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Comparison · HR
Jorani vs Workyard
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Jorani and Workyard — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Jorani vs Workyard: at a glance
| Feature | Jorani | Workyard |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | HR | HR |
| Velocity score | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 1 |
| Top themes | hr, leave-management, self-hosted, php | ai-assistant, time-tracking, payroll-export, job-costing |
| Last editorial update | 19d ago | 8d ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
What is Jorani?
A dormant leave-management app returns with an MIT relicense and a hard break from its own API
Jorani is a self-hosted leave and overtime management app built on legacy CodeIgniter PHP. After a three-year gap, v1.0.4 arrives labelled a maintenance release but is anything but conservative: it relicenses from AGPL to MIT, moves the repository to a new organization, and deletes the Basic Auth REST API, the client-side password encryption layer and MySQL 5.7 support. The database schema is untouched, so the disruption is entirely in licensing, packaging and interfaces rather than data.
What is Workyard?
Workyard's Time Assistant now does the pre-payroll cleanup a bookkeeper used to do by hand.
Workyard is building on two fronts. The AI Time Assistant has moved from fixing clock times and breaks to reading worker notes, proposing exact edits, reallocating hours across projects and cost codes from a plain-language request, and is now delegated down to managers scoped to their own crews. Separately, the back-office edge keeps widening: Acumatica sync, time off in QuickBooks Online exports, expense transaction exports to NetSuite and QuickBooks Desktop, and auto top-up for expense card funding.
Jorani vs Workyard: editorial side-by-side
Jorani
0.0HR
A dormant leave-management app returns with an MIT relicense and a hard break from its own API
◆ Current state
Jorani is a self-hosted leave and overtime management app built on legacy CodeIgniter PHP. After a three-year gap, v1.0.4 arrives labelled a maintenance release but is anything but conservative: it relicenses from AGPL to MIT, moves the repository to a new organization, and deletes the Basic Auth REST API, the client-side password encryption layer and MySQL 5.7 support. The database schema is untouched, so the disruption is entirely in licensing, packaging and interfaces rather than data.
◆ Where it's heading
The long arc is a small project shedding weight. Releases through 2017 filled in the workflow model — cancellation states, SSO, mandatory rejection comments, a steady stream of translations. Version 1.0.0 in 2020 rebuilt the leave-balance engine and documented an OpenAPI surface, and the two releases since have been almost entirely security and PHP-version compatibility. v1.0.4 continues by removing rather than adding, including the very API 1.0.0 had documented, and folds the old tree under a legacy/ directory — which reads as groundwork for a replacement rather than a destination.
◆ Prediction
The legacy/ layout and the withdrawn REST API point to a new API and a non-legacy codebase as the next move; the entries don't indicate on what stack, or when.
Workyard
7.5HR
Workyard's Time Assistant now does the pre-payroll cleanup a bookkeeper used to do by hand.
◆ Current state
Workyard is building on two fronts. The AI Time Assistant has moved from fixing clock times and breaks to reading worker notes, proposing exact edits, reallocating hours across projects and cost codes from a plain-language request, and is now delegated down to managers scoped to their own crews. Separately, the back-office edge keeps widening: Acumatica sync, time off in QuickBooks Online exports, expense transaction exports to NetSuite and QuickBooks Desktop, and auto top-up for expense card funding.
◆ Where it's heading
The assistant is being positioned as the pre-payroll review layer, where every change is a proposal the approver accepts rather than an automated write. Note-reading and cost-code reallocation together cover most of what made timecard cleanup a manual pass. Meanwhile the integration work is aimed at the same outcome from the other side: getting GPS-verified field hours into payroll and accounting systems without re-keying, which is what makes accurate job costing worth anything.
◆ Prediction
Time Assistant should reach the mobile app for managers and admins next, as the manager release states, and the approval-with-diff pattern is the likely template for any further automation Workyard applies to timecards.
Alternatives to Jorani and Workyard
Other HR 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 Jorani or Workyard.
Zoho Recruit
Zoho Recruit opened the ATS to AI tools via MCP, then spent the summer closing integration gaps.
Workable
Workable is localizing hard while its hiring agent quietly gets adjustable.
Wagepoint
Wagepoint put AI at the payroll approval gate, then spent a week arguing about where else it belongs.
Eightfold AI
Eightfold has moved from screening candidates to running the interview loop itself.
Ever Gauzy
Gauzy's React rewrite becomes a tenant-level switch, and its AI chat learns to listen
See all Jorani alternatives → · See all Workyard alternatives →
Recent activity from Jorani and Workyard
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 8d agoWorkyardTime Assistant now available for managers
- 15d agoWorkyardClock your whole crew in one tap â Shortcuts is here
- 21d agoWorkyardForm submissions now go to the right person - automatically
- 22d agoWorkyardFix project and cost code time right in AI Time Assistant ⚡
- 25d agoWorkyardInclude time off in your QuickBooks Online export
- 28d agoWorkyardAcumatica integration: sync your jobs and export payroll-ready time
- 4mo agoJoraniSecurity and PHP8.5 support ⚡
- 3y agoJoraniSecurity and PHP8.2 compat release (No DB Patch)
- 5y agoJoraniJorani 1.0 revamps leave balances and documents a Swagger API
- 8y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.5 adds Portuguese and Arabic translations
- 9y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.4 fixes leave transitions and broken ICS feeds
- 9y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.3 adds Greek and mandatory rejection comments
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Jorani and Workyard?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Workyard is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 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 Jorani better than Workyard?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Workyard is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 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 HR products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Jorani?
Top Jorani alternatives in HR are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Jorani alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/jorani for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Workyard?
Top Workyard alternatives in HR are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Workyard alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/workyard for the full list with editorial commentary on each.