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 Tasks.md if
- You want the Tasks.md feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Tasks.md 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 Tasks.md
Tasks.md is a self hosted, Markdown file based task management board. It is a JavaScript project released under the MIT license, and it lives in the project and work management ecosystem, with topics such as agile, kanban, self hosted, and task management. The interface lets users create cards, lanes, and tags, while each card is written as a Markdown file.
read the full Tasks.md overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenProject or Tasks.md more popular?
OpenProject has 16,132 GitHub stars and Tasks.md has 2,199. OpenProject has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenProject and Tasks.md free?
Both are open source. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Tasks.md under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenProject and Tasks.md?
OpenProject is written in Ruby and Tasks.md in JavaScript. 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 Tasks.md?
Choose OpenProject if you want the larger community (16,132 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Tasks.md if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.