Redmine
GPL-2.0 veteran project management and issue tracker — lightweight, extensible, and runs on modest hardware.
Redmine is a long-established, GPL-2.0-or-later open-source project management and issue-tracking web application built on Ruby on Rails. It provides flexible issue tracking, role-based access control, Gantt charts and calendars, per-project wikis and forums, time tracking, custom fields, and integration with source-control systems, extended by a broad plugin ecosystem. It is fully self-hosted, database-agnostic, and light enough to run on modest hardware. Redmine is a solid choice for technical teams that want a stable, no-subscription tracker they fully control, and that don't mind a more utilitarian interface and some configuration to reach modern conveniences.
What it does well
- +Fully GPL-2.0-or-later open-source with no paid tier gating core features
- +Lightweight and cross-database; runs comfortably on modest hardware, including small VPS or homelab setups
- +Long track record, very stable, with a large plugin ecosystem and REST API
- +Self-hosted with your data in a standard SQL database you control
Where it falls short
- −Interface is more utilitarian and dated than Jira or the newer alternatives here
- −Advanced planning (e.g. richer agile boards, portfolio views) often depends on third-party plugins of varying quality
- −Release cadence is steady but slower than fast-moving projects like Plane
- −You handle installation, upgrades, backups, and plugin compatibility yourself
Redmine as an alternative to
Where Redmine shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
Redmine head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.