Phabricator vs Trac
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?
Phabricator
Suite of web apps to build software faster
VS
Trac
Integrated wiki and issue tracker for software projects
| Feature | Phabricator | Trac |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Helpdesk & Ticketing |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,299 | ★ 541 |
| First released | 2011 | 2004 |
| Replaces | GitHub, Jira | Jira |
Why pick each one
Choose Phabricator if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 12.3k GitHub stars
- Written in PHP
Choose Trac if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Phabricator or Trac better?
Neither is universally better. Phabricator has the larger community, while Trac is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Phabricator and Trac free and open-source?
Yes. Phabricator is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Trac under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Phabricator and Trac with Docker?
Phabricator: check the project docs for container support. Trac: check the project docs for container support.