OpenProject vs Papercups

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureOpenProjectPapercups
CategoryProject Management & TasksChat & Communication
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageRubyElixir
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 15,794★ 6,097
First released20122020
ReplacesJira, AsanaIntercom, Drift

Why pick each one

Choose OpenProject if…

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

Choose Papercups if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 6.1k GitHub stars
  • Written in Elixir
Papercups details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenProject or Papercups better?

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

Are OpenProject and Papercups free and open-source?

Yes. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Papercups under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenProject and Papercups with Docker?

OpenProject: yes. Papercups: yes.

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