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Comparison · PM

OpenProject vs Planify

A side-by-side editorial comparison of OpenProject and Planify — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

OpenProject vs Planify: at a glance

FeatureOpenProjectPlanify
SectorPMPM
Velocity score6.32.5
Sparks · 30d10
Top themesresource management, capacity planning, patch releases, enterprise add-onscaldav, gnome, task-management, interoperability
Last editorial update4d ago18d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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.

Read the full OpenProject trajectory →

What is Planify?

A GNOME task app that has turned CalDAV interoperability into the product.

Planify is a GTK task manager for GNOME on a fast release train — six releases in the window shown, most of them sync work. The 4.19 line spent nearly all its effort making CalDAV survive real servers: Mailbox.org, Open-Xchange, Posteo, Nextcloud Deck, and DAVx5 on Android each got a named fix. Feature work still lands, but alongside the sync repairs rather than instead of them.

Read the full Planify trajectory →

OpenProject vs Planify: editorial side-by-side

O6.3

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.

P2.5

A GNOME task app that has turned CalDAV interoperability into the product.

◆ Current state

Planify is a GTK task manager for GNOME on a fast release train — six releases in the window shown, most of them sync work. The 4.19 line spent nearly all its effort making CalDAV survive real servers: Mailbox.org, Open-Xchange, Posteo, Nextcloud Deck, and DAVx5 on Android each got a named fix. Feature work still lands, but alongside the sync repairs rather than instead of them.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction shows in what gets fixed. Planify is positioning as the GNOME client that works against whatever CalDAV server you already run, not a client for one service — sync-token fallbacks, ETag retries, and CDATA parsing are all compatibility debt paid down per-server. The second thread is pushing into the desktop itself: a Shell search provider, system accent color, a CLI. Both are the same bet, that the app's value is behaving well inside an existing setup.

◆ Prediction

Expect another CalDAV compatibility pass naming a specific server next, since four of the last six releases took that shape. Feature work will most likely extend the backup and section support added in 4.19.2 rather than open a new area.

Alternatives to OpenProject and Planify

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 OpenProject or Planify.

See all OpenProject alternatives → · See all Planify alternatives →

Recent activity from OpenProject and Planify

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 5d agoOpenProjectPatch fixes hourly rates, non-working days, custom styles
  2. 12d agoOpenProjectPatch fixes duplicate users on retried imports
  3. 14d agoOpenProjectResource management module lands with departments and work schedules
  4. 1mo agoPlanifyStartup backup recovery and recurring-task notification fix
  5. 1mo agoOpenProjectXWiki integration links work packages to external docs
  6. 2mo agoOpenProjectPatch fixes work package creation broken by 17.5
  7. 2mo agoOpenProjectProject-based work package IDs arrive in Beta
  8. 3mo agoPlanifyPlanify 4.19.4
  9. 3mo agoPlanifyPlanify 4.19.3
  10. 3mo agoPlanifyPlanify 4.19.2
  11. 3mo agoPlanifyPlanify 4.19.1
  12. 4mo agoPlanifyPlanify 4.19.0

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between OpenProject and Planify?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. OpenProject is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), 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 OpenProject better than Planify?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. OpenProject is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), 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 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.

What are the best alternatives to Planify?

Top Planify alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Planify alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/planify for the full list with editorial commentary on each.