Best Self Hosted Alternatives to ActiveCollab

Focalboard is an open source project management and work-tracking tool designed around boards, cards, and customizable properties. It helps individuals and teams organize tasks, plan projects, and collaborate in a shared workspace.

Key Features

• Kanban-style boards with cards for tasks and projects
• Multiple views such as board, table, gallery, and calendar views
• Filters, grouping, sorting, and saved views for focused workflows
• Comments and @mentions for collaboration on cards
• Board permissions for controlling who can view or edit
• Templates and custom attributes/properties for structured planning
• File sharing on cards for centralizing project context
• Archiving and backup snapshots for preserving historical work

Use Cases

• Team project tracking with kanban workflows and task assignments
• Personal task management and planning using a local or small server setup
• Managing roadmaps, OKRs, content calendars, and meeting agendas with templates

Limitations and Considerations

• The standalone Focalboard repository is currently not maintained, which may affect future updates, security fixes, and long-term support.

Focalboard fits teams that want a Trello/Notion-style workflow with flexible views and collaboration features. It is particularly useful when you need customizable boards and permissions without relying on a proprietary SaaS service.

Huly is an open-source, all-in-one platform for building and running team workspaces that combine project management, real-time communication, and documentation. It aims to replace a stack of separate tools by unifying issues, collaboration, and knowledge in one system.

Key Features

• Project and issue tracking for planning and managing work
• Team chat for real-time communication inside workspaces
• Collaborative documents with rich text, attachments, and code blocks
• Real-time co-editing, user mentions, linking documents to issues, and action items
• Multiple business apps built on the same platform (e.g., CRM, HRM, ATS)
• API client for programmatic access and building integrations

Use Cases

• Run a unified workspace for product teams combining issues, chat, and documentation
• Maintain internal documentation, meeting notes, and roadmaps linked to ongoing work
• Build custom business applications on top of the Huly Platform framework

Limitations and Considerations

• Some local/development installations may not support outbound email, which can disable features like password recovery and email notifications

Huly is well-suited for teams that want a single, cohesive system for coordinating work and knowledge. It also provides a platform foundation for extending into broader business workflows such as CRM and HR processes.

WeKan is an open-source, Trello-like Kanban board application for organizing personal and team work. It provides a real-time, collaborative interface for managing boards, lists, and cards while keeping data under your control.

Key Features

• Kanban boards with lists and cards for visual task tracking
• Real-time collaboration and live updates
• Access controls and permissions to restrict board and user access
• Internationalization support with extensive community translations
• Multiple packaging/deployment options (including container images)

Use Cases

• Team project management and lightweight agile workflows
• Personal task tracking and planning (to-do lists, trips, side projects)
• Replacing hosted Kanban tools for privacy, compliance, or cost reasons

Limitations and Considerations

• Uses MongoDB; insufficient disk space can risk database corruption, so monitoring and backups are important
• Upgrades are important for security due to upstream dependency updates (for example Node.js/Meteor stack)

WeKan is a solid option for organizations and individuals who want a familiar Kanban workflow with real-time collaboration and self-managed data. Its broad platform support and mature feature set make it suitable from small teams to larger deployments.

OpenProject is a web-based, open source project management platform for planning, tracking, and collaborating on projects. It supports classic, agile, and hybrid methodologies, combining task management, scheduling, and team collaboration in one system.

Key Features

• Work packages for tasks, issues, and project tracking with flexible workflows
• Gantt charts and timelines for project planning, scheduling, and dependencies
• Agile boards supporting Scrum and Kanban-style processes
• Roadmaps and release planning for product and delivery management
• Time tracking and cost reporting/budgeting for project controlling
• Built-in collaboration modules such as wikis, forums, and meeting agendas/minutes
• Integrations such as linking work items to GitHub pull requests

Use Cases

• Running agile delivery with boards, backlogs, and sprint planning
• Managing project schedules and milestones with Gantt-based planning
• Coordinating cross-functional teams with centralized tasks, meetings, and documentation

OpenProject is a strong fit for organizations that want a transparent, extensible project management system with both planning and collaboration features. It scales from small teams to larger organizations needing consistent workflows and reporting.

Planka is an open-source Kanban-style project management tool designed for teams to collaborate in real time. It provides collaborative boards with drag-and-drop tasks, rich Markdown notes, and configurable notifications, while being self-hostable and extensible.

Key Features

• Collaborative Kanban Boards: Create projects, boards, lists, cards, and manage tasks with a drag-and-drop interface
• Real-Time Updates: Instant syncing across all users, no page refresh required
• Rich Markdown Support: Formatted card descriptions with a markdown editor
• Flexible Notifications: Alerts via 100+ providers, customizable to your workflow
• Seamless Authentication: Single sign-on with OpenID Connect
• Multilingual & Easy to Translate: Full internationalization support

Use Cases

• Software development teams track backlogs and sprint work with shared boards
• Cross-functional teams coordinate tasks across design, product, and engineering
• Distributed teams collaborate in real time with task assignment and updates

Conclusion: Planka emphasizes open-source cooperation and self-hosting, with an active community and regular releases. It is well-suited for teams seeking a fast, real-time Kanban board that adapts to their workflows.

Leantime is an open-source project management system designed to combine strategy, planning and execution into a single workspace. It emphasizes personal dashboards and cognitive-friendly UX, with features aimed at helping teams and individuals align tasks to goals and milestones.

Key Features

• Personal "My Work" dashboard with time-blocking, notes and cross-project task visibility
• Multiple task views: Kanban, table, list and calendar; unlimited subtasks and dependencies
• Milestones and timeline (Gantt) views with program-level planning and milestone grouping
• Strategy and goal management (vision, focus areas, project-goal linking, blueprints)
• Built-in wikis/docs for project knowledge and idea/validation boards (Lean Canvas, SWOT)
• Time tracking, timesheets and basic reports/dashboards for progress and billing
• Plugin system and JSON-RPC API for extensions, plus integrations with chat platforms
• Official Docker image and a development docker-compose environment; configurable via .env
• AI-assisted features (task prioritization, task breakdowns, status reports) available in paid/hosted tiers

Use Cases

• Small to mid-size teams that need a combined strategy-to-execution workspace with goals and milestones
• Consultants or agencies who want client-facing project dashboards, idea boards and documentation in one place
• Organizations that require self-hosting, data ownership and extensibility via plugins or the API

Limitations and Considerations

• Official system requirements target PHP 8.2+ and MySQL/MariaDB; PostgreSQL is not listed as supported
• Some advanced AI features and managed hosting capabilities are available only in the commercial/hosted offering or via paid plugins
• Requires several PHP extensions (bcmath, mbstring, pdo_mysql, gd, openssl, etc.) and attention to webserver configuration when self-hosting

Leantime provides a full open-source core focused on linking strategy and execution while offering paid hosting and plugin options for additional features. It is suitable for teams that want a self-hosted, extensible PM platform with an emphasis on accessible UX and goal alignment.

Worklenz is an open-source project management platform that combines task management, time tracking, resource planning and basic client/finance features in a single product. It provides a web application suitable for teams that need project planning, collaboration and time-based reporting.

Key Features

• Task management with subtasks, dependencies, attachments and activity logs
• Kanban board and phase-based project views for visual workflow tracking
• Built-in time tracking and timesheets with time reports and per-user/project summaries
• Resource and workload views to monitor team allocation and utilization
• Project templates and reusable task templates for standardizing projects
• Client portal and basic project finance tracking for billing visibility
• Dashboard analytics and project health/estimated vs actual reporting
• Files and comments attached to tasks for team collaboration
• Deployable via Docker with recommended stack components (PostgreSQL, Redis, MinIO, nginx)

Use Cases

• Agencies and consultancies managing client projects, deliverables and billing
• Software and IT teams organizing work with kanban, time tracking and roadmap views
• Small-to-medium organizations needing resource planning, workload balancing and project analytics

Limitations and Considerations

• The free tier limits active projects (site notes a three-active-project limit for the free plan)
• Several features (CRM, HR) are listed as "coming soon" on the product site and roadmap
• Import/migration tools from other PM platforms appear limited or pending enhancements

Worklenz targets teams that want an integrated, open-source PM tool they can run themselves or use as a hosted service. It emphasizes a combined feature set (tasks, time, resources, analytics) and provides Docker-based deployment and documented setup for self-hosting.

tududi is an open-source, self-hosted web application for task and project management. It combines a simple personal to-do workflow with project-level organization, focused on privacy, control, and lightweight deployment.

Key Features

• Hierarchical organization: Areas → Projects → Tasks with support for notes and tags for structured GTD-style workflows.
• Advanced recurring tasks: multiple recurrence patterns, completion-based recurrence, parent-child linking, and series editing.
• Subtasks and progress tracking: break down tasks into subtasks with visible progress and navigation between parent/child tasks.
• Flexible tagging and smart filtering: tag-based organization, multi-criteria filters, and quick search to locate items rapidly.
• Project documentation: rich-text notes attached to projects with full search capabilities.
• Collaboration controls: share projects with granular read/write permissions for team collaboration.
• Integrations and API: versioned REST API with Swagger docs and personal access tokens for automation and integrations.
• Telegram integration: create tasks via Telegram messages and receive daily task digests (requires a Telegram bot/token).
• Responsive UI and localization: modern responsive interface with dark/light themes and multi-language support (24 languages).
• Docker-first deployment: distributed as a container image for simple, local or server deployment.

Use Cases

• Personal productivity: manage daily tasks, recurring routines, and long-term projects using Areas and Projects.
• Small team project tracking: share projects with team members, delegate tasks, and track completion metrics.
• Automation and integrations: connect tududi data to other tools via the provided REST API and personal access tokens.

Limitations and Considerations

• Storage and scale: the default persistence is a file-based SQLite database and filesystem uploads, which is suitable for individuals and small teams but may limit performance or concurrency for very large deployments.
• Mobile availability: there is no official native mobile application; access is via the responsive web UI or third-party hosting/deployments.
• Operational requirements: production use requires running behind HTTPS and managing session secrets and bot tokens securely; administrators must handle backups and file-permission management.

In summary, tududi is a compact, privacy-oriented task and project manager aimed at users who prefer self-hosting and simple deployment. It emphasizes hierarchical organization, rich recurring-task support, Telegram connectivity, and an extensible API surface for automations.

Tasks.md is a self-hosted task management board that uses your filesystem as the source of truth. Lanes are directories and tasks are Markdown files, giving you a simple, portable structure that works well with typical note-taking and file-sync workflows.

Key Features

• Kanban-style board with lanes, cards, and tags in a modern responsive UI
• Tasks stored as Markdown files on disk (folders represent lanes)
• Supports opening subdirectories as separate projects via URL path
• Light/dark mode that follows operating system settings
• CSS customization via a user-editable stylesheet and built-in color themes
• Supports subpath reverse-proxy deployments via a configurable base path
• Simple deployment using a single Docker image; can also run from source
• Optional install as a Progressive Web App (PWA)

Use Cases

• Personal task tracking with plain-text Markdown files you can version or sync
• Lightweight project boards for small teams or homelabs without a database
• Organizing tasks alongside a folder-based knowledge base or notes workflow

Limitations and Considerations

• PWA functionality does not work when the base path is set to anything other than "/"
• Feature scope is intentionally kept narrow, so advanced project management features may be out of scope

Tasks.md is a practical choice if you want a kanban board without a database and prefer human-readable files. Its folder-and-Markdown approach keeps your tasks easy to back up, migrate, and edit outside the UI when needed.

Taiga is an open source project management platform focused on agile workflows, designed to help teams plan, track, and deliver work using Scrum or Kanban. It provides a web UI plus an API, making it suitable for product teams that need both collaboration features and integrations.

Key Features

• Scrum and Kanban project templates with backlog and sprint planning
• Issue tracking with custom workflows, statuses, and fields
• Team collaboration features such as comments, watchers, and notifications
• Real-time updates via events and websockets
• REST API for integrations and automation
• Optional authentication integrations such as GitHub and GitLab OAuth
• Email notifications via SMTP configuration

Use Cases

• Managing software development with sprints, user stories, and epics
• Tracking bugs and support work alongside product tasks
• Coordinating cross-functional teams with a shared backlog and boards

Taiga is a solid choice for teams that want an agile-focused alternative to proprietary tools, with the flexibility to run it on their own infrastructure and integrate it with existing systems.

Donetick is an open-source application for managing tasks and chores for individuals, families, and small groups. It combines natural-language task creation with flexible recurrence rules, assignment/rotation strategies, and history/analytics to simplify recurring work.

Key Features

• Natural-language task creation and parsing (dates, times, recurrence, priorities, labels).
• Advanced recurring scheduling: schedule by due-date or completion-date, adaptive suggestions from history, and fine-grained frequency options.
• Assignee management: assign tasks to people, automatic rotation strategies (least-completed, round-robin, random).
• "Things": track non-task state (numeric, boolean, text) and trigger task state changes when things meet conditions.
• NFC tag support for physical task completion triggers and mount-friendly dashboard mode for shared displays.
• Notifications and integrations: multi-channel reminders (Telegram, Discord, Pushover), webhooks, and a REST API with long-lived access token support.
• Storage options for attachments: local or S3-compatible object storage (e.g., MinIO), plus image/photo attachments support.
• Security & auth: TOTP-based MFA and OpenID Connect / OAuth2 provider support for SSO.
• Realtime sync between clients and a documented configuration system for self-hosted deployments.

Use Cases

• Household or shared-living chore management with rotating assignments and persistent completion history.
• Small teams or volunteer groups that need recurring maintenance scheduling, reminders, and audit history.
• Integrations/automations that mark tasks done from external sensors or systems (via Things, webhooks, or NFC triggers).

Limitations and Considerations

• Mobile apps are early/alpha: Android and iOS clients are available in early builds and may show compatibility or connectivity issues; setup often requires proper HTTPS and CORS configuration for reliable mobile behavior.
• Offline support is limited: some UI areas work offline but full functionality relies on backend connectivity and realtime sync.
• Some features are noted as WIP in docs (for example certain local storage paths and UI behaviors); administrators should review configuration options and test uploads/attachments in their deployment.

Donetick is designed for self-hosting with Docker, binaries, or source builds and emphasizes configurable scheduling, integrations, and privacy-friendly operation. It is suited for users who need more advanced recurrence and assignment features than typical to-do apps and who can run or manage a self-hosted service.

Eigenfocus is a self-hosted project management and time tracking application focused on clarity, ownership, and flexible workflows. It combines issue tracking with multiple ways to visualize work and built-in focus timers.

Key Features

• Projects and issue tracking with markdown descriptions
• File attachments, labels, and comments for issue context
• Kanban board and table/list views for managing work
• Time tracking on projects and individual issues
• Time reports by project and date range
• Focus timers (including Pomodoro-style) and ambient sounds
• Light and dark themes
• Optional HTTP Basic Auth via environment variables

Use Cases

• Managing personal or small-team projects with kanban-based workflows
• Tracking time spent per project/issue for reporting and retrospectives
• Using focus timers alongside task execution for deep-work sessions

Limitations and Considerations

• The FREE Edition is free to self-host but is not open source, and external pull requests are not accepted.

Eigenfocus is a good fit for individuals and teams that want a fast, self-managed PM tool with integrated time tracking and focus features. It is designed to stay straightforward for small projects while offering an upgrade path for more complex workflows.

Kanba is an open-source project management tool focused on a Trello-style Kanban workflow for makers and small teams. It emphasizes simplicity, speed, and a lightweight experience while supporting collaborative work across projects.

Key Features

• Kanban boards with lists and cards for task tracking
• Unlimited projects and team collaboration
• Notes-oriented workflow inspired by modern productivity tools
• Dark and light mode interface
• Built-in API routes for optional Stripe billing/subscriptions integration
• Supabase-backed authentication and data storage

Use Cases

• Personal task management for solo developers and indie hackers
• Small-team project tracking with a simple Kanban workflow
• Lightweight Trello alternative for self-managed environments

Limitations and Considerations

• Some functionality (such as billing) depends on optional third-party integrations like Stripe and Supabase configuration

Kanba is a practical choice if you want a modern, minimalist Kanban tool with collaboration features and a straightforward deployment model. It fits best for users who value a clean Trello-like experience without heavy enterprise complexity.

Django-CRM is an open-source customer relationship management application built on the Django framework and the Django Admin interface. It combines contact and lead management, deal tracking, task/project collaboration, email synchronization, and reporting into a single self-hostable package.

Key Features

• Contact, lead, company and deal management with sales funnel and forecasting tools
• Task, subtask and project management with reminders, file attachments, tags and internal chat per task
• Built-in email client with IMAP/SMTP synchronization, ticketing-style message linking, and OAuth2 support for providers
• Mass mailing / email campaign features with dynamic templates and contact segmentation
• Analytics and reporting apps (income summary, sales funnel, lead source summary, custom reports)
• Role-based access control and per-object permissions using Django's auth system
• Extensible via standard Django models, views and templates for straightforward customization and integrations
• Localization and multi-language support with interface translations

Use Cases

• Small to medium businesses managing leads, contacts and sales pipelines without vendor lock-in
• Teams coordinating customer-facing tasks and projects while maintaining a unified communication history
• Marketing teams sending segmented newsletters and tracking campaign engagement from within the CRM

Limitations and Considerations

• The UI is based on Django Admin which provides rapid development and strong permissions but may feel less modern than custom SPA frontends and can require template work to customize appearance and UX
• Bulk email deliverability depends on external SMTP configuration and reputation; administrators must configure and monitor SMTP providers and deliverability practices
• Scalability and performance depend on deployment choices and database tuning; very large datasets may require PostgreSQL and additional optimization

Django-CRM is suitable for organizations that want full control over their CRM data and behavior and are comfortable extending a Django-based codebase. It prioritizes extensibility, transparency, and integration with standard Python/Django tooling.

Ticky is a web-based Kanban-style task and project management system built with ASP.NET Core Blazor. It provides project grouping, customizable boards and columns, and a focused feature set for managing tasks, deadlines and time tracking.

Key Features

• Projects and Kanban boards with customizable, collapsible columns and per-column settings (limits, auto-order, auto-complete)
• Cards with drag-and-drop, subtasks, labels, priorities, attachments and comments
• Time tracking with per-card timers and aggregated column time stats
• Deadlines, email reminders/notifications and configurable SMTP support
• Card linking (Jira-like), activity tracking, board templates and Trello import
• User and role management (board/project-level Members and Admins) and an admin panel for account administration
• App-wide search, filtering, responsive UI and dark mode
• Offline-capable configuration (disable avatar/email services) and Docker-based deployment

Use Cases

• Personal productivity and lightweight project boards for individuals
• Small teams coordinating work with boards, comments, activity tracking and shared attachments
• Recurring tasks and operational workflows using repeat cards and built-in time tracking

Limitations and Considerations

• Primary deployment examples and official Docker artifacts target MySQL; other databases may require additional configuration
• No built-in SSO/OIDC or enterprise identity integrations documented; authentication is primarily local account based
• Real-time collaborative editing (live presence or CRDT-style sync) is not described in the core features

Ticky is focused on providing a simple, opinionated Kanban experience with essential team features and easy Docker deployment. It is well-suited for users who want a lightweight, self-hosted alternative to hosted Kanban services with built-in time tracking and Trello import.

Redmine is a flexible project management web application focused on issue tracking and team collaboration. Built with Ruby on Rails, it supports multiple projects and works with several database backends.

Key Features

• Multiple projects with per-project configuration
• Flexible issue tracking with custom fields and workflows
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Gantt chart and calendar views
• Time tracking and reporting
• Wiki and forums per project
• Documents and file management
• Email notifications, feeds, and issue creation via email
• Source control integration (including Git and Subversion)
• Authentication options including LDAP and self-registration

Use Cases

• Managing software development projects with issues, milestones, and timelines
• Running internal IT/helpdesk-style ticketing with roles and custom workflows
• Coordinating documentation and discussions using per-project wiki and forums

Limitations and Considerations

• Plugin and theme compatibility can depend on the specific Redmine version
• The official shared demo referenced by the community is operated by a third party

Redmine is well-suited to teams that need a proven, extensible tracker with strong project structure and permissions. Its cross-database support and mature ecosystem make it a common choice for long-running, process-oriented projects.

Rukovoditel is an open source, web-based project management system that also works as a lightweight business application designer. It lets you model your own data structure and processes so the system can evolve from simple projects and tasks into a broader internal management tool.

Key Features

• Visual designer to create custom entities and define relationships between them
• Configurable project and task management structure that can expand as needs grow
• Business-process and workflow automation tools (process chains, rules-driven actions)
• Runs as a PHP web application designed for installation on local or internet-facing servers
• Fully functional free main version released under the GNU GPLv3 license

Use Cases

• Project and task tracking for teams that need flexible structures and custom fields
• Building internal management apps (documents, finance-related records, operational data)
• Managing multi-step operational processes with configurable automation

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires a PHP environment (PHP 8.0.2 or newer) and a compatible SQL database backend
• Extensibility may rely on optional extensions depending on desired advanced capabilities

Rukovoditel is a solid fit for organizations that want project management plus the ability to design their own data model and workflows. It works best when you need a single, adaptable system that can grow into a broader business management application over time.

ProjeQtOr is an open-source, web-based project management and project portfolio steering tool designed for operational control of projects. It aims to replace spreadsheets and scattered tools by centralizing planning, tracking, and governance in one application.

Key Features

• Multi-project and multi-level portfolio management with consolidation across programs and projects
• Project planning and scheduling with resource availability constraints and shared resource management
• Task and activity tracking, milestones, and deliverables management
• Cost and budget follow-up to support project steering and commitments control
• Management of risks, issues/incidents, and quality-related follow-up for day-to-day project execution
• Highly configurable roles and interfaces to adapt to different organizations and methods (agile, waterfall, hybrid)

Use Cases

• Running an internal PMO tool for portfolio visibility across multiple departments
• Replacing Excel-based planning with centralized scheduling and resource allocation
• Tracking delivery execution with integrated monitoring of deadlines, costs, risks, and issues

ProjeQtOr is suited to organizations that want an all-in-one, configurable project governance platform while keeping full control over their data and infrastructure. Its breadth of integrated features makes it a strong option for teams seeking a pragmatic project steering system rather than a single-purpose task tracker.