OpenProject Blog

Top 5 open source project management software 2026

2026-02-24T07:59:00+00:00

How to choose the best open source project management software

Finding the right project management software for your organization can be a challenge — especially when you want a solution that is transparent, flexible, and gives you full control over your data.

Open source project management tools are increasingly popular in 2026, as many organizations look for alternatives to proprietary platforms, rising licensing costs, and cloud-only solutions. At the same time, requirements around data privacy, security, and compliance continue to grow — particularly for public institutions and regulated industries.

To help you make an informed decision, we have updated our overview of the top open source project management software in 2026. The tools listed below differ in focus and strengths: some are built for agile teams, others for software development workflows, and others for full-featured project planning across an organization.

When comparing project management software, make sure to consider:

Feature set and supported methodologies (classic, agile, or hybrid)
Hosting options (cloud vs. self-hosted)
Data protection and privacy strategy
Community activity and long-term maintenance
Pricing and available support options

The tools listed in this article are widely used and well-established open source solutions, each with different strengths depending on your organization’s needs.

Here are our 5 top open source project management tools to consider in 2026:

OpenProject

OpenProject is a widely used open source project management platform, licensed under GNU GPL v3.

Best for in 2026: organizations looking for a secure solution that supports classic, agile, and hybrid project workflows.

Free and open source software

The software code is freely available on GitHub. All changes to the source code are transparently traceable at any time. With OpenProject, there is no vendor lock-in.

OpenProject meets high data protection and security requirements. The company, based in Berlin, Germany, focuses on developing a secure and privacy-compliant European alternative for project management and team collaboration. Read more about security and privacy conditions at OpenProject.

Data sovereignty

With OpenProject, users retain full control over their data. With the self-installed version hosted on own servers, OpenProject offers a high level of data sovereignty. Alternatively, hosting is provided on demand on secure servers within Germany. OpenProject follows a strict privacy approach and does not rely on user tracking within the application. Read the OpenProject privacy policy.

Secure hosting

If you don’t have the capacity or knowledge to host OpenProject in your environment, the Enterprise cloud edition offers secure hosting in the EU.

Feature set

OpenProject maps the entire project lifecycle, from project planning and execution to project controlling and closure. The software supports classic, agile, and hybrid project management.

It includes extensive project management functions such as project and milestone planning (Gantt charts), task management, agile boards, meetings, project wiki, forums, time and cost tracking, budgets, and more. See OpenProject collaboration features.

Configuration

The software is flexibly configurable and can be adapted to individual requirements. With a powerful API, additional systems can be connected if required.

Part of openDesk

OpenProject is part of openDesk, an open source office and collaboration suite for the German public sector. Learn more about openDesk.

Active maintenance and development

OpenProject is continuously developed and maintained by an active developer Community. New features, improvements, and updates are released regularly. To learn more, take a look at the OpenProject roadmap.

Professional support and training

Building on extensive documentation, OpenProject offers professional support and training for organizations that require additional guidance.

Pricing

The OpenProject Community edition is free of charge and self-hosted. All essential project and task management features are included in this free version.

The Enterprise cloud and on-premises editions offer professional support as well as additional premium and security add-ons. Pricing starts from €5.95 per month per user.

OpenProject also offers a 14 days free trial to explore the Enterprise edition in practice — no credit card required, and you won’t receive unwanted marketing emails.

Redmine

Redmine is a long-established open source project management and issue tracking tool, licensed under GNU GPL v2.

Best for in 2026: teams looking for a lightweight, self-hosted solution focused on issue tracking and extensibility through plugins.

Feature set

Redmine combines project management with strong issue tracking capabilities. It is particularly popular among technical teams who want a flexible tool for managing tasks, bugs, and workflows.

Key features include:

Issue and task tracking
Project and role-based access management
Custom fields and workflows
Wiki and documentation features
Plugin ecosystem for extending functionality

Redmine is often chosen for its simplicity and adaptability. However, compared to more modern platforms, it may require additional configuration and plugins to cover advanced project planning features such as Gantt-based scheduling or portfolio management.

See a comparison between Redmine and OpenProject to explore the differences between both open source project management tools.

Hosting

Redmine is primarily designed for self-hosting, giving organizations full control over where their data is stored. This makes it a common choice for teams with strict infrastructure or compliance requirements.

Pricing

Redmine is free to use as open source software. Costs typically depend on hosting, maintenance, and whether professional support is provided by third-party vendors.

GitLab

GitLab is a source code management and DevOps platform that can also be used for project planning and collaboration. It is licensed under an MIT open source license and has a clear focus on software development teams.

Best for in 2026: software development teams looking to manage code, CI/CD, and project planning in one integrated platform.

https://about.gitlab.com

Feature set

GitLab offers a broad feature set to support the entire software delivery lifecycle. In addition to version control and DevOps functionality, it includes project management features such as issue tracking, agile boards, workflows, and timelines.

GitLab is especially strong for teams that want to connect project work directly to development processes. However, features such as budgeting, cost tracking, or more advanced project portfolio management are not a core part of GitLab’s offering.

Tip
If you are not entirely convinced by the GitLab offering in terms of project management, but like its feature set, you can use OpenProject with its GitLab integration.

See a comparison between GitLab and OpenProject to explore the differences between both open source tools.

Hosting

GitLab is available both in the cloud and as a self-hosted on-premises solution. The self-managed version provides full control over your data and infrastructure.

GitLab.com, the hosted cloud offering, is primarily operated on Google Cloud infrastructure in the United States. For organizations with strict compliance requirements, hosting location and applicable regulations should be reviewed carefully.

Pricing

GitLab offers a free tier with limited features. Paid plans provide additional functionality and support, with pricing depending on the selected edition and team size. GitLab also offers a free trial for its paid plans.

Tuleap

Tuleap is an open source project management and application lifecycle management (ALM) platform, licensed under GNU GPL.

Best for in 2026: agile software development teams that need structured planning and lifecycle management in one open source platform.

https://www.tuleap.org/

Feature set

Tuleap provides a comprehensive set of agile project management features, including task boards, backlogs, Kanban boards, burnup and burndown charts, and dashboards.

In addition to agile planning, Tuleap supports software development workflows such as test management and project tracking, making it particularly relevant for teams working in regulated or complex development environments.

For organizations looking for a broader project management approach, Tuleap’s focus on agile and ALM may feel more specialized. Traditional project management features such as Gantt-based scheduling, budgeting, or cost tracking are not as central as in other tools.

See a comparison between Tuleap and OpenProject to explore the differences between both open source project management tools.

Hosting

Tuleap is available both as a cloud solution and as a self-hosted on-premises edition.

For the premium cloud version, hosting providers are available in several regions, including France, Switzerland, the USA, the UK, Korea, and others. Organizations with specific compliance requirements should review the hosting setup carefully depending on the chosen plan.

Pricing

Tuleap does not offer a fully free cloud version. Pricing depends on the selected edition and hosting model, and a free trial is available upon request.

Taiga

Taiga is an open source project management software whose beginnings date back to a Kaleidos hackathon in 2013. It is licensed under MPL 2.0.

Best for in 2026: agile teams looking for a simple and visually intuitive tool focused on Scrum and Kanban workflows.

https://www.taiga.io

Feature set

Taiga was created with the goal of providing an accessible and user-friendly agile project management tool for developers and designers.

It offers a comprehensive feature set for agile methodologies, including:

Kanban boards
Product and sprint backlogs
Issue tracking
Estimation tools
Dashboards and reporting features

Taiga is well suited for teams working primarily with Scrum or Kanban. However, classic project management features such as Gantt charts, budget tracking, or broader portfolio planning are not part of its core focus.

See a comparison between Taiga and OpenProject to explore the differences between both open source project management tools.

Hosting

Taiga is available both as a cloud solution and as a self-hosted on-premises edition.

The cloud version is hosted in the European Union via AWS, which can be relevant for organizations that require GDPR-aligned hosting.

Pricing

Taiga offers free cloud and self-hosted options. Paid plans provide additional services such as premium support, with pricing depending on the selected edition.

Compare the top 5 open source project management software in 2026

Choosing the best project management software for your organization depends on a variety of criteria, including the features and workflows you need, the size of your team, and your hosting and data privacy requirements.

All listed open source project management tools have their own strengths and are suited for different use cases — from lightweight issue tracking to full-featured hybrid project planning.

If you are looking for an open source project management software in 2026, we recommend taking a closer look at OpenProject, Redmine, GitLab, Tuleap, and Taiga.

To give you a quick summary:

Tool	Best for in 2026	Hosting options
OpenProject	Hybrid project management across teams	Cloud + self-hosted
Redmine	Lightweight issue tracking and plugins	Mainly self-hosted
GitLab	DevOps teams managing code + planning	Cloud + self-hosted
Tuleap	Agile planning + lifecycle management	Cloud + self-hosted
Taiga	Scrum and Kanban teams	Cloud + self-hosted

OpenProject supports classic, agile, and hybrid project management in one platform. It offers features such as Gantt charts, agile boards, time and cost tracking, and a strong focus on data sovereignty through self-hosting or secure EU-based cloud hosting.
Redmine is a long-established open source tool focused on issue tracking and extensibility through plugins. It is primarily self-hosted and often used by technical teams looking for a lightweight and customizable solution.
GitLab combines project planning with source code management and DevOps workflows. It is especially relevant for software development teams that want to manage code and project work in one integrated environment.
Tuleap focuses on agile project management and application lifecycle management (ALM). It is well suited for teams working in structured software development environments that require agile planning and lifecycle tracking.
Taiga provides an intuitive and visually appealing agile project management experience, focused on Scrum and Kanban workflows. It is a strong option for teams looking for simplicity in agile execution.

Regarding pricing and hosting details, we recommend visiting the individual websites, as costs and available plans may vary depending on team size, deployment model, and support requirements.

You can also take a look at more detailed comparisons of OpenProject to other alternatives here. Every organization is different, make a choice that’s best for your needs. We are here if you have more questions.

OpenProject 17.1: Automated project initiation requests (Enterprise add-on)

2026-02-11T08:52:00+00:00

OpenProject 17.1 has been released and introduces several major improvements across the platform. In this article, we highlight the most important changes and what they mean for your daily work. We will summarize the most important changes in this blog article and, as always, please see our release notes that contain all changes, features and bug fixes.

A quick article navigation:

Automated project initiation requests (Enterprise add-on)

Starting new projects often involves more than just creating a project space. In many organizations, project initiation includes collecting key information, aligning stakeholders, and requesting formal approval before work can begin.

With OpenProject 17.1, automated project initiation requests help structure this process in a dedicated workflow. Instead of coordinating project details via emails, spreadsheets, or meetings, teams can collect all required information directly within OpenProject and track the initiation status transparently.

Project initiation requests are based on predefined templates and guide requesters through the necessary input. This makes project intake more consistent and reduces back-and-forth between project requesters, project managers, and decision-makers.

Once submitted, OpenProject automatically creates a work package with all relevant information as well as a PDF artifact. This way, initiation requests can be reviewed, discussed, and approved in a structured way before the project moves forward.

This feature is particularly useful for organizations with standardized project processes, governance requirements, or approval workflows. It supports a clear separation between requesting, reviewing, and starting projects, while keeping all information in one place.

If you want to learn more about the concept behind project initiation workflows and how they support structured project governance, take a look at our preview article on project initiation request workflows for PM² and other standards .

To learn about how to use the automated project initiation requests, please see our documentation.

Important
Automated project initiation requests are available as an Enterprise add-on in the Premium plan. See our pricing page and contact us for more information on upgrading to a higher plan.

Smarter meeting workflows with work package outcomes and more

Meetings are most effective when decisions and action items are clearly captured and followed up on. With OpenProject 17.1, meeting workflows have been improved to help teams turn discussions into concrete next steps and keep recurring meetings better connected.

One of the great improvements is that meeting outcomes can now be directly created as work packages. Instead of manually transferring notes or action items after a meeting, teams can immediately turn agreed outcomes into tasks and assign responsibilities. This helps ensure that decisions made in meetings lead to actual progress.

For recurring meetings, agenda items and outcomes can now be copied to the next occurrence. This makes it easier to continue discussions, revisit open points, or carry forward unfinished items without recreating content from scratch.

OpenProject 17.1 also improves calendar integration for meetings. Participant responses such as accepted, declined, or tentative are now visible directly in the meeting sidebar. These responses are collected from calendar invitations, for example when an ICS event is sent by email or downloaded and shared, giving organizers a clearer overview of who plans to attend.

Together, these improvements make meetings more actionable, better connected to ongoing work, and easier to manage across recurring sessions and external calendars.

Attribute highlighting released to Community edition

At OpenProject, we remain committed to our Community and are convinced that the continuous development of the OpenProject Community Edition benefits everyone. That’s why we regularly release Enterprise add-ons for the Community version. With OpenProject 17.1, we are releasing attribute highlighting for our Community, so that it’s no longer an Enterprise add-on.

Depending on which attributes you want to highlight – and which colors you choose – your work package table looks different. Here’s an example of a work package table highlighted by Priority:

Other great improvements with OpenProject 17.1

OpenProject 17.1 offers more features and updates. To keep this article concise, here is a quick look at some additional improvements worth highlighting:

Enable a warning before opening external links in user-provided content (Enterprise add-on)

To improve security awareness, OpenProject 17.1 introduces an optional warning before opening external links that were added by users. This helps teams better assess potential risks when leaving OpenProject, especially in environments with many collaborators or external contributors. Available as Enterprise add-on in the Premium plan. Read more about capturing external links in OpenProject.

Show short and weight values for Hierarchy and Weighted item list fields (Enterprise add-on)

Hierarchy and Weighted item list custom fields now display their short and weight values more clearly. This makes it easier to understand priorities and calculations at a glance, especially when working with structured data or aggregated values in larger projects.

Note
Hierarchy fields are available as Enterprise add-ons in the Basic plan and weighted item list fields are available as Enterprise add-on in the Premium plan. Read more about custom fields in OpenProject.

Improved performance and UX/UI updates

OpenProject 17.1 includes further performance improvements, bug fixes and UX/UI refinements across the application. The Activity tab has been optimized to load faster and provide a smoother experience, especially in projects with a large amount of activity.

In addition, several areas have been updated to use the Primer design system, including the Access tokens section in account settings, the Backlogs administration page, and the password confirmation dialog. These changes improve visual consistency and usability while keeping existing workflows intact.

OpenProject 17.1: Migration, installation, updates and support

Follow the upgrade guide for the packaged installation or Docker installation to update your OpenProject installation to OpenProject 17.1. We update your hosted OpenProject environments (Enterprise cloud) today, February 11, 2026.

You will find more information about all new features and changes in our Release notes and in the OpenProject Documentation.

If you need support, you can post your questions in the Community Forum, or if you are eligible for Enterprise support, please contact us and we will be happy to support you personally.

New to OpenProject? To test all features of OpenProject 17.1 right away, create a 14 days free trial instance for our OpenProject Enterprise cloud.
Prefer to run OpenProject 17.1 in your own infrastructure? Here you can find the Installation guidelines for OpenProject.
Want to upgrade from a Community version to try out the Enterprise add-ons? Get a 14 days free trial token to test the Enterprise add-ons (all plans).

Credits

A very special thank you goes to Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, City of Cologne, Deutsche Bahn and ZenDiS for sponsoring released or upcoming features. Your support, alongside the efforts of our amazing Community, helps drive these innovations. Also a big thanks to our Community members for reporting bugs and helping us identify and provide fixes. Special thanks for reporting and finding bugs go to Johannes Baumgarten, Lea Fuchs, Александр Татаринцев, Stefan Weiberg, and Natalie Stettner.

Last but not least, we are very grateful for our very engaged translation contributors on Crowdin, who translated quite a few OpenProject strings! This release we would like to particularly thank the following users:

Haura Nabila Rinaldi, for a great number of translations into Indonesian.
arnegronkjaer, for a great number of translations into Danish.

Would you like to help out with translations yourself? Then take a look at our translation guide and find out exactly how you can contribute. It is very much appreciated!

As always, we welcome any feedback on this release.

Prioritize what matters: How Attribute highlighting helps growing teams stay focused

2026-02-11T08:08:00+00:00

Whether you’re a team of five or fifty — as your organization grows, so does the number of projects, tasks, and priorities. At some point, work packages that once fit on one board become a sea of cards, and keeping focus becomes a challenge.

That’s why we created the Attribute highlighting feature: it helps you immediately see what needs your attention most. In this article, we’ll walk you through a relatable scenario and show how this feature can support you in staying focused and scaling successfully.

Important
Before February 2026, Attribute highlighting was part of the Enterprise edition in OpenProject. With the release of version 17.1, it is part of the free Community edition, because we value our Community a lot and aim to give “back” Enterprise add-ons to all users every few releases. You can find more information about this feature in our documentation.

You’ve grown — now it’s time to change how you work

Things might be going well. Your organization is growing. More clients, more projects, more team members. But with growth comes complexity. What used to be a simple backlog is now a multi-project list of dozens — maybe hundreds — of open tasks. And suddenly, you’re no longer sure what’s urgent, what’s blocked, or what’s been waiting for weeks.

Your system hasn’t changed, but your needs have. And that’s a good thing — because it means it’s time to invest in new ways to keep your growing team aligned.

Clean up your work package table by highlighting priority, status or finish date

Let’s take your team’s work package table as an example. Imagine you’ve filtered for this month’s deliverables — but the list is still long. You spot tasks with due dates coming up, some that are marked high priority, and one that was updated just now. But it takes a few minutes of scrolling and reading to get the full picture.

That’s where Attribute highlighting comes in. This feature allows you to visually emphasize specific values in your work package table using color: overdue tasks can turn red, high-priority items might stand out in orange, and different status values can appear in clearly distinguishable shades.

With just a glance, your team can now immediately see:

What’s overdue,
What’s marked as high or urgent priority,
What’s resolved or in progress.

How Attribute highlighting works

Let’s say your team uses the Priority attribute and a custom status workflow. You can highlight individual attributes inline (Status, Priority, Finish date) or apply full-row highlighting based on Status, Type, or Priority.

Once you’ve set this up in the work package table view, your team sees these visual cues automatically — without needing to open each task individually.

Tip
You can configure which colors are used for each priority and status in the System administration. Learn how to adjust them for priorities and for statuses.

Let’s look at an example work package table and how it looks with different attributes highlighted. Please note that you can change the colors for work package attributes and that they might look different in dark mode or light mode.

1. No attribute highlighting

Image 1: A work package table in OpenProject, no attributes highlighted.

2. Status, Priority and Finish date highlighted inline

Image 2: A work package table in OpenProject, with inline-highlighted Status, Priority and Finish date.

3. Highlighted by Status

Image 3: A work package table in OpenProject, highlighted by Status.

4. Highlighted by Type

Image 4: A work package table in OpenProject, highlighted by Type.

5. Highlighted by Priority

Image 5: A work package table in OpenProject, highlighted by Priority.

Other helpful features for prioritizing work packages

Attribute highlighting works best in combination with other prioritization features. Here are a few tools to support your growing team:

Work package priorities
Assign Low, Normal, or High to indicate importance.
Status workflows
Define which status transitions are possible and by whom, helping structure review and approval processes.
Date alerts and reminders
Automatically notify assignees or watchers when a due date is approaching.
Versions
Group work packages under a common version to align delivery and deadlines across tasks.
Custom fields
Add structured information to work packages that you can then use for filtering, highlighting, or grouping.

Each of these features helps you bring structure to complexity — and together, they make it easier to stay focused.

Stay focused as you scale

Growth is exciting — but only sustainable if your tools grow with you. Features like Attribute highlighting can make a real difference: not by changing how you work, but by making it easier to see what matters.

With a growing team and more responsibilities, the ability to focus at a glance isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s essential. Let OpenProject help you take that next step.

Preview: Project initiation request workflow for PM² and other standards (Enterprise add-on)

2026-02-02T08:12:00+00:00

Those who work according to project management standards, such as PM² or PMflex, rely on very specific requirements when creating new projects. A new project initiation request is therefore often time-consuming and prone to errors: Which version of the spreadsheet actually contains the up-to-date data? And what information do I need to submit the request? In many organizations, this project initiation request serves as the formal basis for approval, budgeting, and prioritization.

As a project portfolio manager, you want to enable project initiators to easily create and process project initiation requests in one platform for project and portfolio management. That’s why we want to significantly simplify the project initiation process with OpenProject: we are currently developing a wizard that guides users step by step through the project initiation workflow.

In this blog article, you can find out exactly how this workflow will simplify the work of portfolio managers and everyone involved in creating new projects. Please keep in mind that this is a preview of a feature still in development and therefore subject to change.

Important
This feature is currently planned to be released with version 17.1 in February 2026, as Enterprise add-on in the Premium plan. Please see our Pricing page to learn more about the different OpenProject plans.

Automated guidance for complex processes

Every month, we release new features and Enterprise add-ons for OpenProject. On the one hand, this means the software is becoming more powerful. Project managers can work faster, more effectively, and in a more targeted way. On the other hand, we are aware that users need clear guidance from the software — especially when underlying processes are complex, whether based on PM², PMflex, or other project management standards.

Particularly when starting projects, a step-by-step workflow can be extremely helpful. The idea: project portfolio managers define specific steps and attributes in a template. Anyone who then creates a new project simply follows the predefined steps. At the end, a work package is created that contains all the necessary information and is assigned directly to the responsible person or group reviewing the request.

This ensures that standards are met, everything is documented centrally, and users can focus on their actual work instead of on the tool.

Benefit of a workflow for project initiation requests

Does the following sound familiar? To create a project initiation request according to PM² or PMflex, you have to search through scattered Excel spreadsheets — or, even worse, emails — and in the end, you’re still not sure whether you have the latest and correct data. And even if all the data is there, it still needs to be checked by a portfolio or program manager. But how and when?

These unclear processes cost time and causes frustration, resulting in incomplete project initiation requests.

So let’s:

Predefine clear processes and required attributes in a template.
Enable a feature that guides the user step by step.
Complete the workflow with automation that bundles all information and initiates the next step.

Our vision is to make this possible for users of PM² and PMflex in particular and to enable it as Enterprise add-on. At the same time, we also want teams using other methods – such as PRINCE2, SAFe, OKR – to benefit from predefined standards and guided project creation.

Tip
PMflex is the project management standard for public administration in Germany. As OpenProject is part of openDesk, the all in one office and collaboration suite tailored for public sector Germany, the project initiation wizard will also be available for openDesk users.

A structured process helps organizations:

Reduce cognitive load for project initiators.
Ensure all mandatory information is collected.
Avoid errors caused by outdated or inconsistent data.
Standardize project initiation across departments.
Onboard new employees more easily.
Improve transparency for reviewers and decision-makers involved in the approval process.
Automate the handover to portfolio or program managers.
Keep documentation in one central place.

Let’s see what the OpenProject team is currently working on to enable this idea of a project initiation wizard.

Feature preview: project initiation workflow (Enterprise add-on)

The planned Enterprise add-on will enable project initiators to navigate through the process in four steps.

1. Select a template to create a project

Choose the right project, program, or portfolio template defined by your portfolio manager to ensure that all required attributes and steps are included.

Image: Preview mockup showing interface to select different templates to begin the project initiation request in OpenProject.

2. Fill out the predefined requirements

Enter the necessary information in a clear and guided form. The fields shown depend on the chosen template and ensure that all mandatory data is collected.

Image: Preview mockup showing interface to fill out several requirements for the project initiation request, such as Dates, Technical information or legal basis.

3. Submit the project initiation request to trigger automations

Once all required fields are filled out, submit the initiation request. The workflow automatically bundles all information and sends it to the responsible reviewer.

Image: Preview mockup showing interface to submit a project initiation request in OpenProject.

4. Check the status and exported artifact on the work package

After submission, OpenProject automatically creates a work package in addition to the project you just created. With this work package, you can track the status of the initiation request. Additionally, OpenProject will generate an artifact from your information in the form of a PDF and add it to the newly created work package.

For this step, we don’t have a mockup to show yet, but the created work package could look something like this:

Image: Demo work package of a project initiation request in OpenProject, with automatically written description, uploaded PDF file (the artifact) and comment by ‘System’.

Example from practice: How this wizard will improve daily work

Imagine Anna, a project coordinator in the IT department of a medium-sized German city administration. Until now, her workday often started the same way: searching for the correct version of a project initiation file. One version was saved on a shared drive, another was attached to an email, and a third one was updated by a colleague “just last week” — but nobody remembered where.

When she finally found the right file, the next challenge was figuring out which fields were mandatory. Some projects required additional information, others didn’t. And if something was missing, the portfolio manager would send the request back days later with comments like “Please update section 3.2” or “Missing justification for budget planning.”

With the new project initiation workflow in OpenProject, this process is expected to become much easier. Anna selects the correct template, follows the predefined steps, and fills out only the fields relevant to the project type. No guessing, no version confusion, no back-and-forth.

When she submits the request, all information is automatically bundled and assigned to the responsible reviewer — making the process transparent, structured, and significantly faster. And because the workflow aligns with the PMflex project initiation phase, her organization can ensure that every new project starts with complete and standardized documentation.

Outlook

The project initiation workflow is the first step toward a series of guided processes in OpenProject. After completing this feature, we plan to support additional PMflex-aligned wizards to make structured project, program, and portfolio management even easier — especially for public administration and large organizations with standardized processes.

We look forward to sharing more insights as development progresses.

OpenProject at FOSDEM 2026

2026-01-30T13:00:00Z

Talks, digital sovereignty, and Community at FOSDEM ’26 in Brussels

On 31 January and 1 February 2026, FOSDEM returns to Brussels. For more than 25 years, FOSDEM has been one of the world’s largest and most respected conferences for free and open source software, bringing together developers, maintainers, public sector practitioners, and open source communities from around the globe.

We are excited to be part of FOSDEM 2026 with two talks and to once again connect with the wider open source ecosystem.

OpenProject: A Year Full of Updates

Wieland Lindenthal

In this fast-paced session, Wieland Lindenthal will walk through the most impactful OpenProject updates of the past year. From powerful portfolio management improvements to long-requested service management features such as internal work package notes, the talk offers a comprehensive overview of where OpenProject is today.

Beyond new features, the session also looks ahead. Wieland will share our long-term technical strategy to bring real-time text collaboration to every corner of the platform. The goal is to enable teams to co-create work packages, meeting notes, and other project management artifacts seamlessly.

A key part of this journey is our work with BlockNote, the rich-text editor already powering applications such as openDesk’s Notes and Mijn Bureau’s Docs. You will learn how we are integrating BlockNote to bridge the gap between quick text sketches and fully-fledged project plans, and how developers can leverage our BlockNote extensions to integrate work and task management into their own platforms.

The talk will also give an outlook on our migration strategy for teams moving from Atlassian Jira Data Center to OpenProject and from Confluence to XWiki, supporting organizations on their path toward open and sovereign collaboration.

Whether you are a user, contributor, or developer, this session invites you to rethink collaboration in open source project management.

👉 Find out more and bookmark the session

From Vendor Lock-in to Resilient Digital Ecosystems: Leading Change in Europe’s Public Digital Infrastructure

Rosanna Sibora

As European public sector organizations pursue digital sovereignty, the technical migration from proprietary software to open source solutions is often only half the challenge. Technology is rarely the hardest part. The real complexity lies in changing mindsets, workflows, and institutional culture.

In this talk, Rosanna Sibora shares proven change management strategies drawn from leading IT transformations and guiding public sector clients through transitions from Jira to OpenProject. The focus is on how to build sustainable and resilient digital ecosystems that serve citizens rather than vendors.

Participants will learn how to:

Co-create change through proven leadership best practices
Create ownership for the open source solutions within public sector
Build the business case and frame the open source narrative that resonates with public sector stakeholders and decision-makers
Drive the mindset shift to FOSS
Identify your use cases and foster transition to open source products
Build internal champions who drive adoption across departments

Drawing on real-world public sector experience, this session highlights the human factors that can make or break digital sovereignty initiatives. Whether you are planning your first migration or refining your change management approach, you will leave with actionable frameworks for leading successful transitions to independent and interoperable digital workspaces.

👉 Find out more and bookmark the session

Community matters: Join our FOSDEM meetup

FOSDEM weekends are intense. Talks all day, devrooms to jump between, and hallway conversations that somehow turn into deep discussions about documentation, governance, or that one bug that still exists.

Once the laptops close, we do what open source communities do best. We meet. We talk. We grab a drink.

We are happy to co-sponsor a FOSDEM community meetup:

On Friday, 31 January 2026, we invite you to an informal open source meetup in Brussels together with our friends from XWiki, Nextcloud, and Passbolt.

No talks. No slides. Just people.

When and where:

Date: Saturday, 31 January 2026
Time: From 20:00 until late
Location: Scott’s Bar & Kitchen, Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 2, 1000 Brussels

👉 Save your spot

We are hiring

FOSDEM is about connections. We are also having quite a few remote open source jobs in our luggage. If you want to contribute to a thriving open source project and foster Europe’s digital sovereignty, let’s talk.

We are currently looking for:

Senior Account Manager France
Senior Full Stack Developers
Product Tech Lead
Customer Success Manager
…

Open source, remote first, European values.

👉 Get in touch. Let’s talk

We are looking forward to inspiring talks, great conversations, and meeting many familiar and new faces at FOSDEM 2026. See you soon in Brussels.

OpenProject recognized as top project management software in 2026 by Gartner Digital Markets

2026-01-29T13:00:00+00:00

OpenProject among top products in 2026

We are excited to share that OpenProject has once again been recognized as a top-tier project management solution in 2026 by Gartner Digital Markets.

Building on our achievements from previous years, OpenProject earned an expanded set of distinctions in 2026. These new badges highlight our continued focus on strong functionality, ease of use, and high-quality customer support.

Gartner Digital Markets is a Gartner business unit that includes Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice. It helps software buyers make confident decisions through verified user reviews, research, and insights.

OpenProject awards in 2026

Software Advice recognitions

In 2026, OpenProject received multiple Software Advice badges across core product categories:

Front Runners in Project management and Time tracking categories

Best Customer Support and Most Recommended across multiple categories in 2026:

Task management, Team management, Project management, Small business project management, Marketing project management, Online project management, Project management software for architects, Nonprofit project management, Strategic planning, Project portfolio management.

Capterra recognition

OpenProject was also recognized by Capterra in 2026 with the following distinctions:

Shortlist in Project management, Time tracking and Task management categories.

Best Value and Best Ease of Use in multiples categories: Construction management, Project management, Project planning, Time tracking, Team management, Task management, Project portfolio management, Nonprofit project management, Strategic planning.

Powered by real user feedback

These recognitions are based on user reviews from real teams using OpenProject in their day-to-day work. We’re proud to see our focus on reliable project delivery, clear collaboration, and strong support reflected in the feedback.

Thank you ❤️

A big thank you to everyone who shared a review and helped us grow. Your input helps us prioritize what matters most and keep improving OpenProject.