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Should I Use OpenProject.org?

openproject.org·Analyzed 1 hour ago·Based on 10 sources

Open source project management software for classic, agile or hybrid project management: task management✓ Gantt charts✓ boards✓ team collaboration✓ time and cost reporting✓ FREE trial!

Depends

Depends

Buy it if you want a full open-source PM suite and can self-host or administer it.

Powerful open-source PM suite. Great if you'll self-host and administer it; overkill for a simple task list.

Confidence: Medium

4.6/5

Capterra rating

per OpenProject's own Reddit post

4/5

Trustpilot rating

only 11 reviews

$5.95/user/mo

Starting price

Basic cloud plan

Yes

Free tier

Community edition, self-hosted

Value for money5

Free self-hosted core; cloud from $5.95/user/mo

Ease of use3

Users ask for simpler alternatives; steep for basics

Feature depth5

Gantt, boards, agile, time/cost reporting, BIM

Support quality3

Trustpilot 4/5 but tiny 11-review sample

Security posture3

Transparent CVE policy, but repeated injection/XSS history

Pros

  • Free, open-source Community edition you can self-host¹
  • Full suite: Gantt, boards, agile planning, time and cost reporting¹
  • Positioned as open-source Jira/Atlassian alternative10
  • Publishes CVEs for all medium+ severity issues; external audits⁶
  • Strong Capterra ratings from long-term users²

Cons

  • G2 rating only ~3.8/5, per vendor's own Reddit post
  • Trustpilot sample is tiny: 11 reviews³
  • History of SQL injection and XSS vulnerabilities⁵
  • Users on r/selfhosted actively seek simpler alternatives⁷
  • G2 reviewers preferred Twproject's feature roadmap direction⁸

Gotchas

  • highSelf-hosting means you own patching; known CVEs make lagging updates genuinely risky
  • mediumCommunity edition splits 'basic' vs 'expert' features; key capabilities sit behind Enterprise paywall
  • lowFive tiers total; study the feature comparison before picking a cloud plan⁴
  • lowEnterprise on-prem ToS requires advance notice of IT changes — review obligations before signing

Best for

  • Public institutions and enterprises needing on-prem
  • Teams replacing expensive Jira/Atlassian stacks
  • Hybrid classic + agile project management
  • Organizations with data sovereignty requirements

Not for

  • Small teams wanting a simple to-do list — this is a heavy suite
  • Non-technical orgs with no admin capacity to run updates
  • Self-hosters unwilling to patch promptly — CVE history makes lag risky
  • Buyers needing hand-holding support; review base is thin

Companies that use it

  • TU Berlin
  • Open Source Initiative

Pricing

Community

Free

  • Self-hosted
  • Core project management features

Basic (cloud)

$5.95/user/mo

  • Hosted cloud
  • Entry paid tier

Premium / Enterprise

Higher tiers; prices not in sources

  • 'Expert' features
  • 5 tiers total including free

Security

Transparent CVE disclosure with external audits, but a real history: SQL injection, XSS, data exposure, and a Docker default-secret RCE — patch promptly.

  • Unauthenticated SQL injection (CVE-2019-11600)Exploitable by unauthenticated attackers; fixed in a later release.⁵
  • Reflected XSS (CVE-2019-17092)Affected versions ≤9.0.3 and ≤10.0.1; fixed in 9.0.4 and 10.0.2.
  • Project identifiers exposure (CVE-2023-33960)Fixed in 12.5.4.
  • Pre-auth RCE in Docker image via default SECRET_KEY_BASEDefault secret in the Docker image could enable remote code execution; rotate secrets.

What users say

Reviews skew positive on Capterra and GetApp, but G2 sits near 3.8/5 and some users find it heavier than they need.

“Openproject delivers perfection in every feature and it's interface is without any”
— Capterra review
“Easy to deploy and powerful.”
— Software Advice review
“I thoroughly enjoy OpenProject and hope it continues to grow. Others in my organization find”
— GetApp UK review

Alternatives

Compare OpenProject.org with each alternative.

Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources; review samples are small (11 Trustpilot, ~3.8 G2 self-reported by vendor).

Sources

  1. OpenProject on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  2. OpenProject Capterra reviewscapterra.com
    review
  3. OpenProject Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.com
    review
  4. OpenProject pricing breakdownxpay.sh
    review
  5. CVE-2019-11600 SQL injection advisorysec-consult.com
    security
  6. Statement on securityopenproject.org
    security
  7. r/selfhosted: simpler alternatives threadreddit.com
    review
  8. G2: OpenProject vs Twprojectg2.com
    review
  9. Plane vs OpenProjectplane.so
    review
  10. OpenProject Atlassian alternative blogopenproject.org
    official

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