Kimai2 vs OpenEMR
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?
Kimai2
Multi-user application for time-tracking with support for mobile
VS
OpenEMR
Electronic health records and medical practice management solution
| Feature | Kimai2 | OpenEMR |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 200 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,871 | ★ 5,352 |
| First released | 2023 | 2025 |
| Replaces | Hamster, RescueTime, Toggl Track | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Kimai2 if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (4.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Choose OpenEMR if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 5.4k GitHub stars
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Kimai2 or OpenEMR better?
Neither is universally better. OpenEMR has the larger community, while Kimai2 is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kimai2 and OpenEMR free and open-source?
Yes. Kimai2 is licensed under MIT and OpenEMR under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kimai2 and OpenEMR with Docker?
Kimai2: check the project docs for container support. OpenEMR: check the project docs for container support.