Jira is a well-known agile project management tool and a household name for issue tracking. However, Jira is proprietary software, while OpenProject is open source.
OpenProject offers many comparable project management capabilities and is available both in the cloud and as a self-hosted, on-premises solution. This makes OpenProject particularly relevant for organizations looking for an open source or self-hosted Jira alternative.
Recent changes to Jira Cloud pricing also make long-term costs worth considering. Atlassian increased Jira Cloud list prices in October 2026 and is introducing usage-based billing for selected AI and automation capabilities in December 2026.
Let’s take a closer look at OpenProject and Jira – or jump directly to the aspect you want to compare.
Hosting
Atlassian discontinued support for Jira Server in 2024. Jira Data Center remains available for a limited period, with end of life announced for March 28, 2029. Atlassian is focusing its future platform strategy on the cloud.
For organizations that need to keep control over where and how their project management software is hosted, this makes deployment strategy an important part of evaluating a Jira alternative.
OpenProject continues to offer both cloud and on-premises deployment. With OpenProject Enterprise on-premises, organizations can run OpenProject on their own infrastructure while using Enterprise add-ons and professional support.
Organizations currently using Jira Data Center can learn more about OpenProject as an alternative to Atlassian Data Center.
Open source
OpenProject is open source software. Its source code is publicly available on GitHub. This provides transparency into the software and gives organizations the option to run and adapt OpenProject on their own infrastructure.
Being open source can provide greater independence and flexibility for organizations that want more control over their project management software, deployment and data.
Jira is proprietary software and provides a large ecosystem of Atlassian products and Marketplace apps through which organizations can extend its functionality. Depending on the setup, additional apps can also mean additional licenses, integrations and maintenance to consider.
Pricing is another factor to consider. Alongside subscription costs, organizations using Jira Cloud may need to account for additional Marketplace apps and usage-based charges for selected capabilities. The total cost depends on the plan, integrations and actual usage, so comparing licensing and operating costs is an important part of evaluating alternatives.
OpenProject includes many project management capabilities directly within the platform. Gantt charts, time and cost tracking, budgets and agile boards are available in OpenProject without requiring separate Marketplace apps.
Data security
Data security is an important aspect when choosing a project management tool. Both OpenProject and Jira provide options for organizations with data protection and data residency requirements.
Jira Cloud offers data residency options that allow organizations to control where eligible product data is hosted.
OpenProject Cloud is hosted in the EU. As an open source European provider, OpenProject also gives organizations the option to operate the software on their own infrastructure. With OpenProject on-premises, organizations retain control over where their OpenProject data is hosted and how the system is operated.
For organizations with GDPR, data residency or digital sovereignty requirements, the deployment model can therefore be an important part of the evaluation.
Features
OpenProject and Jira both offer comprehensive and customizable project management tools with capabilities for agile, classic and hybrid ways of working. Both provide capabilities for issue or task tracking, agile planning, reporting, user management and more.
The two platforms do not always implement these capabilities in the same way. Jira also provides a large Marketplace through which organizations can extend its functionality, while OpenProject includes many project management capabilities directly within the platform.
Let’s take a look at how some of the features compare.
Issue & task tracking
Both Jira and OpenProject offer sophisticated issue and task tracking with custom fields and workflow customization.
Jira
In Jira, users can create and manage issues (work items) using configurable fields, views and workflows. Different workflows can be defined for different types of work.
OpenProject
In OpenProject, users manage tasks, requirements, bugs and other types of work as work packages. The work package table can be configured with the attributes and views teams need, and custom fields can be used to capture additional information.
Workflows can be configured based on work package type and role, defining which status transitions are available to different users.
Project planning with Gantt charts
Managing a project plan is a critical component for successful project management.
Jira
Jira provides timeline and planning capabilities for visualizing work over time. The available planning capabilities depend on the Jira product, deployment model and plan being used. Additional planning functionality is also available through Marketplace apps.
OpenProject
OpenProject enables creating and managing project plans using Gantt charts, both for single projects and across multiple projects.
The dynamic and interactive Gantt chart can be displayed alongside the work package table. Start and due dates can be updated either in the table or using drag and drop in the Gantt chart. Teams can choose between top-down and bottom-up planning and create and visualize dependencies.
Project managers can also visualize progress across complex plans spanning multiple projects and add a baseline comparison to display planning changes.
Time and cost tracking
An essential feature for many larger projects is the ability to track the time and costs spent on a project.
Jira
Jira includes native time tracking. Users can estimate work, log time on individual work items and compare estimates with the time spent. Organizations that need broader time tracking, project cost or budget management can extend Jira through Marketplace apps and additional tooling.
OpenProject
You can enable time and cost tracking for each project separately within OpenProject. OpenProject allows users to track both personnel and unit costs and create project budgets to compare planned and actual costs.
Detailed time and cost reports can be filtered, grouped and saved based on reporting needs. A permission model controls which time and cost data users are allowed to view or edit.
These are only some examples of how the two platforms compare. For a more detailed look at workflows, dependencies, agile planning, timelines, time and cost tracking, resource management and other capabilities, see our OpenProject vs Jira feature comparison.
Looking beyond Jira: alternatives to the Atlassian stack
For some organizations, replacing Jira is part of a broader evaluation of their Atlassian setup. This is particularly relevant for organizations that also use Confluence for knowledge management and documentation.
OpenProject focuses on project management and work management. For organizations looking for an open source alternative for enterprise knowledge management as well, OpenProject offers a dedicated XWiki integration. Together, OpenProject and XWiki provide an open source option for organizations evaluating alternatives to Jira and Confluence.
OpenProject can also be integrated with Nextcloud for organizations that use Nextcloud for file sharing and collaboration.
Together, these integrations can make OpenProject part of a broader open source digital workplace for project management, knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Conclusion: OpenProject vs Jira
Jira is a powerful and highly customizable platform with a large ecosystem of Atlassian products and Marketplace apps.
OpenProject offers comprehensive capabilities for agile, classic and hybrid project management. As open source software, it also gives organizations a choice between cloud and on-premises deployment and greater control over how their project management environment and data are operated.
For organizations looking for an open source Jira alternative, OpenProject combines comprehensive project management capabilities with open source software, flexible hosting options and professional support. This makes it particularly relevant for organizations that want to retain control over their deployment and data while reducing their dependence on proprietary software ecosystems.
Find the Jira information you need
If you are evaluating OpenProject as a Jira alternative, these resources provide more detail on specific questions:
| If you are looking for… | Continue here |
|---|---|
| A detailed comparison of OpenProject and Jira features | Explore our OpenProject vs Jira feature comparison. |
| A way to migrate your existing Jira data | See what you can migrate with the OpenProject Jira Migrator. |
| An alternative to Jira Data Center with a choice of cloud or on-premises | Learn more about OpenProject as an alternative to Atlassian Data Center. |
| An alternative to Jira Cloud, including considerations around pricing and hosting | Explore OpenProject as a Jira Cloud alternative. |
| A broader look at the differences between OpenProject and Jira | Read what organizations may gain when moving from Jira to OpenProject. |
| An open source alternative to Jira and Confluence | Explore OpenProject and XWiki. |
| Open source file collaboration alongside OpenProject | Learn more about the OpenProject and Nextcloud integration. |
Considering a move from Jira to OpenProject?
Moving from Jira involves more than transferring individual issues. Existing workflows, custom fields, integrations and organizational processes can all affect the scope of a migration.
The OpenProject Jira Migrator supports the transfer of Jira data to OpenProject. For technical details about supported data and current migration requirements, see our Jira migration documentation.
For organizations with more complex Jira environments, our team can help assess individual requirements and migration needs. Contact us to discuss your setup.
Or, if you want to evaluate OpenProject yourself, start a free OpenProject trial.
