Kimai2 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?
Kimai2
Multi-user application for time-tracking with support for mobile
VS
OpenProject
Open-source project management and collaboration
| Feature | Kimai2 | OpenProject |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 200 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,871 | ★ 15,794 |
| First released | 2023 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Hamster, RescueTime, Toggl Track | Jira, Asana |
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 OpenProject if…
- Very feature-complete
- Good for classic project management
- Strong permissions
Frequently asked questions
Is Kimai2 or OpenProject better?
Neither is universally better. OpenProject 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 OpenProject free and open-source?
Yes. Kimai2 is licensed under MIT and OpenProject under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kimai2 and OpenProject with Docker?
Kimai2: check the project docs for container support. OpenProject: yes.