OpenProject vs Paheko

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?
FeatureOpenProjectPaheko
CategoryProject Management & TasksProject Management & Tasks
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0-or-later
LanguageRuby
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM2,048 MB200 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 15,794
First released20122023
ReplacesJira, AsanaCiel Associations

Why pick each one

Choose OpenProject if…

  • Very feature-complete
  • Good for classic project management
  • Strong permissions
OpenProject details

Choose Paheko if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 200 MB RAM
Paheko details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenProject or Paheko better?

Neither is universally better. OpenProject has the larger community, while Paheko is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are OpenProject and Paheko free and open-source?

Yes. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Paheko under AGPL-3.0-or-later. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenProject and Paheko with Docker?

OpenProject: yes. Paheko: check the project docs for container support.

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