OpenProject vs SCM Manager

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?
FeatureOpenProjectSCM Manager
CategoryProject Management & TasksProject Management & Tasks
LicenseGPL-3.0BSD-3-Clause
LanguageRubyJava
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 15,794★ 176
First released20122020
ReplacesJira, Asana

Why pick each one

Choose OpenProject if…

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

Choose SCM Manager if…

  • Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Written in Java
SCM Manager details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenProject or SCM Manager better?

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

Are OpenProject and SCM Manager free and open-source?

Yes. OpenProject is licensed under GPL-3.0 and SCM Manager under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenProject and SCM Manager with Docker?

OpenProject: yes. SCM Manager: yes.

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