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Comparison · PM

OpenProject vs ProjectManager

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

OpenProject vs ProjectManager: at a glance

FeatureOpenProjectProjectManager
SectorPMPM
Velocity score6.30.0
Sparks · 30d10
Top themesresource management, capacity planning, patch releases, enterprise add-onsproject-management, integrations, press-release-changelog, duplicate-entries
Last editorial update5d ago3mo 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 ProjectManager?

ProjectManager ships press releases instead of changelogs — last real news is the May 2024 Acumatica deal.

Visible activity is dominated by integration announcements (Jira, Power BI, Acumatica) and a redesigned public API in late 2023, then a long quiet stretch through 2024 and 2025. Each release also appears twice in the feed — once as a press-release excerpt, once as the WordPress image-markup version — so nominal cadence is roughly half what it looks like. The most recent actual product-shaped news is the Acumatica integration from a year ago.

Read the full ProjectManager trajectory →

OpenProject vs ProjectManager: 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.

ProjectManager logo0.0

ProjectManager ships press releases instead of changelogs — last real news is the May 2024 Acumatica deal.

◆ Current state

Visible activity is dominated by integration announcements (Jira, Power BI, Acumatica) and a redesigned public API in late 2023, then a long quiet stretch through 2024 and 2025. Each release also appears twice in the feed — once as a press-release excerpt, once as the WordPress image-markup version — so nominal cadence is roughly half what it looks like. The most recent actual product-shaped news is the Acumatica integration from a year ago.

◆ Where it's heading

The pattern is 'land a big-name integration, market it as a release' — the standard mid-market PM-tool playbook against Asana, Smartsheet, Monday and Wrike. With no shipping signal in the past year, the product reads as in maintenance while marketing keeps the funnel warm with educational SEO content.

◆ Prediction

Most likely next observable event is another ERP, BI, or developer-tool integration announcement. If the crawler can be repointed at a real release-notes page (or a status feed), the picture would change; today the feed is press releases and blog posts.

Alternatives to OpenProject and ProjectManager

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 ProjectManager.

See all OpenProject alternatives → · See all ProjectManager alternatives →

Recent activity from OpenProject and ProjectManager

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

  1. 5d agoOpenProjectPatch fixes hourly rates, non-working days, custom styles
  2. 13d agoOpenProjectPatch fixes duplicate users on retried imports
  3. 14d agoOpenProjectResource management module lands with departments and work schedules
  4. 1mo agoOpenProjectXWiki integration links work packages to external docs
  5. 2mo agoOpenProjectPatch fixes work package creation broken by 17.5
  6. 2mo agoOpenProjectProject-based work package IDs arrive in Beta
  7. 1y agoProjectManagerVersion Control in Project Management Software
  8. 1y agoProjectManagerVersion Control in Project Management Software
  9. 2y agoProjectManagerProjectManager’s Official Acumatica Integration Enhances Project Planning & Financial Forecasting
  10. 2y agoProjectManagerProjectManager’s Official Acumatica Integration Enhances Project Planning & Financial Forecasting
  11. 2y agoProjectManagerProjectManager Now Integrates With Microsoft Power BI
  12. 2y agoProjectManagerProjectManager Now Integrates With Microsoft Power BI

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between OpenProject and ProjectManager?

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 OpenProject better than ProjectManager?

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 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 ProjectManager?

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