Active Collab vs OpenProject
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
| Feature | Active Collab | OpenProject |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | ⊘ Proprietary | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | — | ★ 15,794 |
| First released | 2020 | 2012 |
| Replaces | — | Jira, Asana |
Why pick each one
Choose Active Collab if…
- Released under the ⊘ Proprietary license
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose OpenProject if…
- Very feature-complete
- Good for classic project management
- Strong permissions
Frequently asked questions
Is Active Collab or OpenProject better?
Neither is universally better. OpenProject has the larger community, while Active Collab is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Active Collab and OpenProject free and open-source?
Yes. Active Collab is licensed under ⊘ Proprietary and OpenProject under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Active Collab and OpenProject with Docker?
Active Collab: check the project docs for container support. OpenProject: yes.