Krayin vs Twenty
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted crm & business apps options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Krayin | Twenty |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | CRM & Business Apps | CRM & Business Apps |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,938 | ★ 57,389 |
| First released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Salesforce, HubSpot | Salesforce, HubSpot |
What are Krayin and Twenty?
Krayin
Krayin is a free and open-source CRM built on Laravel, offering lead management, contacts, and sales pipelines. It targets small businesses wanting a lightweight PHP CRM. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Lead and pipeline management
- Contact and activity tracking
- Built on Laravel
- Email integration
Twenty
Twenty is a modern, open-source CRM designed as a flexible alternative to Salesforce with a clean, customizable interface. It targets startups and teams wanting an open CRM. It is deployed via Docker.
- Modern customizable CRM
- Flexible data model
- Keyboard-driven UI
- API and webhooks
Krayin vs Twenty: key differences
Krayin is written in PHP, while Twenty is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Krayin versus AGPL-3.0 for Twenty. Krayin is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Twenty. Krayin is the more established project (first released 2020), while Twenty arrived in 2023. Twenty has the considerably larger community, at 57,389 GitHub stars versus 23,938.
Why pick each one
Choose Krayin if…
- Lightweight CRM
- Laravel-based and extensible
- Open source
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Fewer features than big CRMs
Choose Twenty if…
- Clean modern interface
- Customizable objects
- Active development
Watch out for
- Young project
- Some features still maturing
Frequently asked questions
Is Krayin or Twenty better?
Neither is universally better. Twenty has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Krayin and Twenty free and open-source?
Yes. Krayin is licensed under MIT and Twenty under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Krayin and Twenty with Docker?
Krayin: yes. Twenty: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Krayin or Twenty?
Krayin has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Twenty. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.