head to head · open source
vibe-kanban vs OpenProject
vibe-kanban has 28,112 GitHub stars, 3,013 forks, 540 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenProject has 16,132 stars, 3,486 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vibe-kanban leads on adoption by 74% (28,112 vs 16,132 stars). vibe-kanban is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; OpenProject is written in Ruby under GPL-3.0. vibe-kanban has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, OpenProject 22%. 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
| vibe-kanban | OpenProject | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 16K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 3.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vibe-kanban if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenProject if
- You want the OpenProject feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and OpenProject fits your workflow better
About vibe-kanban
Vibe Kanban is an open source, Apache 2.0 kanban board written in Rust that lets software engineers plan work as issues and hand each issue to a coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI or Amp inside an isolated workspace.
read the full vibe-kanban overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vibe-kanban or OpenProject more popular?
vibe-kanban has 28,112 GitHub stars and OpenProject has 16,132. vibe-kanban has the larger community by that measure.
Are vibe-kanban and OpenProject free?
Both are open source. vibe-kanban is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenProject under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vibe-kanban and OpenProject?
vibe-kanban is written in Rust and OpenProject 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, vibe-kanban or OpenProject?
Choose vibe-kanban if you want the larger community (28,112 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenProject if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.