NocoBase
NocoBase's Runner Agent gets conversation management, task links and agent switching mid-thread.
Comparison · PM
Grocy vs Tracecat
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Grocy and Tracecat — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Grocy vs Tracecat: at a glance
What is Grocy?
Grocy 4.7 reorganizes authentication middleware and ships accent-insensitive search across the product.
Grocy 4.7 is the most actively maintained version in over a year, with 4.7.0 shipping a breaking authentication middleware reorganization and 4.7.1 following quickly with bug fixes and a new product copy API endpoint. Earlier in 2026, 4.6.0 dropped support for PHP below 8.5 and improved quantity unit handling — the first time the project has enforced a PHP version floor in some time.
What is Tracecat?
Tracecat's 1.3 alphas keep reworking agent plumbing: tunnels, multi-org MCP, pluggable runners.
Tracecat is mid-cycle on 1.3, and nearly every change is agent infrastructure. The alphas route agent MCP and tool calls through tunnels, let one MCP OAuth login cover multiple organizations, trace LLM proxy requests, and raise agent timeouts to two hours. The nightly builds add a session command store, chat steering, and now a pluggable runner for stdio MCP servers.
Grocy vs Tracecat: editorial side-by-side
Grocy
5.0PM
Grocy 4.7 reorganizes authentication middleware and ships accent-insensitive search across the product.
◆ Current state
Grocy 4.7 is the most actively maintained version in over a year, with 4.7.0 shipping a breaking authentication middleware reorganization and 4.7.1 following quickly with bug fixes and a new product copy API endpoint. Earlier in 2026, 4.6.0 dropped support for PHP below 8.5 and improved quantity unit handling — the first time the project has enforced a PHP version floor in some time.
◆ Where it's heading
Grocy is maturing as a self-hosted household management platform with deliberate but slow progress. The PHP 8.5 mandate signals the team is willing to break older environments to simplify the codebase. Authentication improvements suggest growing attention to multi-user scenarios beyond the original single-household use case.
◆ Prediction
Given the cadence — roughly two feature releases per year — the next version will likely improve the mobile experience or expand API coverage for integrations, as those are the most common community asks not yet addressed.
Tracecat
6.3PM
Tracecat's 1.3 alphas keep reworking agent plumbing: tunnels, multi-org MCP, pluggable runners.
◆ Current state
Tracecat is mid-cycle on 1.3, and nearly every change is agent infrastructure. The alphas route agent MCP and tool calls through tunnels, let one MCP OAuth login cover multiple organizations, trace LLM proxy requests, and raise agent timeouts to two hours. The nightly builds add a session command store, chat steering, and now a pluggable runner for stdio MCP servers.
◆ Where it's heading
The 1.3 line is making agents long-running, observable, and able to reach private infrastructure. Maintenance releases on 1.1 and 1.2 carried the same breaking org-scoping fix, so older lines are being patched in parallel.
◆ Prediction
Session commands and chat steering in the nightlies look set to land in the next 1.3 alpha as user-facing controls for steering running agent sessions.
Alternatives to Grocy and Tracecat
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 Grocy or Tracecat.
Camunda
Camunda opens the 8.11 cycle with job-worker fixes and variable metadata across gRPC, REST and MCP.
Todoist
Todoist's 2026 bets are on capture: voice via Ramble, photos and files via Task Capture.
Atarim
Atarim's AI experts now propose changes to live pages as drafts, and the app runs on phones.
Fibery
Fibery's MCP server can now upload local files, so AI assistants can attach screenshots and images.
SmartSuite
SmartSuite adds a scheduled JavaScript runtime with secrets and run history.
See all Grocy alternatives → · See all Tracecat alternatives →
Recent activity from Grocy and Tracecat
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 21h agoTracecatNightly: transaction-scoped advisory locks
- 1d agoTracecatNightly: Temporal SDK pinned to 1.32.0
- 1d agoTracecatNightly: Slack, comment and MCP agents use the selected backend
- 1d agoTracecatNightly: shared agent session sink, caller-owned turn results
- 1d agoTracecatNightly: stdio MCP servers get a pluggable runner
- 5d agoTracecatNightly: agent session command store
- 1mo agoGrocyVersion 4.7.1
- 2mo agoGrocyVersion 4.7.0
- 7mo agoGrocyVersion 4.6.0
- 1y agoGrocyVersion 4.5.0
- 1y agoGrocyVersion 4.4.2
- 1y agoGrocyVersion 4.4.1
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Grocy and Tracecat?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Tracecat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 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 Grocy better than Tracecat?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Tracecat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 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 Grocy?
Top Grocy alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Grocy alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/grocy for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Tracecat?
Top Tracecat alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Tracecat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tracecat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.