Phorge vs Redmine
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Phorge
Community-driven fork of Phabricator
VS
Redmine
Flexible project management and issue tracking
| Feature | Phorge | Redmine |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 700 | ★ 6,039 |
| First released | 2022 | 2006 |
| Replaces | GitHub, Jira | Jira |
What are Phorge and Redmine?
Phorge
Phorge is a community-maintained continuation of Phabricator, providing code review, repository hosting, task management, and wikis. It keeps the platform alive with ongoing bug fixes and improvements.
- Actively maintained Phabricator fork
- Differential code review
- Maniphest tasks
- Integrated wiki
Redmine
Redmine is a mature open-source project management web application with issue tracking, Gantt charts, wikis, and repository integration. Its plugin ecosystem makes it highly customizable.
- Issue tracking with workflows
- Gantt charts and calendars
- Per-project wikis
- Large plugin library
Phorge vs Redmine: key differences
Phorge is written in PHP, while Redmine is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Phorge versus GPL-2.0 for Redmine. Redmine is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Phorge. Redmine is the more established project (first released 2006), while Phorge arrived in 2022. Redmine has the considerably larger community, at 6,039 GitHub stars versus 700. Redmine lists first-class Docker deployment; Phorge does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Redmine if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Phorge or Redmine better?
Redmine is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Phorge if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Phorge and Redmine free and open-source?
Yes. Phorge is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Redmine under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Phorge and Redmine with Docker?
Phorge: check the project docs for container support. Redmine: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Phorge or Redmine?
Redmine has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Phorge. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.