head to head · open source
Plane vs Openfire
Plane has 59,546 GitHub stars, 5,776 forks, 1,103 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Openfire has 3,064 stars, 1,404 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Plane leads on adoption by 1,843% (59,546 vs 3,064 stars). Plane is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Openfire is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Plane has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Openfire 46%. Plane 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
| Plane | Openfire | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 60K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Plane if
- You weight community size — 60K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Openfire if
- You want the Openfire feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Openfire fits your workflow better
About Plane
Plane is an open source project management platform for teams that need to track issues, run cycles, and manage product roadmaps without handing their data to a proprietary SaaS vendor, and it is aimed at engineering, product, and operations teams that would otherwise pay for Jira, Linear, ClickUp, or Asana.
read the full Plane overview →
About Openfire
Openfire is an open source real time collaboration (RTC) server for XMPP, also called Jabber, written in Java under the Apache License 2.0 and maintained as an Ignite Realtime community project for organisations and administrators that want to run their own instant messaging infrastructure.
read the full Openfire overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Plane or Openfire more popular?
Plane has 59,546 GitHub stars and Openfire has 3,064. Plane has the larger community by that measure.
Are Plane and Openfire free?
Both are open source. Plane is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Openfire under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Plane and Openfire?
Plane is written in TypeScript and Openfire in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Plane or Openfire?
Choose Plane if you want the larger community (59,546 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Openfire if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.