Octobox 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?
Octobox
Take back control of your GitHub Notifications
VS
OpenEMR
Electronic health records and medical practice management solution
| Feature | Octobox | OpenEMR |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | docker | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,478 | ★ 5,352 |
| First released | 2026 | 2025 |
| Replaces | — | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Octobox if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Ruby
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 Octobox or OpenEMR better?
Neither is universally better. OpenEMR has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Octobox and OpenEMR free and open-source?
Yes. Octobox is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and OpenEMR under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Octobox and OpenEMR with Docker?
Octobox: yes. OpenEMR: check the project docs for container support.