Comparison of Open-Source Solutions for Task and Project Management

Effective project and task management is the foundation of successful work for any modern team. Choosing the right tool can radically impact productivity, communication, and ultimately, project success.

The market offers numerous solutions: from cumbersome enterprise systems to simple kanban boards. In recent years, more and more companies are paying attention to open-source solutions — they provide full control over data, the ability to flexibly customize, and no vendor lock-in.

In this article, we'll explore key open-source tools for project and task management, compare their capabilities, and help you make the choice that's optimal for your team.

Why Consider Open-Source Solutions?

Choosing an open-source tool for project management offers several significant advantages:

Full Control Over Data

When hosted on your own servers, you own all the data. This is critically important for companies working in regulated industries — finance, healthcare, public sector. No one will access your projects, tasks, and documentation without your knowledge.

No Vendor Lock-In

Commercial services can change prices, close functionality, or even discontinue support. Open-source solutions guarantee that you can always use the product, even if the original developers lose interest.

Flexibility and Extensibility

Open-source code can be adapted to your company's unique processes. Add integration with internal systems, modify the interface, or implement specific reports — all of this is available with developers on hand.

Total Cost of Ownership

Although implementing an open-source solution may require initial investments in infrastructure and setup, in the long term this is often more cost-effective than regular payments for SaaS services, especially for large teams.

Security

Open code undergoes community review. Vulnerabilities are discovered and fixed quickly. The ability to conduct a security audit with your own specialists is an important factor for many enterprises.

Tool Selection Criteria

Before moving on to the comparative review, let's define the key parameters by which to evaluate project management systems:

Supported Methodologies

• Scrum — iterative development with fixed sprints
• Kanban — continuous task flow with work-in-progress limits
• Waterfall — classic cascade model
• Hybrid approaches — combination of different methodologies

Functional Capabilities

• Task and subtask management
• Time tracking
• Resource planning and team workload
• Budgeting and cost management
• Risk management
• Wiki documentation and knowledge base
• Integration with CI/CD and version control systems

Technical Requirements

• Ease of deployment and installation
• Infrastructure requirements
• Availability of Docker containers
• Support for clustering and high availability
• REST API and webhook integrations

Usability and Learning

• Initial learning curve complexity
• Documentation quality
• Availability of training materials
• Interface convenience for different roles

Overview of Popular Open-Source Solutions

We at Softellion specialize in deploying and configuring IT infrastructure based on open-source solutions. Therefore, we've compiled a small list of products that we've considered for our own projects and can deploy for you. Turnkey IT Infrastructure

Huly.io

A modern all-in-one platform positioning itself as a unified alternative to Linear, Jira, Slack, and Notion. This is a next-generation open-source solution focused on integrated work experience.

At the core of Huly is a unified workspace interface where tasks, planning, messages, documentation, and calendar are concentrated in one place. The platform supports bidirectional synchronization with GitHub, allowing automatic linking of tasks and projects with repositories and issue tracking, which makes it convenient for teams already using GitHub as their source of truth. Additionally, Huly includes Team Planner and calendar for visual resource planning, built-in chat and inbox for centralized team communication, as well as collaborative document and note editing tools with mention and task attachment capabilities.

Within our company, we settled on this solution based on the convenience and advantages of a comprehensive solution. We can deploy a similar setup for your tasks. We described our deployment scheme in a separate case study.

What Tasks It Covers:

• Project and task management
• Documentation organized by teams and projects
• Independent system for corporate calls and communication
• CRM system
• Tracking time spent on tasks
• File storage in personal cloud
• Hiring management, including resume and vacancy storage

Beyond purely management modules, the platform offers virtual office functionality with audio and video conferencing directly in the workspace, time-blocking tools for personal productivity, and flexible work with task metadata. Huly is also developing a system for integrating workflow elements into a dynamic knowledge base, which is planned to be enhanced with artificial intelligence in the future.

Key Features:

• All-in-one workspace — tasks, documents, communication, meetings in one place
• Smart boards — Kanban with drag-and-drop, customizable workflows
• GitHub synchronization — bidirectional task sync with GitHub Issues and Projects
• Real-time collaborative documents — like Notion, but open-source
• Built-in chat — replacement for Slack and other corporate solutions
• Virtual office — virtual rooms for meetings and communication
• Time blocking — smart time planning, calendar slots can be reserved directly for work
• Team calendar — unified view of all tasks and events
• AI assistant — smart suggestions and automation

Technologically, Huly is implemented as a web and desktop application with self-hosted deployment capability via Docker or Kubernetes, giving organizations full control over their infrastructure and data. The project is licensed under EPL-2.0, actively developed by a community of developers, and can be extended or adapted to specific needs.

Unlike mature corporate platforms, Huly is still in active development, but already offers a promising set of tools for teams that want to combine task management, communication, and documentation in one system.

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Truly all-in-one — replaces multiple tools (Jira + Slack + Notion + Linear)
• Modern, responsive interface and unified system — teams rarely want to return to fragmented tools
• Very active development (23k+ stars on GitHub, weekly releases)
• Deep GitHub integration — ideal for development teams: PR status visible directly in tasks, and links in GitHub descriptions
• Focus on remote collaboration — virtual offices, time tracking, work calendar

Disadvantages:

• As of the article writing, sprint support is not implemented in task management
• Higher infrastructure requirements (Cockroach + Elasticsearch require resources)
• Project is actively developing — there may be significant changes and major manual data migrations when upgrading to newer versions
• Some features are still in development, such as mobile app
• Enterprise functionality may be limited compared to Jira — less flexibility in settings
• New features appear faster than documentation updates
• Corporate authentication in development — SAML still in beta, which may be critical for large enterprises

Best For:

Technology teams that want to replace their entire set of tools (Jira + Slack + Notion + Linear) with one solution. Especially suitable for distributed teams and product companies. Ideal if you need an independent calling system, documentation, and project management without unnecessary complexity.

OpenProject

One of the most functional and mature open-source project management tools. This is a full-featured enterprise-level platform with active development and a large community.

The solution supports both the classic (waterfall) approach with detailed planning and flexible methodologies — Scrum and Kanban. The platform is distributed in Community (free) and Enterprise versions, and can be deployed on-premise or used in a cloud version.

At the core of OpenProject is the work package model, which unites tasks, subtasks, epics, defects, and requirements into a single structure. The system supports customizable workflows, roles and access permissions, custom fields, filters, and saved views. For agile teams, backlog, sprints, Scrum and Kanban boards, story point estimation, and burndown charts are available. For projects with rigid planning, Gantt charts, task dependencies, milestones, and version management are implemented.

Additionally, OpenProject includes time tracking tools, built-in wiki and documentation, reporting, and data export. The availability of REST API, webhooks, and integrations with version control systems allows embedding the platform into existing DevOps workflows. Architecturally, the system is built on Ruby on Rails and uses PostgreSQL, supports deployment via Docker, which simplifies integration into corporate infrastructure.

Key Capabilities:

• Full project management lifecycle — from planning to project closure
• Powerful Gantt chart module with automatic critical path calculation
• Agile boards for Scrum and Kanban with full workflow customization
• Team Planner — visual task distribution across team members
• Time tracking and budget management
• Wiki and documentation built into the system
• BIM integration for construction and engineering projects
• Advanced permissions system with role-based access

OpenProject is particularly in demand in organizations where data control, source code transparency, and customization capability are important. This is a practical choice for companies that need a unified platform for planning, task management, and project execution control without reliance on closed SaaS ecosystems.

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Enterprise functionality without licensing fees
• Active development and regular updates (monthly releases)
• Support for 40+ languages, including Russian
• Large community and detailed documentation
• Commercial support and hosted version available
• BIM module is unique for open-source — used by construction companies in Europe to link 3D models with tasks
• Corporate authentication — LDAP and SAML available in Enterprise version, Active Directory integration

Disadvantages:

• High server resource requirements (4GB+ RAM for comfortable work with 50+ users)
• Initial setup complexity — requires DevOps expertise
• Overkill for simple usage scenarios

Best For:

Medium and large companies that need a full-featured PM tool with the ability to fine-tune to their processes. Especially suitable for IT projects, construction, consulting.

Taiga

An elegant solution for agile teams that value simplicity and focus on core functions. Designed specifically for Scrum and Kanban.

designed specifically for Agile teams working with Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid methodologies. Taiga emphasizes simplicity, convenience, and clear user experience: the interface is intuitive, minimalist, and oriented toward daily task planning. The system offers rich functionality for backlog, sprints, and Kanban boards, including visual burndown charts, customizable swimlanes, filters, and task statuses, which facilitates managing development iterations and tracking current progress.

Additionally, Taiga includes built-in tools for tracking issues, bugs, and comments, integrations with external version control systems (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket), and REST API for automating workflows. The platform is available as both a cloud solution and for self-hosted deployment, allowing companies to have full control over data and customize operations to their processes. Thanks to its openness and focus on Agile approaches, Taiga is particularly suitable for small and medium teams that want to avoid the bloat of large corporate tools.

Key Features:

• Agile specialization — ideal for Scrum and Kanban
• Intuitive interface with minimalist design
• User stories with automatic story point calculation
• Burndown charts and progress tracking
• Wiki for each project
• Integrations with GitHub, GitLab, Slack

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Quick deployment via Docker
• Low entry barrier for teams
• Excellent user experience, loved by developers
• Active community
• Open-source under a venture-backed company
• Flexible API — can automate routine via Python scripts

Disadvantages:

• Limited functionality outside agile scenarios
• No classic Gantt chart (can work around via plugins, but clunky)
• Weak capabilities for project portfolio management
• Limited corporate authentication — LDAP only via third-party plugins, no native SAML/OIDC support

Best For:

Agile development teams up to 50 people, startups, product teams using Scrum/Kanban. Ideal for those who want to "just start" without complex setup.

Redmine

A veteran of open-source PM (since 2006), still popular due to its flexibility and reliability. Many large companies run on it.

One of the oldest and most stable open-source project management systems. It combines task tracking, issue management, time tracking, Gantt chart building, and calendars, as well as tools for documentation and collaboration. Thanks to a flexible role and permission model, each organization can fine-tune workflows, task statuses, and access to project sections.

One of Redmine's key strengths is its deep integration with version control systems (Git, SVN, Mercurial, etc.) with the ability to view repositories directly in the interface and automatic linking of commits to tasks when using special tags. There's also a huge ecosystem of plugins that extend base functionality — from Agile boards to CRM modules and integrations with external services.

Although Redmine's interface looks more classic and may seem outdated, its strength lies in maximum customizability and applicability in various areas, from software development to document management and infrastructure projects.

Key Features:

• Multiple project support with customizable roles and permissions
• Flexible workflows — customizable statuses and transitions
• Time tracking with reports
• Gantt chart and calendar project view
• Repository integration — Git, SVN, Mercurial
• Plugin ecosystem — hundreds of extensions
• Custom fields for practically any entity

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Time-tested stability (working since 2006!)
• Huge number of plugins for any need (1000+ in official repository)
• Customizable to any workflow — literally any
• Works on modest hardware (ran on Raspberry Pi for small teams)
• Large community and Russian documentation
• Customizable workflows — can create workflow "Requirements → Code Review → QA → Pre-production → Production → Customer Verification" with any transitions
• Built-in LDAP support — integration with Active Directory and other corporate directories

Disadvantages:

• Outdated interface (Will take time to get used to)
• Setup complexity for beginners
• For comfortable work, often need paid plugins (advanced reporting, agile board v2.0)
• Slow development in recent years
• Performance issues: starts to lag with >10,000 issues without DB optimization

Best For:

Companies with unique processes that can't be squeezed into standard agile frameworks. Enterprise IT departments, governmental projects where time-tested stability is important.

Plane

A modern competitor to Jira, Linear, and Asana. A young but rapidly gaining popularity project with excellent user experience and modern technological base.

A relatively new project that attempts to combine task tracking, documentation, analytics, and team communication functions in one platform with a modern, responsive interface. Plane offers flexible work items (tasks with formatted descriptions, labels, and comments), cycles/sprints, kanban and list views, as well as integrated modules for documentation (Pages) and workflow analytics.

One of Plane's distinctive features is its attention to user experience and design, making work with the system more pleasant compared to classic tools. The platform is actively developing, offering built-in AI tools that help create tasks, write documentation, and automate routine processes, as well as scale from small teams to complex workspaces with multiple projects and roles.

Plane also supports a role model and deployment via Docker/Kubernetes, facilitating self-hosted installations and integration into corporate infrastructure.

Key Features:

• Modern interface focused on product development
• Issues, Epics, Cycles — organic for product teams and iterative work
• Modules for grouping work
• Powerful filtering and savable task display options
• Analytics with ideas for workflow improvement
• Public roadmap for external users

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Active development (releases every week)
• Modern, adaptive interface — team immediately understands what to do
• Active community (40k+ stars on GitHub)
• Free cloud option up to 5 users
• Well-suited for distributed teams
• GitHub synchronization works bidirectionally — changes in Plane appear in GitHub and vice versa

Disadvantages:

• Project is still young, may change and require manual settings
• Less corporate functionality and adaptability
• More frequent bugs in actively developed projects compared to proven solutions
• Corporate authentication only in cloud — SAML/OIDC available only in paid cloud version, not for self-hosted

Best For:

Product teams, startups, companies with employees worldwide and remote work format. Great alternative to Jira for those who want a modern, lightweight tool.

Kanboard

A minimalist tool for teams that love kanban and don't want anything extra. Does one thing, but does it excellently.

Unlike complex platforms with multiple modules, Kanboard follows the principle of minimalism: the system provides only necessary tools for task management, without overloading the user with extra features. This approach makes it convenient for small teams, technical divisions, and infrastructure projects where transparency and task flow control are important.

At the core of Kanboard is the board concept with columns reflecting work execution stages. Tasks are represented as cards that can be moved between columns using drag-and-drop. WIP (Work In Progress) limits are supported, allowing control of the number of simultaneously executed tasks and reducing team overload.

The system also includes automation mechanisms — users can configure rules and triggers (e.g., automatic task transfer when status changes or assignee is assigned), which simplifies maintaining process discipline without manual control.

Key Features:

• Pure Kanban — no extra functions
• Drag-and-drop interface, tasks drag across columns
• Search and filters by any parameter
• Subtasks and file attachments
• LDAP authentication support for integration with corporate accounts
• Plugin system for extensions

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Very lightweight (works on any hardware — ran on cheapest VPS without problems)
• Minimalist but functional interface — page load <100ms even on old hardware
• Quick installation and setup
• Stability and reliability
• Good documentation
• JSON export of all data — can export and analyze using scripts

Disadvantages:

• Only Kanban (no Scrum, no sprints)
• Limited functionality — no built-in time tracking (via plugin)
• Not suitable for complex scenarios
• Mobile version — exists but not optimized for smartphones
• No corporate authentication — no SSO/SAML/LDAP support, limiting use in large enterprises

Best For:

Small teams that love simple tools

ZenTao

A Chinese open-source system, created specifically for managing the entire software development lifecycle. Very popular in China, gaining popularity worldwide.

A comprehensive all-in-one project and application management platform, oriented toward development teams and product organizations. It was designed around Scrum principles but also supports hybrid approaches, including Kanban and Waterfall, making it universal for different management methodologies.

Key Features:

• Integrated lifecycle — product management + project management + testing
• Fully Chinese stack — deploys in Chinese but supports English and Russian
• Scrum + Waterfall support
• Test case management
• Bug tracking with lifecycle
• CI/CD integration (Jenkins, GitLab CI)
• Documentation management by project
• Flexible workflows for different entity types

One of ZenTao's key features is its ability to cover the entire product development lifecycle: from requirements management, user stories, and backlog to release planning and task execution tracking. The system includes a powerful task tracker, built-in bug management, testing tools (creating and executing test cases), as well as document management and wiki repositories for storing project information.

ZenTao offers extensive customization capabilities: workflows, views, reports, and interfaces can be adapted to specific team needs. The platform supports integrations with version control systems (Git, SVN), CI/CD tools, and provides REST API for automation. ZenTao is widely used in different industries and is suitable for both small agile teams and large projects requiring comprehensive quality, task, and release management.

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Full software development lifecycle coverage — from requirements to deployment
• Built-in test management (rare in open-source) — test cases, test runs, bug lifecycle in one place
• Active development (Chinese community is large, 500+ active contributors)
• Flexible access permissions — can configure so testers see only test cases but not source code
• Can replace multiple tools — one company replaced Jira + TestRail + Confluence with one ZenTao
• LDAP support — integration with corporate directories for user management

Disadvantages:

• Interface not the most modern (but functional)
• Documentation primarily in Chinese — English documentation exists but with update delays
• Chinese design philosophy may be unfamiliar — workflow names like Product View by default
• Plugin ecosystem smaller than Redmine's — fewer community contributors

Best For:

Software development companies that need an integrated system for the full lifecycle. Especially suitable if you want to organize development and testing team work in a single system.

Leantime

An interesting project that combines project management and strategic planning.

Unlike traditional tools focused only on tasks, Leantime connects vision, goals, strategy, and day-to-day work, helping teams and individuals understand why they're doing certain work, and then how to implement it. The system combines Lean and Agile approaches, offering visual task representations, timelines, and flexible boards for work management.

The platform provides a personal dashboard ("My Work Dashboard") where you can see all your tasks from different projects, plan your day, use time blocking, take notes, and apply AI prioritization, which helps focus on truly important things. Within a project, Kanban boards, tables, and task lists with subtasks and dependencies are available, milestone management, and Gantt charts for visual deadline planning.

Leantime also includes strategic planning tools — such as focus areas, connecting goals to outcomes, blueprint-based planning, and progress reports. There are modules for documentation, ideas, time tracking, and time spent on tasks. Thanks to open source and self-hosted deployment, organizations have full control over data and extensibility for their own processes.

Key Features:

• Strategic planning — Lean Canvas, Business Model Canvas
• Project management — tasks, milestone management, kanban boards
• Idea boards for brainstorming
• Clean interface
• Basic time tracking

Technical Specifications:

Advantages:

• Suitable for founders and small business owners
• Modern interface — looks more modern than many open-source alternatives
• Active development
• Retrospective templates — built-in format for team reflections, saves time on coordination meetings

Disadvantages:

• Not suitable for large corporations — no detailed security settings and flexibility
• Limited integrations — only basic webhooks, no native integration with popular tools
• Smaller community (younger than others) — fewer plugins
• No corporate authentication — lack of SSO/SAML/LDAP limits use in large companies

Best For:

Small and medium business, startups that need to connect strategic planning with execution. Great for agencies working on client projects in parallel.

Comparison Table

Here's a comparison table of key characteristics:

How to Choose the Right Solution

Analyze Your Team and Processes

Here are some parameters to guide you.

Project Types:

• Multiple client projects: Taiga, Plane, Huly, OpenProject
• Product development: Taiga, Plane, Huly, OpenProject
• Continuous task flow: Kanboard, Huly, OpenProject

Methodology:

• Scrum only: Taiga
• Kanban only: Kanboard, Taiga, Plane
• Hybrid/Waterfall: OpenProject, ZenTao, Redmine
• Strategy first: Leantime

Evaluate Technical Capabilities

Available Expertise:

• Have DevOps engineer → can deploy any tool
• Have basic Linux knowledge → Docker solutions (Taiga, Plane, Kanboard)
• No technical resources → consider managed versions or simpler tools

Integration Requirements:

• Git: Taiga, Plane, Redmine, ZenTao
• CI/CD: ZenTao (best), Taiga, OpenProject
• Communication tools: Huly.io as unified system
• Custom systems: REST API quality matters — OpenProject, Plane

Consider Budget

Open-source isn't always free: consider

• Infrastructure cost — servers, storage, bandwidth
• Setup time — internal or external resources
• Support — updates, backups, monitoring
• Technical support — available for OpenProject, ZenTao

SaaS solutions may have lower total cost of ownership for small teams.

Conclusion

Open-source project management solutions have reached a level where they not only match commercial alternatives but surpass them in many aspects.

When deploying a project in your own environment, it is very important to properly set up monitoring. We covered the basic principles in the article How to Systematically and Effectively Build Monitoring.

Key Takeaways:

• Huly.io — next-generation all-in-one workspace for integrated collaboration
• OpenProject — corporate choice for complex scenarios
• Taiga — modern agile teams, focus on simplicity
• Redmine — flexibility, time-tested for unique workflows
• Plane — modern alternative for product teams
• Kanboard — minimalism for kanban lovers
• ZenTao — full-cycle development management for IT companies
• Leantime — strategy + execution for small business

The right choice depends on your specific situation. Start by analyzing your requirements, team size, technical capabilities, and budget. Remember: the tool should serve you, not vice versa.

Or contact us for a free consultation. We'll select the optimal solution and configure it to your processes.