Huly vs Redmine
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Huly | Redmine |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | EPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 27,761 | ★ 6,039 |
| First released | 2023 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Linear, Jira | Jira |
What are Huly and Redmine?
Huly
Huly is an open-source platform that combines project management, issue tracking, virtual office, and team communication. It positions itself as a replacement for several developer SaaS tools at once.
- Issue tracking and projects
- Built-in virtual office
- Team messaging
- Document collaboration
Redmine
Redmine is a mature open-source project management web application with issue tracking, Gantt charts, wikis, and repository integration. Its plugin ecosystem makes it highly customizable.
- Issue tracking with workflows
- Gantt charts and calendars
- Per-project wikis
- Large plugin library
Huly vs Redmine: key differences
Huly is written in TypeScript, while Redmine is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — EPL-2.0 for Huly versus GPL-2.0 for Redmine. Redmine is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Huly. Redmine is the more established project (first released 2006), while Huly arrived in 2023. Huly has the considerably larger community, at 27,761 GitHub stars versus 6,039.
Why pick each one
Choose Huly if…
- Replaces several tools
- Real-time collaboration
- Slick modern interface
Watch out for
- Complex deployment stack
- Heavy resource usage
- Young project
Choose Redmine if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Huly or Redmine better?
Neither is universally better. Huly has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Huly and Redmine free and open-source?
Yes. Huly is licensed under EPL-2.0 and Redmine under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Huly and Redmine with Docker?
Huly: yes. Redmine: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Huly or Redmine?
Redmine has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Huly. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.