Phabricator vs ZenTao

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?
FeaturePhabricatorZenTao
CategoryDeveloper Tools & GitGroupware
LicenseApache-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 12,299★ 1,665
First released20112009
ReplacesGitHub, JiraJira, Confluence

Why pick each one

Choose Phabricator if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Mature project with 12.3k GitHub stars
  • Written in PHP
Phabricator details

Choose ZenTao if…

  • Comprehensive feature set
  • Active development
ZenTao details

Frequently asked questions

Is Phabricator or ZenTao better?

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

Are Phabricator and ZenTao free and open-source?

Yes. Phabricator is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZenTao under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Phabricator and ZenTao with Docker?

Phabricator: check the project docs for container support. ZenTao: yes.

Related comparisons