OroCRM vs Fat Free CRM
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted crm & business apps options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | OroCRM | Fat Free CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | CRM & Business Apps | CRM & Business Apps |
| License | OSL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 685 | ★ 3,632 |
| First released | 2014 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Salesforce, HubSpot | Salesforce |
What are OroCRM and Fat Free CRM?
OroCRM
OroCRM is an open-source customer relationship management application designed for B2B and multi-channel sales. It offers strong reporting, segmentation, and workflow automation.
- B2B sales pipeline
- Advanced segmentation
- Workflow automation
- Detailed analytics
Fat Free CRM
Fat Free CRM is an open-source, Ruby on Rails based customer relationship management platform. It offers group collaboration, campaign and lead management, contact lists, and an opportunity pipeline out of the box.
- Lead and campaign management
- Contact and account lists
- Opportunity pipeline
- Group collaboration
OroCRM vs Fat Free CRM: key differences
OroCRM is written in PHP, while Fat Free CRM is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — OSL-3.0 for OroCRM versus MIT for Fat Free CRM. Fat Free CRM is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for OroCRM. Fat Free CRM is the more established project (first released 2008), while OroCRM arrived in 2014. Fat Free CRM has the considerably larger community, at 3,632 GitHub stars versus 685.
Why pick each one
Choose OroCRM if…
- Released under the OSL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
Choose Fat Free CRM if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Ruby
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Slower development
Frequently asked questions
Is OroCRM or Fat Free CRM better?
Fat Free CRM is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OroCRM if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are OroCRM and Fat Free CRM free and open-source?
Yes. OroCRM is licensed under OSL-3.0 and Fat Free CRM under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OroCRM and Fat Free CRM with Docker?
OroCRM: yes. Fat Free CRM: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, OroCRM or Fat Free CRM?
Fat Free CRM has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for OroCRM. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.