4 Best Free Alternatives to OpenProject in 2026
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
All 4 OpenProject alternatives
Compared: free alternatives to OpenProject
| Alternative | Best for | Standout | Biggest weakness | Learning curve | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenProjectreference | teams and organizations that want a fully open-source, self-hostable project management tool covering both Gantt-chart planning and agile boards, with an option to add paid support and cloud hosting | A genuinely free, fully-featured, self-hostable Community edition under GPLv3, with paid Enterprise tiers layering on support and EU/Germany-hosted cloud infrastructure rather than gating core functionality. | Enterprise pricing is published in euros with steep per-tier user minimums (25 users for Basic/Professional, 100 for Premium), which is awkward for small teams wanting paid support without buying dozens of seats, and self-hosting the Community edition requires Linux server administration skills. | Moderate | Free |
| Jira | software development teams that need deeply configurable issue workflows and tight integration with Bitbucket/GitHub, and are willing to invest in a dedicated Jira admin to manage the configuration | Fully customizable workflows and permission schemes per project, combined with native integration into Bitbucket, GitHub, and CI/CD pipelines that link commits and pull requests directly to issues. | Steep learning curve for workflow and permission-scheme configuration; teams scaling past a few projects commonly need a dedicated Jira administrator, and per-seat pricing on Standard/Premium slides with team size in a way that makes budgeting harder to predict. | Steep | Free tier · paid from $7.91/mo |
| Asana | Cross-functional teams of 10-500 people who need shared timelines, dependencies, and status reporting across multiple concurrent projects. | The Work Graph: a connected data model linking goals, portfolios, projects, and tasks that now also assigns work to AI Teammates alongside human assignees. | Asana's task-based model gets expensive and administratively heavy at scale: seat-based pricing jumps from $10.99 to $24.99/user/month just to unlock Goals and Workload, and features like SSO or capacity planning require Enterprise, which is quote-only. | Moderate | Free tier · paid from $10.99/mo |
| monday.com | Mid-size teams that want one configurable platform to run project tracking, CRM, and IT/HR workflows on visual boards instead of stitching together separate point tools. | Highly customizable boards with dozens of column types, automations, and dashboards that adapt to almost any workflow (projects, sales, hiring, IT tickets) without custom development. | Per-seat pricing is billed in blocks (plans are sold for minimum team sizes like 3 seats), and the sticker price jumps once you add real automation or integration volume: Standard caps at 250 automation actions/month while Pro jumps to 25,000, forcing many growing teams to upgrade a full tier just for usage limits rather than features. | Moderate | Free tier · paid from $9/mo |
| GitLab | engineering teams that want source control, CI/CD, and security scanning in one application instead of assembling separate tools for each function | Security and compliance scanning (SAST, DAST, dependency and container scanning) is built into the Ultimate tier as a native part of the CI/CD pipeline, rather than a bolt-on third-party integration. | The jump from Premium to Ultimate is steep (roughly $29 to $99/user/month), pricing the deepest security features out of reach for many teams, and GitLab's dense, feature-heavy interface has a real learning curve compared to GitHub's simpler workflow. | Steep | Free tier · paid from $29/mo |
OpenProject
Jira
Asana
monday.com
GitLab1.Jira — best OpenProject alternative for software development teams that need deeply configurable issue workflows and tight integration with Bitbucket/GitHub, and are willing to invest in a dedicated Jira admin to manage the configuration
Jira is the best OpenProject alternative for software development teams that need deeply configurable issue workflows and tight integration with Bitbucket and GitHub. Jira is free for up to 10 users, matching the spirit of OpenProject's free Community edition, and its paid Standard tier starts around $7.91/user/month, undercutting OpenProject's cheapest paid Basic tier at €5.95/user/month once OpenProject's 25-user minimum is priced in for a small team. Jira carries a 4.4/5 rating across 15,456 Capterra reviews, the only rating on file for either product in this comparison since OpenProject itself shows only a single 5/5 Product Hunt review. Jira's native integration with Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab, and CI/CD pipelines links commits and pull requests directly to issues, a depth of developer-workflow integration OpenProject's listing doesn't document. OpenProject remains the better choice for teams that specifically want Gantt-chart-based classic project planning alongside agile boards in one tool without a steep workflow-configuration learning curve: Jira's own biggest weakness is that teams scaling past a few projects commonly need a dedicated Jira administrator to keep workflow and permission schemes from sprawling, while OpenProject's Community edition ships Gantt charts and a Team Planner out of the box at no cost and no per-tier user minimum.
Compared to OpenProject: free for up to 10 users vs OpenProject's free Community edition with no user cap, Standard tier at $7.91/user/month vs OpenProject's €5.95/user/month Basic (25-user minimum), 4.4/5 rating from 15,456 Capterra reviews vs OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review
Wins:Free for up to 10 users with core Scrum/Kanban boards and backlog, comparable to OpenProject's uncapped free Community edition · 4.4/5 rating from 15,456 Capterra reviews, versus OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review · Native integration with Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab, and CI/CD pipelines links commits and pull requests directly to issues
Loses:Paid Standard tier's per-seat price slides with team size rather than OpenProject's flat €5.95-€15.95/user/month Enterprise tiers · No native Gantt-chart or classic waterfall planning view built in, unlike OpenProject's Community edition · Workflow and permission-scheme configuration is complex enough that teams commonly need a dedicated Jira administrator
Pros
- Free for up to 10 users with core Scrum/Kanban boards and backlog management.
- Deep workflow, field, and permission-scheme customization per project.
- Native integration with Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab, and CI/CD pipelines links code directly to issues.
- Scales into the broader Atlassian suite (Confluence, Jira Product Discovery) without leaving the ecosystem.
Cons
- Steep learning curve; workflow and permission-scheme setup often requires a dedicated Jira administrator.
- Per-seat pricing slides with team size, making exact cost harder to predict than a flat per-seat rate.
- No official native desktop app; access is web and mobile only.
- Default configuration can feel heavy for small teams that just need a simple task list.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $7.91/mo — $7.91/user/month (Standard) vs OpenProject's €5.95/user/month (Basic, minimum 25 users); Jira's Premium at $14.54/user/month vs OpenProject's Professional at €10.95/user/month
2.Asana — best OpenProject alternative for cross-functional teams of 10-500 people who need shared timelines, dependencies, and status reporting across multiple concurrent projects.
Asana is the best OpenProject alternative for mid-size teams coordinating many concurrent projects who want portfolio and workload visibility that OpenProject's Community edition doesn't emphasize. Asana holds a 4.5/5 rating from 13,900 Capterra reviews and a 4.4/5 rating from 11,900 G2 reviews, far more review volume than OpenProject's single Product Hunt rating. Asana's free Personal tier costs $0/month, comparable to OpenProject's free Community edition, while its paid Starter tier runs $10.99/user/month and Advanced $24.99/user/month, both priced per seat with no minimum-user requirement, unlike OpenProject's Enterprise tiers which require at least 25 users on Basic and Professional and 100 on Premium. Asana's Goals-to-portfolios-to-projects hierarchy and Workload view give managers cross-project visibility that OpenProject's Gantt-and-board feature set doesn't document. OpenProject remains the better choice for organizations that specifically want a fully open-source, self-hostable platform under GPLv3: Asana is closed-source and proprietary with per-seat pricing that Asana's own listing admits rises quickly at scale, while OpenProject's Community edition is free to self-host indefinitely with no seat count or subscription ever required, an option Asana simply does not offer.
Compared to OpenProject: 4.5/5 rating from 13,900 Capterra reviews vs OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review, Starter tier at $10.99/user/month with no seat minimum vs OpenProject's €5.95/user/month Basic tier requiring 25 users, Goals-portfolios-projects hierarchy with Workload view for cross-project visibility that OpenProject's listing doesn't document
Wins:4.5/5 rating from 13,900 Capterra reviews and 4.4/5 from 11,900 G2 reviews, versus OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review · Paid tiers ($10.99-$24.99/user/month) have no minimum-seat requirement, unlike OpenProject's 25-100 user minimums on Basic through Premium · Goals, Portfolios, and Workload views give managers cross-project visibility OpenProject's Gantt-and-board feature set doesn't document
Loses:Closed-source and proprietary, unlike OpenProject's fully open-source GPLv3 Community edition · No self-hosting option; every Asana plan runs on Asana's own cloud, unlike OpenProject's self-hostable Community edition · Per-seat pricing rises quickly at scale, by Asana's own documented weakness, versus OpenProject's flat free Community tier
Pros
- Free tier covers unlimited tasks and projects for up to 2 users, not just a time-limited trial
- Multiple views (list, board, timeline/Gantt, calendar) on the same project without extra tools
- Deep integration library (100+ free integrations) plus native Salesforce, Tableau, and Power BI connectors on Advanced
- Reporting dashboards and portfolios give a rollup view across many projects at once
Cons
- Per-user pricing means costs scale linearly and jump 127% from Starter to Advanced ($10.99 to $24.99/user/month)
- Core planning features like Goals and Workload are locked behind the Advanced tier, not available on Starter
- SSO, SCIM provisioning, and capacity planning require Enterprise, which has no published price
- Heavy feature surface (AI Teammates, AI Studio, Service Management) can overwhelm teams that just want simple task tracking
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $10.99/mo — $0/month (Personal) matches OpenProject's free Community tier; Asana's Starter at $10.99/user/month vs OpenProject's €5.95/user/month Basic (25-user minimum) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
3.monday.com — best OpenProject alternative for mid-size teams that want one configurable platform to run project tracking, CRM, and IT/HR workflows on visual boards instead of stitching together separate point tools.
monday.com is the best OpenProject alternative for non-technical teams that want visual, adoptable project workflows rather than OpenProject's Gantt-and-Scrum-board interface built for classic and agile project managers. monday.com holds a 4.7/5 rating from 14,000 G2 reviews and a 4.6/5 rating from 5,600 Capterra reviews, well above OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt rating. Its Free plan covers 2 seats at $0/month, and paid tiers start at Basic for $9/user/month, Standard for $12/user/month, and Pro for $19/user/month, all cheaper per seat than OpenProject's €10.95/user/month Professional tier, which also requires a 25-user minimum that monday.com's per-seat pricing doesn't impose. monday.com's 30+ customizable board column types and no-code automation recipes make it approachable for teams without OpenProject's moderate learning curve around Gantt charts and Scrum/Kanban configuration. OpenProject remains the better choice for organizations that need a genuinely free, unlimited-user, self-hostable tool: monday.com's own biggest weakness is a 3-seat minimum on paid tiers with per-seat costs that add up fast, while OpenProject's Community edition is free under GPLv3 with no seat cap at all, a licensing model monday.com, a proprietary paid product, does not offer.
Compared to OpenProject: 4.7/5 rating from 14,000 G2 reviews vs OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review, Basic tier at $9/user/month with no user minimum vs OpenProject's €10.95/user/month Professional requiring 25 users, 30+ no-code column types and automation recipes for a lower learning curve than OpenProject's Gantt/Scrum interface
Wins:4.7/5 rating from 14,000 G2 reviews and 4.6/5 from 5,600 Capterra reviews, versus OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review · Basic tier starts at $9/user/month with no seat minimum, cheaper per seat than OpenProject's €10.95/user/month Professional tier (25-user minimum) · Low learning curve from 30+ no-code column types and automation recipes, versus OpenProject's moderate learning curve around Gantt and Scrum configuration
Loses:Free plan caps out at 2 seats, smaller than OpenProject's uncapped free Community edition · Proprietary, closed-source, and cloud-only, unlike OpenProject's open-source GPLv3 Community edition that can be self-hosted · Per-seat tiers and a 3-seat paid-plan minimum add up quickly, by monday.com's own documented weakness, versus OpenProject's flat free tier
Pros
- Free plan and all paid tiers include AI credits and iOS/Android apps out of the box
- Highly flexible board and column system covers project management, CRM, and ops without needing separate software
- 200+ templates speed up setup for common use cases
- Dashboards and Gantt/timeline views are included from the Standard tier up
Cons
- Free tier is capped at just 2 seats and 3 boards, too small for most real teams
- Automation and integration action limits (250/month on Standard) are easy for active teams to hit and require an upgrade to Pro
- Per-seat annual billing math (e.g., $9/seat shown as $90 for 10 seats) makes true monthly cost easy to underestimate at checkout
- Enterprise features like advanced permissions and portfolio management require contacting sales for custom pricing
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $9/mo — $9/user/month (Basic) vs OpenProject's €10.95/user/month (Professional, 25-user minimum); monday's Pro tier tops out at $19/user/month against OpenProject's €15.95/user/month Premium (100-user minimum) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
4.GitLab — best OpenProject alternative for engineering teams that want source control, CI/CD, and security scanning in one application instead of assembling separate tools for each function
GitLab is the best OpenProject alternative for engineering teams that want source control, CI/CD pipelines, and issue tracking bundled into one application rather than OpenProject's project-management-only feature set. GitLab's Free tier costs $0/user/month with unlimited private repositories and basic CI/CD, comparable to OpenProject's free Community edition, while GitLab holds a 4.6/5 rating from 1,224 Capterra reviews and a 5/5 rating from 13 Product Hunt reviews, both more review volume than OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt rating. GitLab's Premium tier at $29/user/month adds advanced CI/CD controls, merge approval rules, and portfolio management, features OpenProject's own listing doesn't document since OpenProject is a project-tracking tool without native source control or pipelines. GitLab is open core like OpenProject, with its Community Edition MIT-licensed and free to self-host with no user limit, similar to OpenProject's GPLv3 Community edition. OpenProject remains the better choice for teams that specifically need Gantt-chart-based classic waterfall planning and cost reporting: GitLab's biggest weakness is that the jump from Premium to its Ultimate tier is steep, roughly $29 to $99/user/month, and its dense, feature-heavy interface has a real learning curve, while OpenProject's Community edition ships Gantt charts and a Team Planner as core, unpaywalled features.
Compared to OpenProject: Free tier with unlimited private repositories vs OpenProject's free Community edition, 4.6/5 rating from 1,224 Capterra reviews vs OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review, native CI/CD and source control bundled in at Premium ($29/user/month) that OpenProject's listing doesn't offer at any tier
Wins:Bundles source control, CI/CD pipelines, and security scanning natively, features OpenProject's project-tracking-only feature set doesn't offer · 4.6/5 rating from 1,224 Capterra reviews and 5/5 from 13 Product Hunt reviews, versus OpenProject's single 5/5 Product Hunt review · Free tier includes unlimited private repositories with no artificial user cap, matching OpenProject's uncapped free Community edition
Loses:No native Gantt-chart or classic waterfall planning view, unlike OpenProject's Community edition · Ultimate tier jumps to roughly $99/user/month from Premium's $29, a steeper premium than OpenProject's €10.95-to-€15.95 Professional-to-Premium jump · Dense, feature-heavy interface carries a steep learning curve, matching OpenProject's own moderate-to-steep configuration curve
Pros
- CI/CD, issue tracking, and code review are native to the platform rather than third-party add-ons.
- Community Edition is genuinely open source (MIT) and free to self-host with no artificial user cap.
- Ultimate tier includes built-in security scanning (SAST, DAST, dependency scanning) as part of the pipeline.
- Self-managed and SaaS deployment options give teams a real choice on data residency and control.
Cons
- Ultimate tier costs roughly $99/user/month, a steep jump from Premium's $29/user/month, pricing advanced security scanning out of reach for smaller teams.
- Interface density and the sheer number of features create a steeper learning curve than GitHub for new users.
- Self-managed instances can be resource-intensive to run and upgrade, especially at Ultimate-tier feature scope.
- Third-party integration marketplace is smaller than GitHub's, since GitLab favors native built-in features over an app ecosystem.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $29/mo — $0/user/month (Free) matches OpenProject's free Community tier; GitLab's Premium at $29/user/month vs OpenProject's €10.95/user/month Professional tier (25-user minimum)