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Comparison · Collab
EGroupware vs Contractbook
A side-by-side editorial comparison of EGroupware and Contractbook — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
EGroupware vs Contractbook: at a glance
| Feature | EGroupware | Contractbook |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Collab | Collab |
| Velocity score | 6.3 | 5.0 |
| Sparks · 30d | 1 | 0 |
| Top themes | self-hosted, webauthn, end-of-life, caldav | contract-automation, permissions, two-factor-auth, ai-extraction |
| Last editorial update | 2h ago | 5h ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
What is EGroupware?
EGroupware is pushing its old branch off a cliff on 15 August, and sweetening the landing with passkeys.
Releases arrive in pairs — one for the 23.1 branch, one for the current 26.x — usually within minutes of each other and usually flagged SECURITY. The 23.1 notes have carried an end-of-support warning for weeks; coverage stops on 15 August 2026. The 26.x side of each pair carries the actual product work: WebAuthN as a second factor, CalDAV timezone and recurrence fixes, invoice XML exemption codes, OpenID library upgrades.
What is Contractbook?
Contract automation grows up: admin permission maps, 2FA, and forms that do their own arithmetic.
Contractbook released a batch of six changes on a single day covering three areas at once. Administration gets a company-wide Spaces access page answering who can reach which space and with what permission, plus OTP two-factor authentication at login. Contract creation gets calculation fields in forms that compute totals and pro-rated amounts and insert them into the document automatically. The AI side gets a new extraction model and a dedicated place to manage AI upload contract types, with built-in defaults now editable per company.
EGroupware vs Contractbook: editorial side-by-side
EGroupware
6.3COLLAB
EGroupware is pushing its old branch off a cliff on 15 August, and sweetening the landing with passkeys.
◆ Current state
Releases arrive in pairs — one for the 23.1 branch, one for the current 26.x — usually within minutes of each other and usually flagged SECURITY. The 23.1 notes have carried an end-of-support warning for weeks; coverage stops on 15 August 2026. The 26.x side of each pair carries the actual product work: WebAuthN as a second factor, CalDAV timezone and recurrence fixes, invoice XML exemption codes, OpenID library upgrades.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is a forced migration executed through security cadence rather than announcement. Each paired release makes the gap wider: 23.1 receives the fix, 26.x receives the fix plus features, and the deadline text repeats. Underneath, the substantive work is authentication — WebAuthN, OpenID Connect verification fixes, email_verified handling — for a self-hosted suite whose buyers care about exactly that.
◆ Prediction
Expect one or two more 23.1 security releases before 15 August and then nothing, with the paired-release rhythm collapsing to a single 26.x train afterwards.
Contractbook
5.0COLLAB
Contract automation grows up: admin permission maps, 2FA, and forms that do their own arithmetic.
◆ Current state
Contractbook released a batch of six changes on a single day covering three areas at once. Administration gets a company-wide Spaces access page answering who can reach which space and with what permission, plus OTP two-factor authentication at login. Contract creation gets calculation fields in forms that compute totals and pro-rated amounts and insert them into the document automatically. The AI side gets a new extraction model and a dedicated place to manage AI upload contract types, with built-in defaults now editable per company.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is a product being fitted for larger customers: the access-visibility page is gated to Accelerate and Enterprise plans, group-level company permissions landed earlier in the year, and 2FA closes the obvious procurement objection. Meanwhile the AI features are moving from fixed behaviour toward configurable behaviour — extraction types are now a company's own list rather than the vendor's. Calculations remove the last common reason to edit a generated .docx by hand.
◆ Prediction
The admin thread points toward more permission surface — audit trails or per-space delegation would follow naturally from a page that already explains where each permission comes from. Nothing in these entries indicates how much extraction accuracy actually improved.
Alternatives to EGroupware and Contractbook
Other Collab 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 EGroupware or Contractbook.
SiYuan
SiYuan opened a 3.8 branch and put AI agents, embeddings search and MCP in the first alpha.
Ethico
The whistleblower hotline vendor is assembling a compliance suite, one module at a time.
Tana
The knowledge graph quietly turned itself into a meetings product.
Miniflux
A minimal RSS reader that made passkeys the only way in, then went back to polishing the reading experience.
Shiori
A Go bookmark manager rebuilding itself around an API — and only ever shipping release candidates.
See all EGroupware alternatives → · See all Contractbook alternatives →
Recent activity from EGroupware and Contractbook
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5h agoEGroupware23.1 gets high-severity fixes and a final EOL warning
- 6h agoEGroupware26.8 brings WebAuthN 2FA in from the paid EPL tier ⚡
- 1d agoContractbook🧮 Calculations in forms
- 1d agoContractbook🔑 OTP two-factor authentication
- 1d agoContractbook🖼️ AI upload: contract types
- 1d agoContractbook🗺️ Spaces access
- 1d agoContractbook🔎 Search results revamp
- 1d agoContractbook✨ AI extraction model upgrade
- 11d agoEGroupware26.7.20260724 repairs fallout from the previous security release
- 11d agoEGroupware23.1.20260724 backports the same fixes to the legacy branch
- 25d agoEGroupware23.1.20260710.3 patches two more vulnerabilities
- 25d agoEGroupware23.1.20260710 fixes custom-field data loss on insertion
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between EGroupware and Contractbook?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. EGroupware is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), 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 EGroupware better than Contractbook?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. EGroupware is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to EGroupware?
Top EGroupware alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "EGroupware alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/egroupware for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Contractbook?
Top Contractbook alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Contractbook alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/contractbook for the full list with editorial commentary on each.