NocoBase
NocoBase runs two release lines at once while the v3 client rewrite absorbs the AI work
Comparison · PM
Flowable vs OpenProject
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Flowable and OpenProject — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Flowable vs OpenProject: at a glance
What is Flowable?
Flowable ships once a year and spends it on the Java platform, not on the process engine.
Flowable's release history is a slow major-version cadence — 7.0.0 in 2023, 7.1.0 in 2024, 7.2.0 in 2025, 8.0.0 in February 2026 — and each major is anchored to a Java-ecosystem jump rather than to process modelling itself. Flowable 8 moves to Spring Framework 7 and Spring Boot 4, makes Jackson 3 the default, and removes JUnit 3 and JUnit 4 support outright. The engine-level additions that do arrive, like lambda expressions in expressions, are incremental extensions to BPMN and CMMN semantics.
What is OpenProject?
OpenProject settles into patch work after 17.7 shipped resource management.
17.7.0 was the substantial release — a resource management module with departments and work schedules, pushing OpenProject past task tracking into staffing. The two releases since are patches. 17.7.2 fixes four bugs, among them project-level hourly rates that could not be adjusted and non-working days silently dropped when saved while a reschedule job was running — both in the scheduling and cost areas 17.7 had just expanded.
Flowable vs OpenProject: editorial side-by-side
Flowable
0.0PM
Flowable ships once a year and spends it on the Java platform, not on the process engine.
◆ Current state
Flowable's release history is a slow major-version cadence — 7.0.0 in 2023, 7.1.0 in 2024, 7.2.0 in 2025, 8.0.0 in February 2026 — and each major is anchored to a Java-ecosystem jump rather than to process modelling itself. Flowable 8 moves to Spring Framework 7 and Spring Boot 4, makes Jackson 3 the default, and removes JUnit 3 and JUnit 4 support outright. The engine-level additions that do arrive, like lambda expressions in expressions, are incremental extensions to BPMN and CMMN semantics.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a project whose roadmap is largely set by the platform underneath it. Each major forces a coordinated upgrade on adopters — Java 17 and Jakarta 9 at 7.0.0, Spring Boot 4 and Jackson 3 at 8.0.0 — and in exchange delivers query, variable and migration refinements aimed at large existing deployments. The 7.0.0 decision to drop the UI applications and the content, form and Mule modules set the pattern: narrow to the engines and the REST APIs, and let everything else go.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next major to track the following Spring and Java LTS jump on roughly the same annual rhythm. Nothing in these entries points to an AI or agent-facing direction, so any such move would be a genuine departure rather than a continuation.
OpenProject settles into patch work after 17.7 shipped resource management.
◆ Current state
17.7.0 was the substantial release — a resource management module with departments and work schedules, pushing OpenProject past task tracking into staffing. The two releases since are patches. 17.7.2 fixes four bugs, among them project-level hourly rates that could not be adjusted and non-working days silently dropped when saved while a reschedule job was running — both in the scheduling and cost areas 17.7 had just expanded.
◆ Where it's heading
The release rhythm is a feature minor followed by a short tail of patches repairing the surface it just added, and this tail sits squarely in resource-management territory. Rate and non-working-day bugs are the predictable cost of shipping scheduling and cost tracking together. For self-hosted operators the advice does not change between these releases: take the patch.
◆ Prediction
Expect one or two more 17.7.x patches against the resource management surface before 17.8 opens a new feature line.
Alternatives to Flowable and OpenProject
Other PM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Flowable or OpenProject.
Hive
Hive ships in batches, and this one is all planning accuracy and admin control.
Plane
Plane ships a fortnightly digest, and the AI layer is where the real work is going.
Ever Teams
Ever Teams shipped ten tags in twelve hours and one of them touched the product
Asana
Asana's agent left the app — it now answers work questions inside Slack threads.
Apploye
Apploye's feed is an SEO blog, and its running theme is defending monitoring on privacy grounds.
See all Flowable alternatives → · See all OpenProject alternatives →
Recent activity from Flowable and OpenProject
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5d agoOpenProjectPatch fixes hourly rates, non-working days, custom styles
- 12d agoOpenProjectPatch fixes duplicate users on retried imports
- 14d agoOpenProjectResource management module lands with departments and work schedules ⚡
- 1mo agoOpenProjectXWiki integration links work packages to external docs
- 2mo agoOpenProjectPatch fixes work package creation broken by 17.5
- 2mo agoOpenProjectProject-based work package IDs arrive in Beta
- 5mo agoFlowableSpring Boot 4 and Jackson 3 required; JUnit 4 support removed ⚡
- 0y agoFlowableAsync variables, skip expressions and broader query filters
- 1y agoFlowableLiquibase dropped from App, CMMN, DMN and event registry engines
- 2y agoFlowableBug-fix release adding async leave and LocalDate timers
- 2y agoFlowableSpring Boot 3.1.6 support and dynamic event subscriptions
- 2y agoFlowableJava 17 rebase; UI apps, content and form engines removed ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Flowable and OpenProject?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. OpenProject is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Flowable better than OpenProject?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. OpenProject is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Flowable?
Top Flowable alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Flowable alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/flowable for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to OpenProject?
Top OpenProject alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenProject alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openproject for the full list with editorial commentary on each.